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The Dynamics of Self‐employment and Ethnic Business Ownership among Taiwanese in Australia
Author(s) -
Chiang Lanhung Nora
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
international migration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.681
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1468-2435
pISSN - 0020-7985
DOI - 10.1111/j.0020-7985.2004.00284.x
Subject(s) - immigration , unemployment , ethnic group , ethnography , participant observation , qualitative research , work (physics) , fluency , ethnic chinese , economic growth , phenomenon , demographic economics , business , labour economics , sociology , economics , political science , social science , law , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , engineering , anthropology , physics , quantum mechanics
Taiwan‐born business and skilled migrants who settle in Australia have high unemployment rates despite being well educated and fairly affluent. This phenomenon, commonly found in Australia among new Asian immigrants, has seldom been researched. Using qualitative methodologies, including ethnographic interviews and participant observation, this paper examines economic integration of recent Taiwanese business and skilled migrants in three Australian cities: Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. The results indicate that Taiwanese immigrants find it difficult to secure employment, start profitable businesses, and adapt to the host society. The integration challenges include: lack of fluency in English, different social and cultural milieu, lack of familiarity with Australian business culture and labour relations, complex rules and regulations governing the establishment of business enterprises, small size of the market, high taxes, and lack of willingness to take up work not commensurate with their education and economic background. Policy recommendations to foster early integration of skilled migrants from Taiwan are included.