Entrepreneurial process and performance: the case of the Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam

Ethnic entrepreneurship has become a popular concept in the modern multi-cultural society; in a modern 'multi-color' city ethnic entrepreneurship tends to become an indigenous and significant part of the local economy. This concept refers to business activities undertaken by entrepreneurs with a distinct socio-cultural or ethnic background. Ethnic groups often have a backward position in society, because of difficulties with native behavior, language and diploma's attitudes. The participation rate of ethnic groups in the urban labor market stays often behind and, when they do participate, they are often situated within the secondary labor market segments. For ethnic groups who are unable to adapt to a new social system, their marginal social position is a driving force to become self-employed some special talents. One way for migrants to escape from their backward position is to become an entrepreneur. In this case, self-employment is not only a means for earning a living, it is also a way of obtaining recognition and social acceptance. On the other hand, in the last few decades the participation rate of women in the labour market has increased in most Western countries. An increase in the participation rate of women does not necessarily imply an increase in the number of female entrepreneurs. However, it does increase the likelihood of women to become self-employed. Moreover, women contribute to the diversity in the supply of entrepreneurship, because they may have a different approach towards entrepreneurship compared to men. Despite the scarcity of data, recent observations show the involvement of women in entrepreneurial activity and self-employment rates, which include women who own and operate their own businesses are increasing around the world. According to available data, between one-quarter and one-third of the formal sector businesses are owned and operated by women. The aim of this paper is to describe and understand the entrepreneurial processes of ethnic females. In which way and to which extent are these processes the result of: a) unemployment b) job level c) poor performance in terms of wages d) work experience e) educational level f) language g) discrimination h) socio-cultural and ethnic networks? Or in other words, what are the factors that stimulate females to find other income generating activities? What are the important factors for the motivation and performance of female entrepreneurship? Which factors contribute to the success or failure of ethnic female entrepreneurs? And how do these female entrepreneurs experience failure or survival? What is the satisfaction level of female entrepreneurs? This study aims to provide an answer to these questions on the basis of case study research on Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam.

Diversity in Entrepreneurship: Ethnic and Female Roles in Urban Economic Life

The aim of this paper is to investigate the phenomenon of ethnic female entrepreneurship in urban economic life. The focus of the research is on the attitude and behaviour of Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam. The main fascinating question is: Are ethnic female entrepreneurs special ethnic entrepreneurs or special female entrepreneurs? This paper provides an answer to this question on the basis of field surveys. The results of the case study research on Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam show that the “ethnic female profile” is a “special female profile” and that Turkish female entrepreneurs are “special female entrepreneurs”, particularly in terms of personal and business characteristics, driving forces and motivations. They appear to combine their ethnic opportunities with their personal characteristics (and other opportunities) in the urban market, and to have a successful performance. This is also caused by the fact that they have become service providers not only for their own ethnic groups, but also for other groups in the city.Keywords: Ethnic female entrepreneurship, diversity in entrepreneurship, ethnic female profile, Turkish female entrepreneurs

Eurocities and Their "Sisters": How Are They Close to Each Other?

The globalization process has led to the emergence of network of cities in which the cities have become more integrated to the new world system. ‘Eurocities’ or ‘Sister Cities’ are among the well known examples of network of cities which provide interaction and cooperation of the cities at the regional and global level. The ‘sister city movement’ can be defined as a further step of international relationships of the cities at the municipality level which is based on understanding the cultures of each other and aims to create common values. Additionally, sister city relationship provides international trade and economic development between two countries at the local level. Empirical findings show that there are 3 phases of sister city movement: i) the associative phase, ii) the reciprocative phase, and iii) the commercial phase. In this process, municipalities or local authorities have become ‘entrepreneurs’ in order to contribute to the economic and social dynamisms of cities. The present study investigates the relationships of Eurocities with their sister cities from the perspective of the development level or the degree of the relationship. Which factors are important in improving the mutual relationship? Which factors determine the development phases of the relationship? Under which conditions the mutual relationship creates business opportunities and reaches to the level of economic cooperation? What are the success measures of city-to-city affiliation? The study aims to compare and evaluate the current sister cities relationships of Eurocities on the basis of the actual performance in cultural dialogue, benchmarking and commercial activities. The data and information used for comparison and evaluation are based on extensive survey questionnaires filled out by relevant departments or experts of municipalities in Eurocities. As a rather novel methodological contribution, a recently developed artificial intelligence method, i.e. rough set analysis, is deployed to assess and identify the most important factors that are responsible for successes and failures of the relationships between sister cities.

Turkey's Rurality: A Comparative Analysis At the EU Level

The future of Europe’s rural peripheries as well as the future of rural societies is one of the most important development and planning issues of the EU. Several typologies of rural areas and different rural development indicators have been developed by researchers and international organizations such as OECD and EU to better understand the dynamics of rural areas and to develop relevant policies for these areas. The typologies of rural areas are based on sub-national territories and administrative or statistical units (i.e. local, regional, NUTS3, NUTS5), whereas rural development indicators include a wide range of indicators from population and migration to economic structure and performance and from social well-being and equity to environment and sustainability. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to compare and evaluate Turkey’s rurality with the EU-25 countries on the basis of rural development indicators. The data and information used for comparison and evaluation are based on EUROSTAT data. A multicriteria analysis technique, factor analysis is deployed to define Turkey’s rurality in the European context. To map out the characteristics and dynamics of Turkey’s rurality may also help to develop relevant policies for rural development of the country.

Migrant Entrepreneurship In A Diverse Europe: In Search Of Sustainable Development

This paper aims to emphasize the importance of entrepreneurship for the European innovation system and addresses in particular the opportunities offered by migrant (or ethnic) entrepreneurship. After a concise review of the European ‘entrepreneurial economy’, the economic significance of self-employment is highlighted. It is argued that migrant entrepreneurship offers many possibilities for coping with socio-cultural diversity and may contribute to a sustainable socio-economic development. Several data are presented to support these views, while the paper also offers promising policy guidelines.

Migrant Female Entrepreneurship: Driving Forces, Motivation and Performance

The present paper investigates migrant female entrepreneurship on the basis of driving forces, motivation and performance of migrant women entrepreneurs. We review the factors that push migrant females towards entrepreneurship and that determine their entrepreneurial performance. In order to understand and test the determinant factors behind the motivation towards entrepreneurship as well as the economic and survival performance of migrant women entrepreneurs, this paper addresses in the empirical part Turkish female entrepreneurs in Amsterdam. The data and information used for evaluation are based on in-depth personal interviews. As a rather novel methodological contribution, a recently developed artificial intelligence method, i.e. rough set analysis, is deployed to assess and identify the most important factors in motivation and performance of migrant females.Turkish female workers; Amsterdam

Characteristics Of Migrant Entrepreneurship In Europe

The present paper aims to investigate and compare various modalities of migrant entrepreneurship in European countries in order to design a systematic classification of migrant entrepreneurship and to highlight key factors of migrant entrepreneurship in Europe. The paper is based on a comparative assessment of available quantitative data and qualitative information derived from a broad review of findings from previous studies in the literature. Our quantitative evaluation includes the European OECD countries, while our qualitative investigation addresses migrant entrepreneurship experiences in eight European countries: Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and the UK. The results of our comparative analysis show that the general picture of European migrant entrepreneurship is determined by some distinct push factors such as high unemployment rates and low participation rates or low status in the labour market as well as by an accompanying factor, viz. mixed embeddedness. The results of our comparative evaluation are summarized in a systematic typological table. These show that, while an informal and labour-intensive sector, an underground economy, and small companies and traditional households prompt migrant entrepreneurship in Southern European countries, an overrepresentation of non-Western immigrants among the self-employed, as well as relatively lower income levels of self-employed immigrants compared to both self-employed natives and employed immigrants are decisive for migrant entrepreneurship in Northern European countries.

Critical success factors in planning and management of urban green spaces in europe

This paper focuses the attention on the importance of urban green areas in the context of urban sustainability policy. Special attention is given to the conditions that are responsible for successful urban green space planning. Based on a systematic extensive data base on relevant attributes of urban green in 23 European cities, our study aims to identify the critical success factors for the effective provision and maintenance of green spaces in the city, by using a multidimensional principal component analysis. By means of this comparative analysis, it is possible to specify transferable policy lessons on urban green spaces.