Immigrant and Return Migrant Entrepreneurs' Motivations, Challenges, and Support Sources in Portugal's Low‐Density Douro Valley

ABSTRACT The main objective of this study is to explore and compare the motivations, sources of support, and obstacles faced by immigrant entrepreneurs and return migrant entrepreneurs in low‐density regions, using social capital theory as a theoretical framework. To ensure empirically robust results, primary data were collected in semi‐structured interviews with nine immigrant and nine return migrant entrepreneurs located in a low‐density region. The findings include that these individuals' main reasons for creating their own business are quite similar. Both report that their primary motivations are having difficulty finding a job, taking advantage of opportunities based on past experience and preferring to work for themselves. Regarding obstacles, the results show that return migrants see bureaucracy as the main obstacle while immigrants emphasize language, discrimination against foreigners, insufficient knowledge about local markets, lack of financial support and complex bureaucracy when creating a business. Most interviewees received no support when they started their company due to the absence of information on sources in the region. Empirically robust evidence is thus provided of immigrant and return migrant entrepreneurs' specific motivations, obstacles, and support sources. The results also include a comparison of these two groups that can contribute to new, more effective policies supporting migrant entrepreneurship in low‐density regions.