Why do Asian immigrants become entrepreneurs? The case of Korean self- employed immigrants in New Zealand Joo-Seok (Joe) Lee A thesis submitted to Auckland University of Technology in partial fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts (Social Sciences) 2008 Table of Contents ATTESTATION OF AUTHORSHIP ....................................................................................................... 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... 2 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................................ 3 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 4 ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT ......................................................................................... 5 BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................................... 6 SIGNIFICANCE ........................................................................................................................................ 13 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ........................................................................................................................... 14 THESIS STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................... 16 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 16 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK................................................................................................................... 16 Middleman minority theory .............................................................................................................. 17 Labour disadvantage theory ............................................................................................................. 18 Ethnic enclave economy theory ........................................................................................................ 20 Interactive theory .............................................................................................................................. 21 Opportunity structure ....................................................................................................................... 22 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA RESEARCH ........................................................................................ 22 EUROPEAN RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................ 27 AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH......................................................................................................................... 28 CANADIAN RESEARCH ............................................................................................................................ 31 NEW ZEALAND RESEARCH ..................................................................................................................... 33 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 33 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 34 DESCRIPTION OF METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................... 34 SAMPLING .............................................................................................................................................. 34 TRANSLATION AND CREDIBILITY ........................................................................................................... 35 PROCEDURES .......................................................................................................................................... 35 SEMI- STRUCTURED AND STRUCTURED IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS ............................................................... 35 DATA ANALYSIS ..................................................................................................................................... 36 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS .................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS/FINDINGS ........................................................................................... 39 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................... 39 THE MIGRATION BACKGROUND AND REASONS ....................................................................................... 39 Why did the Korean immigrants come to New Zealand? .................................................................. 39 What kind of visa category did they come to New Zealand? ............................................................ 44 Which city (area) of Korea did they come from? .............................................................................. 44 Reasons for coming to Auckland ...................................................................................................... 44 REASONS FOR BECOMING SELF-EMPLOYED BUSINESS PEOPLE ................................................................ 45 Social characteristics and business background .............................................................................. 45 Employment opportunity and reasons for becoming self-employed ................................................. 49 TYPE OF BUSINESS, THE COST OF ESTABLISHING OR ACQUIRING BUSINESS, AND THE SIZE OF BUSINESS . 57 Type of business ................................................................................................................................ 57 The cost of establishing or acquiring the business ........................................................................... 59 The size of business ........................................................................................................................... 62 ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ......................................................................................................... 63 BUSINESS PERFORMANCE ....................................................................................................................... 65 THE LEVEL OF HAPPINESS ....................................................................................................................... 66 THE TREATY OF WAITANGI .................................................................................................................... 69 PERSONAL MATTERS .............................................................................................................................. 71 SUMMARY OF MAIN POINTS .................................................................................................................... 71 CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES . 75 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................................. 75 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................. 81 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES .......................................................................................... 83 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................... 84 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................................... 89 A: CONSENT TO PARTICIPATION IN RESEARCH....................................................................................... 89 B: LETTER TO PARTICIPANTS .................................................................................................................. 91 C: PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET ................................................................................................... 92 D: INTERVIEW FORMAT .......................................................................................................................... 95 List of Tables Table 1: Population change and proportion 1986-2001; Asian ethnic groups Table 2: Migrant employment (June 2002) Table 3: Ethnic group (total responses) and sex by status in employment for the employed census usually resident population count - aged 15 years and over, 2001 Table 4: Self-employment rates by ethnicity/race & sex, 1990 census (%) Table 5: Self-employment rates (%): U.S.-born and immigrants by country/region of origin Table 6: Rates of entrepreneurship in Australia, selected birthplace groups, persons (men & women) Table 7: Immigration History and Social Characteristics of Interviewees Table 8: Type of business of 20 participants Table 9: The cost of establishing/acquiring business for 20 participants Table 10: Income per annum resulted by the business activity Table 11: The level of happiness about new life in New Zealand (Visa category) Table 12: The level