The Charcteristics of Expatriate Entrepreneurs

Abstract

DAVID R. BEFUS is with Azusa Pacific University, California, USA, George S. Vozikis is with Memphis State University, Tennessee, USA, and Timothy S. Mescon and Debbie L. Mescon are with Salisbury State University, Maryland, USA. The investment activity of expatriate entrepreneurs in Honduras in Central America and their personal characteristics were compared with other entrepreneurial propulations for this paper. The economic development impact of the expatriate investor was also explored. The profile generated from the study indicates that personal reasons were more significant that financial reasons in motivating the investor to locate overseas and government incentives played no part in the decision-making process. The comparison of personality characteristics yielded mixed results. Unlike entrepreneurs surveyed in other studies, this population of expatriate entrepreneurs demonstrated a statistically significant difference from the normal population only in relation to the characteristic of 'order'.

Enterprising expatriates: lifestyle migration and entrepreneurship in rural southern Europe

“…scenery for painting or walking holidays, redundant property for conversion, and low assembly costs for manufacturing). Our findings provide support for Befus et al (1988), who found US and German expatriate entrepreneurs in central America to be typically individuals who spotted specific opportunities -'mainly because they were expatriates' (Befus et al: 42) -in areas where their skills, knowledge and contacts gave them a competitive advantage over local businesses. This observation aligns with views that in-migrants to rural environments may more readily recognize and respond to certain market opportunities than indigenous residents (Anderson 2000, Smallbone et al 2002, McCain 2003.…”

“…As suggested by previous work (Befus et al 1988, Lardie´s 1999, SEEs are slow to set themselves up in business following arrival, the average gap being over three years. The delay was even higher for Spanish-based SEEs, where fewer than one-third started up within 12 months, and one in three took three years or more.…”

“…Isolated geographical studies of retirement migration and tourism entrepreneurship in coastal resorts offer some insight into motivations driving consumption-oriented international migration and characteristics of the individuals and their enterprises (Befus et al 1988, Eaton 1995, Williams et al 1997, Mowl and Blackwood 1999, Blackwood and Mowl 2000, Huber and O'Reilly 2004. There is no work, however, apart from that on the Languedoc by Lardie´s (1999) that explores beyond the urban enclaves and no available conceptual framework that covers the link between lifestyle migration, entrepreneurial activity and the specificity of location.…”

Migration and the Search for a Better Way of Life: A Critical Exploration of Lifestyle Migration

“…Their choice of enterprise varies and, while many work within tourism or providing services for other migrants, the advances in communications technology make the possibilities endless. Importantly, these lifestyle migrants use their businesses as a means to an end; they use them to fund their new lifestyles (Befus et al, 1988;Madden, 1999;Stone and Stubbs, 2007). For example, when small business owners on the Costa del Sol were asked why they moved, they listed climate, quality of life, and lifestyle ahead of business opportunities.…”