As startups are regarded as a booster for the economy, nations are competing to attract ambitious global entrepreneurs and potential startups in their local startup ecosystem. In response to this trend, entrepreneurs are getting darer to cross the bor...
As startups are regarded as a booster for the economy, nations are competing to attract ambitious global entrepreneurs and potential startups in their local startup ecosystem. In response to this trend, entrepreneurs are getting darer to cross the border in expectation of more feasible resources and startup-friendly environment.
However, entrepreneurship on the transnational move has rarely been studied about. As such, using those involved in the global entrepreneurial migration to South Korea as a research sample, this study academically tackles with the cross-border migration of startups, explores underlying factors and subfactors, and seeks to take empirical evidence and implications.
This study performs literature review, qualitative research, and quantitative research in a row. As for the literature review, given that there is little research on the startup migration between countries, this study takes an alternative of reviewing the main factors for the comparison of regional startup ecosystems on the global stage. As the global migration of startups means interactions between regional startup ecosystems, this study assumes that the factors that work for shaping a regional startup may do to some extent for the global entrepreneurial migration.
Drawing on the literature review, this study moves on to the qualitative research and the quantitative research. The qualitative research employs the Delphi method. Based on what is deducted from the literature, this study excavates the underlying factors and the elements that are important for the global entrepreneurial migration. Then the result of the qualitative research is used for the next. Hiring the global entrepreneurs who have migrated to South Korea for their startup as a survey sample, the quantitative research with the AHP model put the factors and elements in terms of priority.
Finally, this study proposes a few significant findings. One, the research results suggests that the global migration of startups becomes popular. They show that some entrepreneurs are nomadic. Two, there are some distinguished factors and elements that especially matter in the context of global entrepreneurial migration. For instance, the support from the federal government like a visa sponsorship is a good example. Three, the factors and elements that are crucial for the pre-global migration of startups are different from those for the post-migration. The factors and elements at the individual level are more prioritized for the former situation, whereas those at the firm level are for the latter one. Such a difference means that the global migration of startups needs a customized support package depending on the stage of the migration.
It is significant that this study taps on the new topic of global entrepreneurial migration in increasing popularity and finds out the underlying factors and the elements on it. In this regard, this study opens the doors for the future researchers and practitioners.