Abstract
Immigrant
businesses are important to the Irish economy and represent new engines of
growth for the economy. It is in this context that this research focuses on the
experiences of Polish immigrants in Ireland - the single largest immigrant
group in the country. The key research question that guides this study is: what
is the role of economic capital for first-generation Polish entrepreneurs in
their pursuit of self-employment in Ireland?
Based on a qualitative research approach, twenty five in-depth interviews were conducted with Polish
entrepreneurs.
Evidence from this study highlights the
reliance on personal savings to finance the business; a lack of interest in
sourcing funds from financial institutions and a lack of trust in State
institutions. Additionally a lack of awareness of business support agencies and the services
they offer clients was evidenced in the study. Polish entrepreneurs, unlike other immigrant groups, who have a propensity to access
finance from informal
sources, did not utilise ethnic resources -
family, friends,
community – to finance their business, instead they relied exclusively on their own financial resources. This research contributes to the extant
literature both in terms of theory, knowledge and understanding of the forms of
economic capital employed by immigrant entrepreneurs.