This paper aims at reconceptualizing the role of Chinese immigrant entrepreneuship in Italian economy and society, using an approach grounded in the embeddedness perspective as portrayed by Granovetter and other scholars in New Economic Sociology. In this respect, ethnic specialisations found in Italian local production systems are seen as part of a more general system of inter-group relations in the global economic restructuring. In orther to disentangle the relationship between two forms of ethnoindustrialisation (Italian industrial districts and clusters of Chinese SMEs), we will map Chinese settlement and entrepreneurial patterns – showing the centrality of local economies – and we will identify interactions between immigration paths and local communities. The evidence of unequal participation and exploitation will be placed in the context of a critical restructuring of Italian economy, that will likely mean also the need for a radical transformation of Chinese economic participation in Italy.

Chinese Entrepreneurs in Italy. An Asymmetric Socio-Economic Embeddedness

BARBERIS, EDUARDO
2014

Abstract

This paper aims at reconceptualizing the role of Chinese immigrant entrepreneuship in Italian economy and society, using an approach grounded in the embeddedness perspective as portrayed by Granovetter and other scholars in New Economic Sociology. In this respect, ethnic specialisations found in Italian local production systems are seen as part of a more general system of inter-group relations in the global economic restructuring. In orther to disentangle the relationship between two forms of ethnoindustrialisation (Italian industrial districts and clusters of Chinese SMEs), we will map Chinese settlement and entrepreneurial patterns – showing the centrality of local economies – and we will identify interactions between immigration paths and local communities. The evidence of unequal participation and exploitation will be placed in the context of a critical restructuring of Italian economy, that will likely mean also the need for a radical transformation of Chinese economic participation in Italy.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11576/2622399
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