Migrant entrepreneurship has been analyzed through frameworks such as the push–pull (Bates, 1997; De Freitas, 1991), opportunity–necessity (Fairlie & Fossen, 2020; Mueller & Pieperhoff, 2023), and mixed-embeddedness (Jones & Ram, 2007; Kloosterman, 2010; Ram et al., 2017). Psychological well-being (hedonic and eudaimonic) and affect (trait and state, including emotions, mood, feelings, and disposition) on entrepreneurial entry, behavior, and decision-making has also gained attention in the broader entrepreneurship domain (Arora et al., 2013; Delgado-García et al., 2012; Forgas, 2014; Hayton & Cholakova, 2012; Nikolaev et al., 2020; Sakamoto et al., 2006; Wiklund et al., 2019).

However, the migrant entrepreneurship literature has given limited attention to the antecedents and consequences of eudaimonic well-being (EWB) in entrepreneurial pursuits by ethnic first-generation skilled professional migrant (FGSPM). These migrants originate from non-white, collectivist societies and move to westernized, individualist societies (Green et al., 2005). Bailey and Mulder (2017) reference a 2015 OECD, World Bank, and ILO report, which states that one-third of highly skilled migrants in the OECD are from Asia, and one-fifth of all tertiary-educated migrants come from countries like India, China, and the Philippines. Their migration aims to leverage their professional skills and education to enhance their personal and professional lives (Kumar & Pillay, 2021).

Migration to a Western society can have significant psychological impacts on ethnic minorities (Bhugra & Becker, 2005), particularly first-generation migrants whose culture, traditions, and norms differ greatly from the host country. These migrants often experience cultural loss, social disconnection, and identity struggles—which Bhugra and Becker (2005) liken to bereavement in terms of its effect on mental well-being. For self-initiated middling migrants (Mar, 2005; Robertson, 2019)—those who migrate independently through skilled programs and come from middle-class backgrounds—this adjustment can be particularly challenging.

They may experience numerous hurdles impacting their identity and well-being, including non-acceptance, cultural misfit, loss of social and support networks, and underutilization of skills and education compared to their pre-migration status–job-role fit. These challenges, along with limited employment opportunities (David & Schäfer, 2022), can hinder financial security (Fernando et al., 2015) and, in some cases, lead to downward social mobility (Collins & Low, 2010). Such external factors can create profound internal struggles, impacting self-identity—theorized as eudaimonic identity (EI) (Waterman & Schwartz, 2013)—and their overall well-being.

Post-migration experiences can disrupt FGSPMs’ established EI, leading to an EI functioning crisis. The psychological toll may vary based on an individual’s disposition, coping abilities (e.g., self-regulation, control), and available support (e.g., family, social networks). Many FGSPMs address this crisis by re-establishing EI through the process of self-discovery and self-creation/self-construction, recognizing aspects of themselves, their new environment, the opportunities it presents, and identity choices that enhance their likelihood of success (Waterman & Schwartz, 2013). Some achieve this through entrepreneurship, overcoming migration challenges, and adapting to the host country. Understanding EI and EWB as precursors to entrepreneurship is crucial in migrant-receiving Western societies, where skilled migration drives economic growth and migrant entrepreneurship rates exceed those of host populations (Dabić et al., 2020; Dana & Morris, 2007; Dheer, 2018).

Dabić et al. (2020) emphasize the need for interdisciplinary approaches that transcend boundaries and consider country contexts in future migrant entrepreneurship research. To address the call, this study integrates psychology, migration, and entrepreneurship. It follows Tranfield et al.’s (2003) systematic review process and employs Jaakkola’s (2020) theory and literature synthesis approach to combine insights from these domains in constructing a conceptual framework. The framework examines ethnic migration’s impact on identity and well-being through the EI theory, explores the role of dispositional affect in entrepreneurial pursuits, and assesses how entrepreneurial migrants leverage their unique human capital (skills and resources) to identify, evaluate, and exploit opportunities in the host country.

Based on the interdisciplinary literature review, the conceptual framework aims to address the overarching research question: Is the crisis in EI and EWB the antecedent that influences entrepreneurial entry among FGSPM from ethnic minorities in Western societies?

The overarching question is addressed by answering the following questions:

This framework facilitates an understanding of the psychological motivation that may drive FGSPM’s transition from employment to entrepreneurship in the host country, without having prior entrepreneurial experience to exploit.

Wiklund et al. (2019) lean on subjective well-being as the overall state of mental wellness, encompassing both hedonic (pleasure and pain avoidance) and eudaimonic (vitality, meaning, and self-realization; Stephan et al., 2020) aspects. This study contributes to the growing discussion on the role of psychological well-being in entrepreneurship, enhancing literature on the antecedents and consequences of EI and EWB through entrepreneurial entry. We examine migration’s impact on EI as an antecedent and the role of affective disposition as an enabler of entrepreneurship (Arora et al., 2013; Delgado‐García et al., 2012; Forgas, 2014; Hayton & Cholakova, 2012; Nikolaev et al., 2020; Sakamoto et al., 2006). Wiklund et al. (2019) highlight the need to consider future research opportunities in entrepreneurship where well-being is both a dependent variable and a psychological resource. We address this gap and move the agenda forward by focusing on FGSPMs and how entrepreneurship helps resolve their EI and EWB crisis, with dispositional affect acting as the enabler. This crisis thus becomes both the antecedent and dependent variable that drives entrepreneurial pursuit.

Skilled professional migrants who become entrepreneurs enrich the venture creation ecosystem but may deplete the talent pool, undermining the goals of skilled migration programs in host countries. In Australia, for instance, Hyndman-Rizk and de Klerk (2019) note that while the country benefits from skilled migration, migrants face challenges in securing jobs aligned with their qualifications and skills; additionally, there is a lack of policies to support, develop, and enhance entrepreneurial activities (Collins, 2003; SBS 2024) among migrants. This study’s relevance therefore extends to the policy context of migrant-importing countries. Clark and Drinkwater (2010), Beckers and Blumberg (2013), as cited in Azmat and Fujimoto (2016), highlight that ethnic entrepreneurs’ contributions to host countries’ economies are increasingly recognized. This creates an opportunity to support aspiring entrepreneurial skilled migrants from diverse ethnic backgrounds with tailored entrepreneurial and psychological support infrastructure.

Such infrastructures can address the needs of skilled professionals seeking self-employment in fields aligned with their expertise. From a policy perspective, this study provides insights into the challenges faced by FGSPMs, the impact on well-being, and how policymakers can support them through entrepreneurial and psychological ecosystems, enabling migrants to effectively contribute to nation-building through entrepreneurship.

The next section outlines the theoretical foundation for constructing the novel conceptual framework, followed by the method used to build the framework.

The conceptual framework is derived from an interdisciplinary literature review using Jaakkola’s (2020) theory synthesis approach, which advocates for the conceptual combination of multiple theories or literature streams across disciplines. This approach facilitated the integration of insights across entrepreneurship, psychology, and migration. The systematic review followed Tranfield et al.’s (2003) three-stage process: (1) planning, (2) searching for relevant articles, and (3) synthesizing themes through coding and analysis to construct the novel framework.

First stage:

i) Literature search and selection criteria

During the planning stage, decisions were made regarding the literature search strategy and review scope. The focus was on reputable interdisciplinary databases containing studies on migration, well-being, and entrepreneurship (including migrant entrepreneurship) as a psychological phenomenon in Western societies, as well as the role of human capital in entrepreneurial entry. A shortlist of databases with relevant literature was compiled, prioritizing journals in entrepreneurship, migration studies, and psychological well-being. Additionally, government and public–private reports (e.g., OECD, World Bank, ILO, Bureau of Statistics), along with books and book chapters, were considered. In total, articles from 43 journals across entrepreneurship, psychology, sociology, and intercultural studies were reviewed.

Table 1 lists the journals searched for thematically related or adjacent research, key findings, open questions, and gaps requiring further investigation.

The full list of journals is available in Table 1 (Kumaria et al., 2025), accessible on Figshare: https://doi.org/10.25909/28497260.

Next, search terms were selected for use within the databases accessed through the university library system.

ii) Search terms and keywords

Paul and Criado (2020) note that a literature review may include anywhere from 40 to over 500 relevant papers. However, selecting appropriate articles is challenging, often requiring authors to rely on their expertise to define inclusion and exclusion criteria. Our search terms and keywords were derived from those appearing in article titles, abstracts, or keyword lists. Although this approach may yield a smaller sample size (Paul & Criado, 2020), search terms and keywords were used independently and in combination to expand the search across directly relevant, indirectly related, and adjacent domains, mitigating this limitation.

iii) Database selection

We initially searched four databases Table 2—Web of Science (WoS), SCOPUS, EBSCOhost, and ProQuest—to identify a single database covering entrepreneurship, migration, and well-being journals. Our search focused on articles with “entrepreneur*” and “well-being” in the title, abstract, or keywords. Based on the initial results, WoS was selected as the preferred database due to its access to interdisciplinary journals spanning entrepreneurship, business, psychology, and migration within a single platform.

WoS provided access to research from major publishers, including Wiley, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Harvard Business School Publishing, Sage, Springer Nature, Emerald, Oxford University Press, and the American Psychological Association. Through these publishers, we could access articles from key journals such as Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Small Business Management, Small Business Economics, Journal of International Business Studies, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, Harvard Business Review, Journal of World Business, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Sociologica, and Journal of Business Research, among others, as well as articles from lesser known journals and book chapters.

Figure 1 provides WoS Search visualization of publications by countries and regions.

Second stage:

i) Article search and selection

In the second stage, the initial search (2017–2023) was later expanded to include earlier articles based on relevance to the research scope. The CRAAP test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose) from California State University-Chico was used to assess article credibility (Meriam Library, 2010). Recognized as a practical evaluation framework and a useful starting point for evaluating the credibility and reliability of information sources, the CRAAP test guided the selection of reliable sources, discarding those that did not meet its criteria. When the search period was expanded, in some cases, the “currency” criterion was overlooked when an article’s relevance or theoretical foundation significantly contributed to understanding the observed phenomenon of skilled professional migrants’ entrepreneurial entry.

Appendix 1 details the article search, selection, and coding process (Kumaria et al., 2025) accessible on Figshare: https://doi.org/10.25909/28497260.

Table 4 outlines the inclusion and exclusion criteria (Kumaria et al., 2025) accessible on Figshare: https://doi.org/10.25909/28497260.

The WoS search initially yielded 1,618 results (Appendix 1). Figure 2 visualizes the number of articles by publication year, while Figure 3 presents a breakdown by journal titles.

Further refinement of the search led to 268 articles; these were reviewed at a high level by examining abstracts, introductions, and conclusions. This ensured that the research scope had not been previously explored and would contribute new knowledge to the literature. Themes, open questions, and future research agendas identified in these articles were used to refine the research objective. A final selection of 76 interdisciplinary articles was made based on three inclusion criteria: (1) the articles should focus on well-being, entrepreneurship, and migration, either jointly or independently; (2) most should be published in high-impact journals; (3) they should have citations and relevance to the research topic, assessed using the Web of Science citation analysis tool. The final selection consisted of 76 articles, 3 book chapters, and 6 grey literature sources (government or publicly funded reports), which formed the basis for the proposed conceptual framework.

Third stage:

i) Systematic reading, coding (labelling, organizing, categorizing), and analysis

The third stage of the systematic review, as outlined by Tranfield et al. (2003), involved systematic reading, review, and note-keeping of papers relevant to the thematic and topical requirement addressing the research question. The process involved organizing articles into labels and categorizing these labels into three categories: antecedent, behavior, and consequences.

Appendix 2 provides the high-level coding and categorization of these labels (Kumaria et al., 2025), accessible on Figshare: https://doi.org/10.25909/28497260.

Table 5 can be found in Appendix 3 (Kumaria et al., 2025), accessible on Figshare: https://doi.org/10.25909/28497260.

It presents detailed coding, labels, and categorizations for each article, including titles, keywords, original author-assigned labels, citation counts, and our organizing labels and categories.

For example, the article “Multiculturalism and Entrepreneurial Intentions: Understanding the Mediating Role of Cognitions” by Dheer and Lenartowicz (2018), cited 103 times, carried author-assigned labels like “Biculturals, identity integration, entrepreneurial intention, psychological and cognitive factors influencing intentions.” We organized it under labels such as Identity integration, Cognition, Environmental factors, Use of capital, Entrepreneurial intentions, and Opportunity identification. It was categorized within Antecedent/Impact on self, Subjective; Behavior/Use of capital; and Consequence/Entrepreneurial entry.

Through this process, articles were curated and organized using Zotero and MS Excel, with themes identified and categorized. Litmaps AI was used to generate a review map to explore article themes, their adjacency, and journal impact.

Figure 4 shows the literature review articles and their adjacency towards the research parameters.

The thematic codes were analyzed and synthesized to develop a novel conceptual framework. The editorial “Entrepreneurship and Well-being: Past, Present, and Future” (Wiklund et al., 2019) served as the starting point to explore the well-being and affective dimensions of entrepreneurial entry. Psychological theories on EI and EWB by Waterman and Schwartz (2013) and Ryff (2019) provided a foundation for understanding these dimensions. The works of Nikolaev et al. (2020) and Arora et al. (2013) on dispositional affect informed the understanding of this aspect in entrepreneurial entry. Additionally, Kloosterman’s (2010) research on migrant entrepreneurship, highlighting the unique use of human capital (skills and resources) by migrant entrepreneurs, contributed to the building of the conceptual framework that provides an understanding of the observed phenomenon of FGSPM’s entrepreneurial entry without prior entrepreneurial experience in Western society.

The next section provides the descriptive findings of the literature review, followed by a discussion.

Many Western nations, grappling with demographic challenges and a shortage of skilled labor, have implemented programs to support skilled migration (Bailey & Mulder, 2017; Hunt, 2010). Countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States of America (USA), and members of the European Union (EU) offer pathways for skilled migrants to obtain long-term residency and citizenship. Examples include the EU’s Blue Card initiative, the USA’s EB1 visa category, and Australia’s skilled migration program. These skill-based visas are predominantly utilized by professionals originating from developing or underdeveloped economies (Pio, 2007).

Australia and Canada (Aliaga-Isla & Rialp, 2013; Gunasekara et al., 2019, Sherrell, 2015) are prominent examples of Western societies heavily reliant on permanent migrants from demographically rich developing countries for economic and population growth. In Australia, seven of the top 10 countries of migrant origin are located in Asia (Department of Home Affairs Website, n.d.). Since 2020, over 1.7 million skilled permanent migrants have settled in Australia, with approximately 700,000, or 41%, coming from countries such as India, China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan (ABS, 2021). Similarly, the 2021 Canadian census reveals that of the 1.3 million new permanent migrants who settled between 2016 and 2021, 62% were from Asia, including the Middle East (Government of Canada, 2022).

Defining culture at the national level can be overly simplistic, especially considering the diverse ethnic makeup of many Western countries. Skilled migrants often come from non-white, collectivist cultures and must adapt to the individualistic values of Western societies, which can pose challenges for their social and professional integration (Green et al., 2005; Klyver & Foley, 2012). These self-initiated middling migrants (Mar, 2005; Robertson, 2019) are typically middle-class professionals in their home countries who migrate without pre-arranged jobs. Instead, they rely on their skills and qualifications (Collins, 2008) to secure skilled visas, aiming to utilize their human capital—leveraging past work experience and education—to integrate into the labor market of their host country (Doherty et al., 2013; Guttormsen, 2017; Mohyuddin et al., 2022).

For instance, Australia runs one of the most successful skilled migration programs (Phillips & Simon-Davies, 2017), utilizing a points-based system (Gunasekara et al., 2019). Points are awarded based on factors such as age, qualifications, work experience, and additional incentives for regional migration, as identified through skill shortages and industry consultations (Immigration and Citizenship Website, 2024). While skilled migrant visa holders are granted unrestricted work rights in Australia, employment is not guaranteed.

Research on migrant entrepreneurship reveals mixed motivations for starting businesses. De Vries (2012), citing Rai (2008), notes that Indian migrants in New Zealand often turn to entrepreneurship only after failing to secure employment. Similarly, Clark and Drinkwater (2010) argue that individuals with higher qualifications prefer professional employment over entrepreneurship. Consequently, skilled migrants arriving in Western societies typically aim to leverage their human capital for employment, often considering it a more desirable path than entrepreneurship. In contrast, literature suggests that migration is linked to increased entrepreneurial activity (Dana & Morris, 2007; Williams & Krasniqi, 2018), with some studies showing that experiences of discrimination push migrants toward necessity entrepreneurship (NE) (Mueller & Pieperhoff, 2023; Jamaludin et al., 2020).

Migrant entrepreneurship research has traditionally been economically driven, using frameworks like:

These frameworks emphasize economic and place perspectives as enablers for migrant entrepreneurship. However, psychological well-being has recently gained attention, especially in the context of necessity entrepreneurship (Mueller & Pieperhoff, 2023). This aligns with a broader understanding of the psychological perspectives of well-being within the entrepreneurship domain (Wiklund et al., 2019). Despite this emerging focus, migrant entrepreneurship has not been thoroughly examined through the lens of EWB, highlighting a significant research gap.

We will now share the findings and the discussion of the inter-disciplinary literature review, initially looking at the literature on migration and well-being, followed by the literature review on disposition and entrepreneurship, and finally the literature on migrants’ utilization of capabilities towards entrepreneurial entry.

Our proposed conceptual framework has limitations. First, as entrepreneurial discourse increasingly shifts towards well-being, we focused on articles that contribute to this area. Given the broad scope of well-being in psychology, we emphasized the eudaimonic tradition over the hedonic one for two reasons: (1) the growing focus on entrepreneurial well-being (EWB) in entrepreneurship literature, and (2) our aim to highlight entrepreneurship over employment, especially for skilled professional migrants in host countries with limited entrepreneurial experience. For these migrants, entrepreneurial entry involves a process of new identity formation through self-creation/self-construction and self-discovery, ultimately leading to EWB.

Second, since the exploration of identity within the EWB discourse is still emerging, our review required interdisciplinary research, connecting currently unlinked literature streams. While bold, this approach posed challenges where decisions needed to be made on what should constitute identity. Given the focus on EWB, we determined that the connecting thread on identity should be eudaimonic, leading us to consider EI theory in relation to well-being. Another limitation is that to reduce biases and avoid excluding relevant articles, we included publications from journals with lower impact factors. This broadened the scope of research in this area. Lastly, while our framework is based on the observed phenomenon of FGSPMs entrepreneurial entry, we have not considered other migrant groups (e.g., refugees, asylum seekers, lottery-based immigrants) experiences towards eudaimonic challenges. However, the framework can be applied to test its validity with these cohorts.

This research, when incorporated into future research agendas, contributes to entrepreneurial literature by examining EWB through the lens of EI functioning as a psychological resource. The role of EI and EWB crises as antecedents to entrepreneurial pursuits, particularly among ethnic entrepreneurs in Western, migrant-receiving countries, requires further exploration. As Western countries increasingly depend on skilled migrants from developing nations, the phenomenon of entrepreneurial venture creation among these migrants warrants in-depth investigation, focusing on psychological EWB and its connection to EI in their entrepreneurial entry decisions.

Our framework introduces a novel conceptualization of the EI functioning crisis as an antecedent to EWB crises, prompting FGSPMs to consider entrepreneurship. We acknowledge the existing contribution within entrepreneurial literature that those who choose self-employment over others do so based on their dispositional affect. However, dispositional affect acts as an enabler of entrepreneurial entry. The EI functioning crisis leading to the EWB crisis as an antecedent to entrepreneurial entry is our novel contribution through this framework.

This research and conceptual framework provide a strong foundation for entrepreneurship and international business scholars to empirically test and validate its functionality. Future studies could focus on FGSPM entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, such as Indian professionals who migrated to English-speaking countries under skilled visa programs and transitioned to entrepreneurship. International business scholars could explore its impact on talent pools and the socioeconomic landscape of migrant-receiving Western countries.

Empirical research to test the framework could employ qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods, using interviews or experiments to capture subjective experiences, as well as measurement of EI and EWB variables using established scales for longitudinal studies. Validating this framework would enhance understanding of psychological well-being and identity functioning in the context of migrant entrepreneurship while offering deeper insights into the unique interplay between migration, identity reconstruction, and entrepreneurial pursuits, advancing the field of entrepreneurship studies.

This research and its empirical validation offer valuable practical insights for policymakers interested in immigration and entrepreneurship, given their impact on economic development (Dabić et al., 2020). With limited policy support for immigrant entrepreneurship (Hyndman-Rizk & de Klerk, 2019) despite its role in wealth and job creation (Kerr & Kerr, 2016), this study can offer novel insights not provided earlier on opportunities that policymakers may have to support skilled professionals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds through tailored entrepreneurial and psychological infrastructure.

Such infrastructure could help skilled migrants pursue self-employment aligned with their expertise, maximizing their human capital and reducing the EWB crisis. Policies may include networked communities, establishment of entrepreneurial and psychological ecosystems, dedicated support networks, community spaces that foster business aspirations and well-being, funding from government and industry sources, and language and occupation/opportunity-specific training via tertiary or vocational institutions.