(2020):
Attitudes and political positions of migrants from the Middle East and the “Conservatism paradox”.
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Previous studies have shown that migrant entrepreneurs are a valuable contribution to the economy of their host countries. Furthermore, self-employment is a means for migrants to achieve upward social mobility. However, a number of formal and informal hurdles must be overcome to become self-employed, which often prevent migrants from fully developing their potential as entrepreneurs. In this study, we apply a mixed-methods approach (qualitative interviews with institutional and financial experts as well as migrant entrepreneurs and a quantitative analysis of survey data) to examine the potential of migrant entrepreneurs in Germany and the specific problems they are facing in the start-up process.
In 2024, we mainly continued to work on the systematic review of articles on possible differences in the treatment of individuals and entrepreneurs by financial institutions. We finished double coding about 130 relevant papers and are now in the drafting and revision phase of the report on our results. Additionally, we are preparing a field experiment on how banks in Germany react to enquiries of aspiring entrepreneurs depending on their gender and migration background/ethnicity. For this part of the project, we are preparing a submission as registered report to follow best-practice principles in open science.