Business Migration: The Case of Selected Immigrant Groups in Italy

The theme of immigrant entrepreneurship is receiving increased attention in the scientific context of the more developed countries, because of the potential economic and social opportunities associated with the phenomenon. Contrary to the political debate, which reads the migration issue especially in terms of safety and assimilation, the academic debate focuses rather on the opportunities for economic and social growth that can result from the enhancement of the cultural characteristics of the immigrant population (Castles, 2010). In this perspective, the analysis of the characteristics of immigrant businesses, their spatial location, as well as the peculiar dynamics of this increasingly important component of the Italian business, it is essential in order to exploit the potential synergies resulting from the expansion of entrepreneurial foreign nationals. This type of approach has been developing in Italy only in recent years, in relation to the evolution of the legislation on self-employment of the foreign population: while in the past the phenomenon was widespread in the country only informally, the right to exercise a 'self-employment in the Italian territory was in fact extended to all foreign nationals legally residing in the Italian territory only with the Turkish Napolitano law of 1990 (cf. Mora, 2006). This paper wants to contribute to the research on the relationship between migration and economic development, migration and immigrant entrepreneurs in Italy over the last ten years.