A Survey Of Liberian Entrepreneurial Economy

Author : Harry Papa Mason
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 309 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (13 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Exploring the Experiences of Liberian Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Twin Cities Area of Minnesota written by Harry Papa Mason and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Researchers extensively have explored immigrant entrepreneurship in several contexts and with various ethnic immigrant populations across the United States. Indisputably, entrepreneurial opportunities across the United States have served as an opportunistic conduit for immigrants to start, manage and operate their business ventures in the context of the American Dream. The resultant immigrant entrepreneurial ventures have seen a marked improvement in the socioeconomic status of immigrant entrepreneurs, despite some challenges. Anecdotal evidence satiated with ethnic Liberian immigrant entrepreneurship in the United States represents a gap in the current literature. The crux of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the "experience of entrepreneurship" from the perspective of Liberian immigrant entrepreneurs in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. The principal investigator employed instrumentation of semistructured, in-depth Zoom-video interviews to generate rich and detailed descriptions from eleven registered members of the Minnesota-based Liberian Business Association (LIBA). Thematic analysis of the interview data encompassed eight essential themes. They include (1) perspectives, constructs, and meanings of "experience of entrepreneurship"; (2) impact of prior work experience and education on business ownership; (3) reasons/factors influencing Liberian immigrant entrepreneurship; (4) impact of key success factors and profitability on business sustainability; (5) impact of self-entrepreneurial activity on wellbeing and work-life balance; (6) impact of locational advantage on entrepreneurial activity and performance; (7) Liberian immigrant entrepreneurial challenges to business startups; and (8) impact of LIBA on Liberian immigrant entrepreneurial climate. The study results suggest that the participants discovered and leveraged current Twin Cities-based entrepreneurial opportunities for their own entrepreneurial self-employment, with intentionality to contribute economically to the local economy of the Twin Cities via job creation and to relish independence, freedom, pride and fulfillment, social mobility, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and improved quality of life in the secondary labor market as opposed to the primary labor market, where they complained about prejudice and discrimination, among others. From the eight themes that emerged, all the participants emphasized control over their own time as the most significant resource available to perform or handle multitasking that engenders flexibility and the comfort of work-life balance. Thus, the challenge to policymakers is to formulate appropriate policies to develop and strengthen immigrant entrepreneurship via immigrant-based economic institutions, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has disrupted the traditional entrepreneurial landscape. Further research to explore the "experience of entrepreneurship" from the viewpoint of non-LIBA members or other Liberian immigrant entrepreneurs could provide some new perspectives and insights about the phenomenon under study.