Migrant entrepreneurship in Athens greater area

Abstract

Ethnic entrepreneurship serves as a means to economic integration. Entrepreneurial ventures often reward a wide range of personal attributes, including openness to risktaking, innovative and creative spirit, ambition and motivation. Either by nature or necessity, those very characteristics are often met among non-natives. The aim of this study is (i) to explore the economic activity of immigrants in Greece, with a special focus on the entrepreneurial activities of those settled in the wider Athens area and (ii) to identify opportunities and obstacles to economic integration. Analysis relies on two different and complementary to each other datasets. Information about the volume and composition of foreign population living in Greece, as well as data about its economic activity, sector and employment status were extracted from 2011 Population Census. Moreover, data about migrant entrepreneurship, such as the type of business, its location and year of establishment were provided by the Athens Chamber of Tradesmen, after special request. To our knowledge, this dataset had never been explored before despite being very rich in detailed information about businesses run by immigrants in the greater Athens area.