2024
Working Paper
HBS Working Paper Series

Bounded Solidarity: The Role of Migrants in Shaping Entrepreneurial Ventures

By: Astrid Marinoni and Prithwiraj Choudhury

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:77

Abstract

We explore a previously unexamined aspect of migrants’ contributions to local entrepreneurial ecosystems: the value created by cooperative interactions between migrants and locals in entrepreneurial ventures. Specifically, we analyze whether mixed teams composed of migrants and locals generated distinct entrepreneurial ideas compared to teams composed only of locals during an experimental intervention involving a two-day idea-generation challenge. Examining detailed surveys, evaluations by a panel of judges, and text analyses, we find that while ideas tended to be comparable over a variety of dimensions for both groups, mixed teams disproportionately proposed socially beneficial entrepreneurial ideas. Further analyses indicate that this outcome stems not from the inherent prosocial tendencies of migrants but rather from their interactions with locals, spurred by a process of bounded solidarity.