Types and Development Stages of Migrant Entrepreneurship in Russia

Abstract

The study of migrant entrepreneurship in Russia is a relatively recent and complex social phenomenon. Its uniqueness stems from the surge in international migration, primarily from former regions of the Soviet Union, coinciding with significant socio-economic transformations, specifically the shift from the Soviet centrally planned economy to a market economy. This context partly explains the limited empirical research and the absence of a comprehensive theoretical foundation for such studies in Russian social science. Seeking to fill this gap, this article provides a brief overview of migrant entrepreneurship approaches, methods, empirical evidence, and findings. The research compares the data on migrants from Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan who started their businesses since the 1990s. The study includes 58 in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted between 2017 and 2019, supplemented by a questionnaire survey of Kyrgyz entrepreneurs (a sample of 200 persons), and an analysis of the Kyrgyz business platform, Tabarman, on social networks. The comprehensive analysis of the mutual influence of structural, group, and personal characteristics of migrants reveals ideal types and developmental stages in Kyrgyz and Azerbaijani migrant entrepreneurship in Russia across different post-Soviet periods. This article enhances our understanding of the complex dynamics of migrant entrepreneurship in the evolving socio-economic landscape of post-Soviet Russia.