Refugee entrepreneurs in Turkiye prospects and challenges

Abstract

This paper examines the success factors and barriers of refugee entrepreneurs in Turkey. 244 owner/manager of refugee enterprises participated in the survey. Exploratory Factor Analysis was utilized to analyse the data. Out of 40 variables, 10 variables were deleted after running the factor loading. The remaining variables have been grouped under ten groups (10Gs) of success factors and barriers. Three groups under environmental success factors (G1, access to capital and to business information, G2, marketing and infrastructure, G3, government support and infrastructure), two groups under individual success factors (G1 personal entrepreneurial traits, G2, social status, age and educational attainment), three groups under environmental barriers, (G1, lack of financial support, economic situation of host country and the rising prices of public utilities, G2, negative perception of refugees among the public and media and the sense of competition in the local labor market, G3, local regulation and lack of resources) and finally two groups under individual barriers (G1, low level of education, requirement of degree equivalency, and lack of language proficiency, G2, lack of demand for goods and services and lack of business advice). The findings of this study provide policymakers with a deeper understanding of the success factors and barriers to the entrepreneurial activities of refugees. Refugee entrepreneurship programs could be better outlined in light of the insights of this study.