1. Capitalizing on Opportunities during the Covid-19 Pandemic: Business Transitions among Chinese Immigrant Entrepreneurs in France.
- Author
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Wang, Simeng and Chen, Xiabing
- Subjects
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COVID-19 pandemic , *IMMIGRANTS , *BUSINESSPEOPLE - Abstract
This article analyses business transitions among Chinese immigrant entrepreneurs in France during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on a historical overview of the development of ethnic Chinese businesses over the last century and an empirical study carried out in five different industrial sectors (import and export, retail, catering, hotel, and tobacco) of the French economy, we examine what challenges these entrepreneurs have faced during the pandemic, what strategies they have adopted in response to these challenges, and what has enabled them to shift business patterns and commercial practices in this unprecedented situation. Our findings show that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition of Chinese immigrant entrepreneurship in France, from offline operations to digital business. However, the pandemic may not be the direct cause of this business transition; rather, it has created unique conditions which facilitate the transition. Before the pandemic, some Chinese entrepreneurs had already made or partially made the transition to "integrating online and offline businesses," "hiring beyond Chinese ethnic networks," and "paying attention to the local country's policy directions," which helped them greatly reduce the negative impacts of the pandemic. During the pandemic, two unprecedented business opportunities were opened up: "fostering local production" and "seeking low-risk sectors," which some Chinese entrepreneurs have proactively pursued since April/May 2020. These may be the new trends for Chinese entrepreneurs in France in the future. Theoretically, our study suggests that business transitions among Chinese entrepreneurs in France need to be examined beyond the framework of pure economic rationality, taking into consideration the intersection of new dynamics of Chinese migration into host country and the cross-cultural, cross-institutional, cross-thinking, and cross-border social engagement of the entrepreneurs themselves before, during, and after the pandemic. 摘要: 本文分析了新冠疫情期间在法华裔企业家的商业转型。通过对上个世纪华裔企业发展的历史回顾,以及在法国经济中的五个不同产业部门(进出口、零售、餐饮、酒店和烟草)进行的实证研究,我们考察了这些企业家在疫情期间所面临的挑战,他们为应对挑战而采取的策略,以及他们能在这些前所未有的挑战下成功转变商业模式的原因。我们的研究结果表明,新冠疫情加速了法国华裔移民企业家的商业转型,例如从线下经营转向数字化经营。然而,疫情可能并非这些商业转型的直接原因,而是为转型创造了独特的条件,促进了转型。在疫情发生之前,一些华裔企业家已经实现或部分实现了"线上线下业务融合"、"在华人族裔网络之外招工"、"关注移入国本地政策导向"等商业转型,这帮助他们大大降低了新冠疫情带来的负面影响。疫情同时也为他们带来了两个前所未有的商机:"促进本地生产"和"寻求低风险行业"。这是 2020 年 4–5 月以来一些华商的商业动向,也可能是未来中国企业家在法国发展的新趋势。在理论层面,我们的研究表明,考察在法华商的商业转型需要跳出纯经济理性的分析框架,去全盘分析华人移民与移入国的互动新动态,以及华裔企业家在新冠疫情前、中、后的跨文化、跨机构、跨思维、跨国界的社会参与。 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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