Native and Immigrant Entrepreneurship : Lessons for Local Liabilities in Globalization from the Prato Case Study

223 Pages·2017·2.926 MB·English

by  Simone Guercini, Gabi Dei Ottati, Loretta Baldassar, Graeme Johanson (eds.)

Simone Guercini
Gabi Dei Ottati
Loretta Baldassar
Graeme Johanson E ditors
Native and
Immigrant
Entrepreneurship
Lessons for Local Liabilities in
Globalization from the Prato Case Study
Native and Immigrant Entrepreneurship
Simone Guercini Gabi Dei Ottati
(cid:129)
Loretta Baldassar Graeme Johanson
(cid:129)
Editors
Native and Immigrant
Entrepreneurship
Lessons for Local Liabilities in Globalization
from the Prato Case Study
123
Editors
Simone Guercini LorettaBaldassar
Department ofEconomics andManagement Schoolof Social Sciences
University of Florence TheUniversity of Western Australia
Florence Crawley, WA
Italy Australia
GabiDei Ottati Graeme Johanson
Department ofEconomics andManagement Faculty of Information Technology
University of Florence MonashUniversity
Florence Caulfield East,VIC
Italy Australia
ISBN978-3-319-44110-8 ISBN978-3-319-44111-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-44111-5
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016959803
©SpringerInternationalPublishingSwitzerland2017
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Acknowledgements
Theeditorsthankthereviewersthatparticipatedtotherevisionprocessofchapters
included in this book. The list of reviewers includes the followings: Johnatan
Benney, Monash University, Australia; Tom Dennison, Monash University,
Australia; Laura Grassini, University of Florence, Italy; James Jupp, Academy of
Social Sciences, Australia; Narelle McAuliffe, Monash University, Australia;
RobertaRaffaetà,UniversityofLousanne,Switzerland;SilviaRanfagni,University
of Florence, Italy; and Andrea Runfola, University of Perugia, Italy.
v
Contents
Introduction... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 1
SimoneGuercini,GabiDeiOttati,LorettaBaldassarandGraemeJohanson
LiabilitiesofNativeandImmigrantEntrepreneurshipintheProcesses
of Globalization.... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 7
SimoneGuercini,GabiDeiOttati,LorettaBaldassarandGraemeJohanson
Chinese Immigration to Italy and Economic Relations with
the Homeland: A Multiscalar Perspective.... .... .... .... ..... .... 31
Eduardo Barberis and Alberto Violante
A Social Accounting Matrix for Prato: Interrelating the Chinese
Migrant Community and the Provincial Economy. .... .... ..... .... 53
Paola Biasi and Stefano Rosignoli
EthnographyoftheFastFashionCommunity:ChineseEntrepreneurs
in Prato .. .... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 79
Stefano Becucci
Italian-Schooled Chinese Migrant Youth in Prato: The Liability
of Outsidership and Social Identity Formation.... .... .... ..... .... 97
Adua Paciocco and Loretta Baldassar
Smartphones and Outsidership in Prato’s Small Business
Community ... .... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 115
Graeme Johanson, Francesco Beghelli and Anja Fladrich
Liabilities of Foreignness and Outsidership in the Evolution
of Immigrant Chinese Entrepreneurship. .... .... .... .... ..... .... 133
Simone Guercini and Matilde Milanesi
Liabilities in Prato’s Industrial District: An Analysis of Italian
and Chinese Firm Failures... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 149
Luciana Lazzeretti and Francesco Capone
vii
viii Contents
The Mechanism of Sustained Immigrant Entrepreneurship:
Wenzhounese Immigrants in Italy.. .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 169
Yili Zhang and Min Zhang
Understanding Chinese Immigrants in Prato’s Industrial District:
Benefits to Local Entrepreneurs.... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 189
Xander Ong and Susan Freeman
Concluding Remarks: The Benefits of Overcoming
Local Liabilities.... .... .... ..... .... .... .... .... .... ..... .... 209
SimoneGuercini,GabiDeiOttati,LorettaBaldassarandGraemeJohanson
Editors and Contributors
About the Editors
Simone Guercini is a professor of management at the University of Florence and
visiting professor at the Grenoble Graduate School of Business. His research
interests include business marketing, heuristics in business, entrepreneurship in
communities, and internationalization, with a special focus on the Italian fashion
industry. Simone received his Ph.D. in economics from Sant’Anna School of
Advanced Studies, Pisa. He collaborated with many academic journal in manage-
ment and marketing both as author, member of the editorial board and reviewer,
including Industrial Marketing and Management, Management Decision, and
Journal of Business Research. He can be contacted at simone.guercini@unifi.it.
GabiDeiOttati isaprofessorofappliedeconomicsattheUniversityofFlorenceand
amemberoftheEuropeanResearchCentreonRegionalandLocalDevelopment.Her
mainresearchinterestsincludeindustrialorganizationandeconomicdevelopment,with
aspecialfocusonItalyandindustrialdistricts.Havingcollaboratedformanyyearswith
Giacomo Becattini, the revitalizer of the Marshallian industrial district concept, she is
part of the Florence school of local development.
Loretta Baldassar is a professor of anthropology and sociology at the University
ofWesternAustraliaandadjunctprincipalresearchfellowattheSchoolofPolitical
and Social Inquiry, Monash University. Her research interests focus on transna-
tional migrants, families, and caregiviers, including the question of generations.
Loretta received her Ph.D. from the University of Western Australia.
Graeme Johanson recently retired as associate dean research training in the
Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
His research interests focus on the uses of information and communications tech-
nologies for developing countries, and marginalized social groups, including
migrants. He teaches research methods and supervises postgraduate students. His
publicationsincludebooksandmanyjournalarticles.Heundertakesconsultancies.
ix
x EditorsandContributors
Contributors
Eduardo Barberis (Ph.D. Sociology) is researcher in urban sociology at the
UniversityofUrbino Carlo Bo,Italy, wherehelectures onimmigration policyand
coordinates the Research Centre on Applied Transcultural Research (CIRTA). His
researchinterestsincludetheterritorialdimensionofimmigrationandsocialpolicy,
andantidiscriminationpractice.HepublishedseveralarticlesinItalianandEnglish
on issues such as immigrant entrepreneurship, social work, and immigration, and
rescaling social policy.
StefanoBecucci isanassociateprofessorofsociologyattheDepartmentofSocial
andPoliticalSciences,UniversityofFlorence(Italy).Hisresearchinterestsinclude
organizedcrime,traffickinginhumanbeings,smugglingofmigrants,andmigrants
process of integration and exclusion in the hosting society. His research has been
published in monographs, collected books, and scientific reviews such as Global
Crime, Quaderni di Sociologia, and European Journal on Criminal Policy and
Research. E-mail: stefano.becucci@unifi.it.
Francesco Beghelli holds a master’s degree in development economics from the
University ofFlorence. He isa professionalworking intheintegration ofmigrants
inPratoandcofoundedFinyx,acompanydeliveringauditservicestoforeignfirms
established in Prato and supporting public institutions and private organizations to
reach migrants.
Paola Biasi (Ph.D., University of Florence) is a research grantholder at the
University of Siena. She was a visiting researcher at IRPET and collaborated with
the Econometrics and Applied Statistics Unit, at the European commission, DG
Joint Research Centre. Her research interests include development economics,
sustainability, regional development, and policy evaluation.
Francesco Capone (Ph.D., University of Florence) is an assistant professor in
managementattheDepartmentofEconomicsandManagementoftheUniversityof
Florence. He is the member of the Doctorate Programme in Development
EconomicsandLocalSystemsoftheUniversityofFlorenceandTrento.Hisrecent
research interests deal with firms and networks innovation and competitiveness in
cluster and industrial districts. He published in Journal of Business Research,
Industry and Innovation, European Planning Studies among others. He recently
edited the book Tourist clusters, destinations, and competitiveness with Rutledge
(2016).
Anja Fladrich is the associate dean, Holmes Institute, Melbourne. She has many
years of experience working in the insurance and education sectors with large
multinationalcompanies,agovernmentagency,andafamilybusinessinGermany,
China, andAustralia.HerPh.D.atMonashUniversity’sAsiaInstituteinvestigated
Chinese enterprises in Prato.
EditorsandContributors xi
Susan Freeman (Ph.D., Monash University, Australia) is a professor of
International Business at the University of South Australia Business School,
Adelaide, Australia. Her research investigates the strategies of internationalizing
entrepreneurial firms, as well as multinational companies and the development of
autonomy by subsidiaries, from both advanced and emerging economy perspec-
tives. Her work has been published in Management International Review, Journal
of World Business, and Journal of International Marketing, among others.
Luciana Lazzeretti is a professor of economics and management of firms and
founding director of the postgraduate programme in ‘Economics and Management
of Cultural Goods and Museums’, University of Florence, and vice-coordinator
of the doctorate programme Developing Economics and Local Systems of the
University of Trento and Florence. According to multidisciplinary approaches, her
current research interests deal with innovation networks, creative industries and
clusters in local and global perspective, fashion industries and fashion city, urban
andregionalresilience,cityandclustertransformation,anddigitalizationofcultural
heritageandmuseums.SherecentlypublishedinJournalofEconomicGeography,
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, and Regional Studies,
among others.
Matilde Milanesi is a research fellow at the University of Florence. She received
her Ph.D. in economics in March, 2015, from the University of Florence with a
thesis on liabilities in internationalization. Her research interests lie in the area of
internationalbusinessandinternationalmarketing,industrialmarketingandbuyer–
supplier relationships, and fashion and luxury companies. She can be contacted at
matilde.milanesi@unifi.it.
Xander Ong (Ph.D., Monash University, Australia) is an emerging international
business researcher at Monash University. His research interests include the
growing impact of the ethnic Chinese diaspora, ethnic entrepreneurship,
cross-cultural management, and international strategy.
Adua Paciocco undertook graduate and undergraduate studies in Australian uni-
versities and completed a Ph.D. on the social identity construction of Chinese
migrants in Prato through Monash University. She began her teaching career as a
second language teacher of foreign languages and English language teacher in
secondary schools in Melbourne (Australia), before taking up lecturing appoint-
ments in Australian tertiary institutions. She subsequently relocated to Italy where
she has been lecturing in English in the Italian university system. She is an inde-
pendent researcher in social identity formation, in particular migrant identity for-
mation, and linguistic anthropology.
Stefano Rosignoli is a statistical researcher at IRPET (Regional Institute for
Economic Planning of Tuscany). His main field concerns economic statistics and
econometrics, national and regional economic accounts, building of regional
input/output tables, Supply&Use and SAM (Social Accounting Matrices) and
building of macroeconometric models for short-term forecast, and policy