Abstract
Based on 30 in-depth interviews with Indian transnational entrepreneurs (TEs) in the USA and their corresponding India heads of operations, we explore the influence of TEs’ ethnic ties on their motivations and entry strategy in the formation of transnational ventures in their home country. Our findings show the heterogeneity of TEs’ motivations (economic and emotional) and home country entry strategy (proactive and reactive). Further, we find that TEs’ entry strategy is contingent on their (a) use of professional and personal ethnic ties and (b) prior experience of doing business with the home country. These findings contribute to the transnational and immigrant entrepreneurship literatures.
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Acknowledgements
This work was furthered through the support from the 2016 Research Scholarship and Creative Activity (RSCA) Award at San Jose State University (SJSU). Financial assistance from the Silicon Valley Center for Entrepreneurship (SVCE) at SJSU and Imperial College London Business School at Imperial College London, UK, is gratefully acknowledged. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the 2017 Academy of International Business (AIB) West Chapter, and annual Academy of Management (AOM) conferences in San Jose (California) and Atlanta (Georgia), USA. The authors thank Shivani Jatia, Shreeram Gopalakrishnan, and Neha Katti for their research assistance and three anonymous JIE reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.
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Pruthi, S., Basu, A. & Wright, M. Ethnic ties, motivations, and home country entry strategy of transnational entrepreneurs. J Int Entrep 16, 210–243 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-017-0223-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-017-0223-2