Institutional voids, misalignments and workarounds: the role of intermediaries for forced migrant entrepreneurship

This article uses institutional theory to examine barriers faced by forced migrant entrepreneurs in labour, capital and product markets, the strategies they employ to overcome these challenges and the role of different actors in supporting their efforts. Empirically, the study draws on interviews with Venezuelans who were forced to migrate due to the political and economic crisis in their country and established a business in Colombia. Findings identify the different institutional voids and misalignments that pose nested challenges for forced migrant entrepreneurs, and how the government, digital technologies and migrant communities become institutional intermediaries to enable their workaround practices. These findings provide different theoretical and practical contributions to migrant entrepreneurship.