The multiple institutional constraints facing new Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia

• Date: 01 July 2019
• Author: Fan Liang
• Published date: 01 July 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/tie.22047

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The multiple institutional constraints facing new Chinese

immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia

Fan Liang

Tasmanian School of Business and Economics,

University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania,

Australia

Correspondence

Fan Ling, Tasmanian School of Business and

Economics, University of Tasmania, Hobart,

Tasmania 7001, Australia.

Email: fan.liang@utas.edu.au

Drawing on insights from the institutional entrepreneurship literature about changes that occur

under institutional constraints, in-depth interviews with 36 new Chinese immigrant entrepre-

neurs (NCIEs) were conducted in Australia. The findings suggest that NCIEs are not only con-

strained but also enabled to make changes by the regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive

forces across Australia and China, thus leading to different practices and a particular distribu-

tional pattern in business activities. This feature distinguishes NCIEs from other segments of

ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs. This study provides an explanation for the changing landscape of

business activities among NCIEs and also identifies an alternative avenue for changes under

institutional constraints. Immigrant entrepreneurs are suggested to not only draw competitive

advantages from their cultural origins and ethnic resources but also engage in both the main-

stream and international markets. An inclusive and supportive regulatory framework is

suggested as a way to facilitate the business growth of immigrant entrepreneurs and revitalize

local economies.

KEYWORDS

Australia, changes, China, multiple institutional constraints, new Chinese immigrant

entrepreneurs (NCIEs)

1|INTRODUCTION

The accelerating trend of immigration and the associated business

activities have now no longer been a pure social but also an economic

and business phenomenon strongly impacting on countries of settle-

ment (Dheer, 2018; Gao, 2013). Research has found that business

activities of immigrant entrepreneurs play an important role in coun-

tries of settlement (Mavoothu, 2009; Wong, 1998). Unfortunately,

much of the existing research on Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs

has focused on their historical and sociocultural features and has, until

recently, neglected their business activities. We know little about how

business activities of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs have evolved

in countries of settlement (Dheer, 2018; Gao, 2013; Ma, Zhao,

Wang, & Lee, 2013). This study therefore aims to investigate how

practices, which refer to established activity patterns shared by the

actors to provide order and meaning (Jarzabkowski, 2005;

Lounsbury & Crumley, 2007), are formed by Chinese immigrant entre-

preneurs in business activities. The business practices of Chinese

immigrant entrepreneurs will be examined in the context of the

multiple institutional constraints across Australia and China. This

study is expected to provide an alternative explanation for the broad

effects of the multiple institutional constraints on the business prac-

tices of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs. It is also expected to inform

the decision-making and business management of Chinese immigrant

entrepreneurs in particular and immigrant entrepreneurs in general.

Finally, this study should also benefit policymakers by providing a

deep understanding of the changing landscape of immigrant

businesses.

Chinese immigration has a long history and has fluctuated over

time (Skeldon, 1996). The earliest wave of Chinese immigration, dur-

ing which ethnic Chinese mainly served as hard labor, can be dated

back to the mid-1800s. The second wave of Chinese immigration

began after the end of World War II, when industrial regions, including

North America, Europe, and Australia, gradually relaxed their immigra-

tion policies. Consequently, many Chinese, mainly from Hong Kong,

Taiwan, and Southeastern Asian countries, migrated to those indus-

trial areas.

DOI: 10.1002/tie.22047

Thunderbird Int. Bus. Rev. 2019;61:623–633. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tie © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 623