Setting up a small business in Albania: Return migration and entrepreneurship

Abstract

In this paper, I deal with the phenomenon of Albanian return migration. I focus on the category of returned migrants from Greece, who own a small business in Tirana, the capital of Albania. The aim of the research is to explore the circumstances under which the migrants decided to return and set up a business. I try to analyze the reasons they engaged in entrepreneurial activities through the necessity-opportunity entrepreneurship approach. Some became entrepreneurs out of necessity to avoid unemployment; others because of business opportunities. Within this last group of opportunity-seizing returned migrants, there are some who planned their return and intended to set up a business before migrating. Their objectives in Greece were to save money and gain the know-how enabling them to start and run a business back in Albania.

Return migration and entrepreneurship in Cameroon

“…The results reveal that women, those who were trained during migration and return migrants who sent more money per year, were more likely to become entrepreneurs after their return, while menthose who were self-employed before leaving, those who spent more time abroad, those who were forced to return, migrants who returned to their place of birth and residence, and those who returned from Greece-were more likely to be self-employed. Similar to Alili and Adnett (2021) but in a qualitative approach, Kerpaci (2019) analyses the circumstances in which Albanian returnees decided to return and start a business in the city of Tirana, focusing on a necessityopportunity entrepreneurship. The results reveal that some became entrepreneurs out of necessity to avoid unemployment and others due to business opportunities.…”

Editorial: Spatial Justice in Europe. Territoriality, Mobility and Peripherality

“…The fifth paper in this issue is by Kalie Kerpaci (2019), who has done research on return migrants from Greece who own small businesses in Tirana, the capital of Albania. The analysis focuses on the reasons the returnees engaged in entrepreneurial activities through the necessity-opportunity entrepreneurship approach.…”