Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-ntvhh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-17T15:16:22.690Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Are Some Immigrant Entrepreneurs More Privileged Than Others? A Cross-National Comparison of Financial Capital Among Start-ups in the UK and UAE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2025

Naveed Yasin*
Affiliation:
Abu Dhabi School of Management, UAE
Muhibul Haq
Affiliation:
University of Worcester, UK
Khalid Hafeez
Affiliation:
Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, Pakistan
Nadia Zahoor
Affiliation:
Queen Mary University of London, UK
*
Corresponding author: Naveed Yasin; Email: n.yasin@adsm.ac.ae
Get access

Abstract

This cross-national study examines how ethnic resources shape access to financial capital among first-generation Punjabi-Pakistani immigrant entrepreneurs in the precious metals industries of Manchester (UK) and Dubai (UAE). Based on 50 semi-structured interviews (August 2022–July 2023) and analyzed through Template Analysis, the findings show that while co-ethnic social capital is widely mobilized across both contexts, significant intra-ethnic variations emerge between Khandani (lineage-based) and non-Khandani entrepreneurs. Khandani entrepreneurs rapidly accumulate start-up capital by leveraging their reputational credibility and transnational embeddedness, securing preferential access to large-scale financing through Rotating Credit Associations (kameti). By contrast, non-Khandani entrepreneurs face delayed entry, relying on modest loans from kin and co-ethnic migrants, with limited capacity to scale. The study highlights how lineage-based prestige intersects with broader kinship networks (Biraderi), producing differentiated trajectories of immigrant entrepreneurship. By foregrounding intra-ethnic stratification, this research extends debates on ethnic resources and mixed embeddedness, demonstrating that not all co-ethnic capital is equally accessible, and that transnational contexts reproduce rather than neutralize status hierarchies.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable