The Entrepreneurial Practices of Chinese Business Migrants in Australia, 2000-2019

Abstract

This thesis investigates how contextual and individual factors shape the entrepreneurship of Chinese mainland business migrants in Australia. Business migrants are generally successful businesspersons who migrate via the business migration program, which aims to attract High-­‐Net-­‐Worth Individuals (HNWIs) for their capital and entrepreneurial skills. Since 2000 mainland China has overwhelmingly dominated the business migration program in Australia. An empirical investigation of economic practices of Chinese mainland business migrants can provide policy direction for maximising the economic potential of the business migration program in the coming decade. The dual embeddedness approach, a multilevel theoretical model for transnational entrepreneurship, is employed in this thesis. The approach situates business migrants in a dual and multi-­‐dimensional political-­‐economic sphere to identify contextual and individual factors that influence the economic behaviours of business migrants. The mixed-­‐methods study utilises the Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset 2016 (ACMID 2016) and semi-­‐structured interviews. The ACMID 2016 was used to establish the business migrants’ socio-­‐economic characteristics, and to estimate the quantitative effect of contextual and individual factors on the economic practices of business migrants. In-­‐depth interviews were also undertaken in Adelaide and Melbourne (N=58) to deepen understanding of the quantitative results to elaborate how, when and why business migrants have specific economic practices over time and space. The study found that the socio-­‐economic characteristics of business migrants differ by visa type, their arrival period and destinations. Recent business migrants arriving in Australia after 2012 are likely to have a higher educational attainment and more abundant financial capital. However, there is no intra-­‐group difference regarding English proficiency. It was found that business migrants are embedded in institutional arrangements and economic contexts in both China and Australia simultaneously. Their economic outcomes are highly subjected to the adjustments of the business migration policy, the industrial structure of destination locations, and the uncertain bilateral relationship between origin country (China) and destination country (Australia). Specifically, the policy revamps are driving business migrants toward critical and high-­‐end sectors, and transnational businesses. Business migrants are more inclined to choose the policy-­‐friendly States. Permanent residents are likely to sustain their businesses in labour-­‐ and capital-­‐intensive sectors. An increasing number of business migrants are capitalising on China’s surge in economic development, and they also have geographically distinctive economic behaviours. The study also found that business migrants attempt to exploit different forms of individual resources (social capital, human capital, and financial capital) to develop their businesses. Social networks play different roles with respect to the network types and broader social and economic contexts. There is a mismatch issue if the skills and entrepreneur know-­‐how of business migrants are not host country-­‐specific. In addition, the inflow of financial capital varies according to the sub-­‐visa types of business migrants. It was found that the economic potential of business migrants is positively related to the extent by which they can integrate into the host society. This thesis contributes to our knowledge of how business migrants, as a type of high-­‐end migrant entrepreneurs, perform in a new destination environment. The study identified the economic behaviours and practices of business migrants from a multilevel embeddedness perspective. The economic actions of business migrants are not carried out in a vacuum, while can be viewed as an interactive outcome generated by a combination between individual factors and contextual factors. Based on research findings, the study evaluates the economic contributions and predicts the economic behaviour of business migrants in the coming decade. The thesis provides policy and practical recommendations to benefit both the Australian economy and business migrants.