Fostering entrepreneurship and economic growth: pathways to economic resilience in Kosovo

Abstract

This study examines economic resilience in the new born state of Kosovo. Resilience is an emerging concept, which has been employed to examine economic performance and responsiveness to exogenous shocks. Drawing on interviews with stakeholders in Kosovo, this paper contributes to the emergent literature on economic resilience by examining how policy seeks to improve resilience through entrepreneurial activity. The paper finds that entrepreneurship in Kosovo is integral to promoting the diversification and capacity building, by developing institutional arrangements to harness productive entrepreneurship and reduce informal economic activity. The paper concludes that restructuring in a post-war context is extremely challenging and requires long-term joined-up approaches, before drawing a series of recommendations concerning the wider policy implications of the study.

A narrative analysis of barriers encountered by a sample of immigrant entrepreneurs in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa

“…The increasing number of immigrants venturing into entrepreneurship has not helped the cause of the immigrant entrepreneurs, but it has escalated the challenges they face. Entrepreneurial business growth is crucial in sustaining economic recovery as it creates jobs (Vorley & Williams 2017). Research that has been conducted all over the world regarding immigrant entrepreneurship (e.g.…”

Mobilising diaspora to promote homeland investment: The progress of policy in post-conflict economies

“…In situations where the diaspora view the institutional environment as challenging, for example, through exhibiting political instability, corruption and weak legal protection, investment will be discouraged (Kosmo and Nedelkoska, 2015). The economies of BiH, Kosovo and Montenegro face similar challenges to transition economies, as they have moved from a centrally planned economic system under the former Yugoslavia to a market based economy, which has meant a changing environment for economic activity (Vorley and Williams, 2016a). Yet these economies are in many ways distinct from transition economies, as they have been required to create institutions that did not exist previously at the national level of BiH, Kosovo and Montenegro.…”

“…Conflicts of interest have made the coordination of effective policy difficult, meaning that BiH has failed to place itself on a path towards growth and development (Cowen and Coyne, 2005). Kosovo was previously part of Yugoslavia and then Serbia, and the war served to further damage its already fragile economy (Peci et al, 2012; Vorley and Williams, 2016a). Following the continuation of political and ethnic tensions after the end of the war, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence as a new born state in 2008, albeit with continued tensions in parts of the country (Williams and Vorley, 2017).…”

“…In the aftermath of the wars, remittances from these diaspora communities became increasingly important to the three economies, but especially in Kosovo (Loxha, 2012; Peci et al, 2012). Around a quarter of Kosovo, Albanian households receive remittances from the diaspora (Kosovo Agency for Statistics, 2013; Vorley and Williams, 2016a), totalling approximately 17% of GDP, making Kosovo one of the top 15 recipients of remittances worldwide, relative to the size of the domestic economy (UNDP, 2012). Substantial amounts of money are also poured into the economy each year through diaspora tourism, estimated at €270 million in 2012 (Kosovo Agency for Statistics, 2013).…”

Migration and intention to return: entrepreneurial intentions of the diaspora in post-conflict economies

“…Our study focuses on Kosovo, which has seen experienced significant emigration to other parts of the world, particularly as a result of the war of the 1998/99, the consequent breakup of the former Yugoslavia and declaration of independence in 2008 (Vorley and Williams, 2016;Kotorri, 2017). This forced migration has left Kosovo with a sizable diaspora community spread around the world, but also with the challenge of developing a relatively weak economy.…”