Refugee Entrepreneurship and Institutional Voids: The Case of Syrian Refugee Entrepreneurs in Egypt

Refugee entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed as a viable means for refugees to gain self-reliance and integrate into their host countries. Yet, given the diversity of institutional contexts that host refugees, calls have been made to expand research on how institutions influence refugee entrepreneurship. We respond to this call by presenting herein an abductive study of Syrian refugee entrepreneurs in an emerging market (Egypt) who managed to establish and maintain entrepreneurial ventures despite institutional voids (i.e., where key institutions are either missing or underperforming). The work offers an extension of the institutional voids perspective for studying refugee entrepreneurs, known as “refugee-economy voids.” These account for the influence of national and international formal and informal institutions on refugee entrepreneurs. To address refugee-economy voids, we also discuss three strategies used by refugee entrepreneurs: (a) masking strategies, (b) jockeying strategies, and (c) informal crowdfunding strategies. This paper also provides new evidence dealing with the supportive role and solidarity of the host country’s nationals with refugee entrepreneurs. On a policy level, the findings can inform the development of targeted policy interventions to address refugee-economy voids across different host countries and to improve support for refugees’ self-reliance through entrepreneurship.