Understanding start-up ethnic and immigrant Pakistani entrepreneurship in the British Gold Jewellery Industry.

Yasin, Naveed (2011) Understanding start-up ethnic and immigrant Pakistani entrepreneurship in the British Gold Jewellery Industry. In: Research Festival 2011(Research Poster Competition) University of Huddersfield, 28 March - 2 April 2011, University of Huddersfield. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Ethnic entrepreneurship has become a popular and debated topic in entrepreneurship literature given the economic and social changes post WW2 that led to the formation of a multicultural society in Britain.

Previous research has shown that some ethnic minorities have a higher propensity towards entrepreneurship than the indigenous population. Ethnic and Immigrant Pakistanis are leading the self-employment and entrepreneurship trends in Britain -so making this group particularly interesting (Clark and Drinkwater, 2010). Increasingly, academic research has demonstrated that given the differing determinants of culture and society, ethnic communities can no longer be considered as a homogenous sample. Therefore, it is essential to understand Pakistani businesses and their entrepreneurial propensity.

Although the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, has referred to the ‘collective identity’ of ethnic communities as being ‘segregated’ and living ‘separate lives’ from the mainstream … this is not a true picture. On the contrary, ethnic and immigrant groups are striving to provide solutions to demographic pressures, meeting new sources of demand and generating employment through hiring seasonal, part time and occasional staff, and so contributing markedly towards the overall growth of the British economy. Many ethnic goods and services have also “broken out” and become an integral part of the new British society and way of life.

Developing a proper understanding of ethnic enterprises is a positive start to supporting integration and mutual assimilation between the ethnic and indigenous population of Britain.

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