PRISMA 2020 abstract checklist migrant entrepreneurship support Europe SLR.docxMigrant entrepreneurship in Europe: a systematic literature reviewMigrant entrepreneurship in Europe: a systematic literature review

This systematic literature review (SLR) investigates migrant entrepreneurship in Europe, addressing their characteristics, encountered challenges, and policy support. The SLR uses a repeatable search protocol for sources published from 1970 to 2021, retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases. Inclusion criteria focused on migrant entrepreneurship support studies, excluding domestic migration and non-European contexts. The methods align the data with the research questions to reduce bias. The authors developed an analytical framework inspired by Bourdieu's forms of capital and created tables to synthesize the data. The SLR covers 91 peer-reviewed studies published from 1994 to 2021. The authors categorized challenges into financial, human, and social capital, alongside external factors. Challenges encompassed assimilation, language barriers, networking, funding constraints, and adapting to local business practices. Migrant entrepreneurs' stability hinged on factors such as duration of stay, language proficiency, prior entrepreneurial experience, and education. The authors identified support mechanisms to include local networks, financing, and mentoring. The SLR outlines a research agenda, emphasizing enhanced human and social capital, well-designed support programs, and bias mitigation. This review contributes to the academic literature on understanding and promoting migrant entrepreneurship in the European context and to implications for policymakers and practitioners.