The role of diaspora in opportunity-driven entrepreneurial ecosystems: A mixed-methods study of Balkan economies

Migration is among the main factors influencing economic development in the twenty-first century. And while much research has explored the role of migration on economic growth, the role of diaspora for the development of the country-of-origin entrepreneurial ecosystems remains virtually unknown. We advance evidence that the entrepreneurial activity in a country does not depend only on the activities of the current residents but also on the ties that keep them interconnected via its diaspora to global entrepreneurial hubs and on the (intangible) resources that the diaspora makes available to local entrepreneurs. We perform a mixed-method study and provide evidence consistent with the idea that the diaspora stimulates opportunity-driven entrepreneurial activity despite potential conditions of a brain drain, by contributing essential social and human capital to the resources available locally.