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Abstract
Family capital can provide positive resources for entrepreneurship; however, it can also bring negative consequences that hinder the growth of a new venture. We investigated how entrepreneurs experienced and managed the positives and negatives of family capital through in-depth semi-structured interviews with Chinese immigrants who landed in Canada between 2000 and 2014. We contribute to the entrepreneurship literature by highlighting the paradoxical nature of family capital, and by identifying five strategies that entrepreneurs employed to manage the paradox.
Notes
1. Among today’s Chinese families, extended families that live together exist but are rare. Our participants told us that their extended families did not share residence with them but only occasionally visited them in Canada due to the restrictions of immigration policy. However, recognizing the importance of the kinship ideology in the Chinese family, we interviewed the participants about the family capital coming from both immediate family members and extended families.
2. There were some cases where family capital was represented in only one way, yet it was temporary. Over time, when one force reaches its extreme, it turns into the other force.