Second and Third Generation South Asian Service Sector Entrepreneurship in Birmingham, United Kingdom
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SECOND AND THIRD GENERATION SOUTH ASIAN SERVICE SECTOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN BIRMINGHAM, UNITED KINGDOM BY SUNITA DEWITT A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham May 2011 I University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis explores second and third generation South Asian entrepreneurship in Britain. To date the majority of studies have focused on understanding entrepreneurship by first generation South Asian immigrants who established businesses in traditional sectors of the economy, frequently as a result of „push‟ and „pull‟ factors. This thesis extends the work on South Asian entrepreneurship to second and third generation South Asian entrepreneurs. These generations are detached from immigrant status and the majority have been assimilated into British culture and economy, they are the British/Asians. This thesis explores the driving forces and strategies deployed by these succeeding generation of South Asians in setting up businesses in Birmingham‟s service sector economy. A framework is developed to understand South Asian entrepreneurship that consists of four elements: individual‟s driving forces, financial input, support networks and market opportunities. These elements consist of factors such as background which involves personal attributes including encouragement from parents to obtain educational credentials; inspiration from entrepreneurial family networks; and the desire to achieve status and flexibility; support networks explores the role of co-ethnic, community-based and business associations. And finally, market opportunities include the deployment of specific strategies by these entrepreneurs in locating markets for their products and services. A significant component of this is the way these generations utilise their ethnicity and duality not only to target clients and widen markets but also innovate their goods and services through fusing together aspects of Asianess and Britishness to create „hybrid products‟ which are intended to penetrate new markets. II I dedicate this work to My husband Shiv Kumar Dewitt and my children Karishma Neha Varun Thank you for your patience, support and love III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Throughout the duration of this research I have been fortunate to gain a great circle of friends and colleagues who have encouraged me to complete my journey on the „Phd path‟. My deepest appreciation goes to my supervisors Professor John Bryson and Professor Mike Taylor who throughout the course provided guidance, encouragement and support, and taught me to believe in myself especially during times of low determination. Their expertise as supervisors has been highly professional and very much appreciated. I am forever indebted to you, thank you. I would like to thank my mother and father Satya and Somnath Chandel who never fail to make me feel proud of what I do, and who help to make my achievements so meaningful to me. A huge thanks to the special man in my life my husband Shiv who has continually believed in me and given me support and encouragement through the tough times. My love and sincere thanks also go to my children Karishma, Neha and Varun for their unique and individual inspiration. Many thanks to the staff in the geography office, especially Gretchel Coldicott who has always been there to listen, offer advice and support. I would like to thank Jamie Peart, Steve Swoffer for his technical support and Ann Ankcorn for creating maps for the thesis. Special thanks go to my friends and colleagues in room 225 for listening and encouraging me especially Sandra Bagley, Dr Stephen Williams and Dr Chantel Hales. I would also like to thank Dr Phil Jones, Dr Lloyd Jenkins and Dr Dominque Moran for their support and advice. I express my gratitude to members at the Institute of Asian Businesses for their recommendations and support, especially Kiran Jagdev and the members of the Asian women networking association, as well as the staff at Birmingham City Council‟s Statistics Department for providing me with requested information. And finally I would like to thank the entrepreneurs who participated in this study as without them the research would not have been possible. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: SOUTH ASIAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP .........................................................1 1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….….....1 1.2 Entrepreneurship …………………………………………………………………...….....2 1.3 The succeeding generations of South Asians.………………………………………….…3 1.4 Grounding second and third generation South Asian entrepreneurship research ……..…3 1.5 Aims and Objectives……………………………………………………………….….….5 1.6 Why Birmingham? .............................................................................................................6 1.7 Thesis structure……………………………………………………………………..…….7 CHAPTER 2: THE THEORECTICAL CONTEXT OF ETHNICTY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP ....................................................................................11 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………....……11 2.2. Defining entrepreneurship …………………………………………………………….…11 Economic theories of entrepreneurship…………………………………….………….…12 2.2.1 Economic geography and entrepreneurship…………….…………..………………....…14 2.3. Reviewing firm formation………………………………………………………..………15 Entrepreneurial traits……………………………………………………..………15 Entrepreneurship and the environment……………………………………...……16 2.3.1 Reviewing ethnicity and entrepreneurship………………………………………….……17 Research on South Asian entrepreneurship…………………………….…..….…18 Research on second and third generation entrepreneurs………….………...….…21 „Break-out‟and accessing markets (market opportunities) ………..….………….22 Identities and hybridisation……........………………………………………...….25 2.4. Entrepreneurial networks: Social, financial and business related ….……………………27 The strength of networks…………………………………………………………29 Entrepreneurship: Ethnic and South Asian networks………………………….…30 Informal networks: Family and friends providing diverse forms of support….....32 Formal networks and business support…………………………………..…….…34 2.5 Developing a framework from limitations of current research……………………..……36 2.6 A framework for understanding second and third generation entrepreneurship…………38 2.7 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................41 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODS ..................................................................................43 3.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..…..……43 3.2 Researching entrepreneurship……………………………………………………....……43 3.3 Pre-research……………………………………………………………………....………44 3.4. The research process……………………………………………………………..…….…45 Phase one: Desk research……………………………………………………..……….…45 Research design……………………………………………………………..……….......46 Obtaining research subjects (firms/entrepreneurs)……………………………..……..…47 Interviews: Confirmations and rejections …………………………………..………...…48 Phase two: Interview process…………………………………………………..……...…51 V Selecting and implementing a research strategy……………….…………………52 Constructing questions…………………...………………………………………53 Research equipment………………………………………………………………53 The interviews……………………………………………………………………54 Phase three: Longitudinal research …………………………………………..…….……55 3.5 Analysing the data………………………………………………………………..………56 3.6 Positionality………………………………………………………………………………58 My multiple positions: Insider and outsider dynamics ……………..……………59 The insider/outsider dynamics ……………………………………..…….………60 3.7 Conclusion…………………………………………………………….………….………63 CHAPTER 4: BIRMINGHAM: SOUTH ASIAN AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP ...............65 4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………65 4.2 British economy in post-war years ………………………………………………………65 4.3 Post-war South Asian entry to Britain ………………………………………..……….…66 4.4 Birmingham: The Metropolitan City ………………………………………….…………68 4.4.1 Birmingham‟s economy in the post war years …………………………….….…………69 4.5 Birmingham‟s post-war immigrants …………………………………….….……………71 4.5.1 Birmingham‟s immigrants settlement patterns……………………………..….…………73 4.5.2 South Asian settlement patterns: 2001………………………………….………………..77 4.5.3 Wealth generation for the first generation South Asians ……………………..…………81 4.5.4 First generation and entrepreneurship ……………………………………..…………….82 4.6 Second and third generation South Asians in the UK ………………………………..….85 4.6.1 South Asian children born in the UK…………………………………………………….85 4.6.2 The education and schooling of South Asians…………………………………………...86 4.6.3 Temple institutions versus schooling…………………………………………………….87 4.6.4 South Asian Identity……………………………………………………………………...90 4.6.5 Dual identities and hybridised (Fused) tastes…………………………………………….91 4.6.6 The second and third generations: differential aspects ......................................................93 4.7 Birmingham‟s Asian self-employment …………………………………………………..96 Second and third generations ………………………………………………….…96 4.7.1 Second and third generation