Page 130 - IJPS-11-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Country choice for migrant entrepreneurship

the majority of the Eastern European countries do not Table 1. Comparison between the used three indexes
follow this trend, the scores for Ukraine, Moldova, and EuCham, MIPEX, and IMIGRENT
Romania are higher (i.e., at least 50 out of 100). Finally, Countries 2020 EuCham MIPEX IMIGRENT
when comparing the scores of the IMIGRENT index, there
are some deviations (Table 1). The reason for this might Denmark 86 49 79
be that some aspects related to migrant integration in the Sweden 84 85 79
MIPEX are underestimated in the IMIGRENT index. Estonia 77 50 78
Finland 83 85 78
3.3. The IMIGRENT index
Norway 83 69 77
3.3.1. Main ideas of the IMIGRENT index Germany 80 58 75
This section introduces a new method for quantifying the Portugal 69 81 75
appeal of a given country for entrepreneurial activities, Iceland 79 56 74
known as the IMIGRENT index. To the best of the author’s Luxembourg 75 64 74
knowledge, this is the first instance of an index that Netherlands 79 57 74
incorporates in-depth analyses and personal insights from United Kingdom 80 56 74
various criteria for quantifying a country’s attractiveness for
entrepreneurship. This index is based on a comprehensive Belgium 75 69 73
set of criteria comprising six categories: Austria 78 46 72
Ireland 77 64 71
• Immigration procedures: This category encompasses
various aspects such as stay permits, processing Lithuania 71 37 71
timeframes, work permits, recognition of foreign France 73 56 70
diplomas or qualifications, and citizenship procedures Slovenia 68 48 70
• Company registration and ownership: This category Croatia 60 39 68
covers various factors such as the freedom to conduct Czech Republic 66 50 68
business, tax procedures, ownership and direction Greece 58 46 68
of one’s company, and registration as an individual Italy 63 58 68
entrepreneur
• Personal affairs and accommodations: This category Latvia 68 37 68
considers various aspects such as purchasing real Poland 67 40 68
estate by foreigners, proficiency in the local language, Switzerland 79 56 68
bringing one’s vehicle, and using a foreign driver’s Bulgaria 58 40 66
license Cyprus 66 41 66
• Social services: This category includes health care and Romania 59 49 66
pensions for foreigners and educational opportunities Slovakia 63 39 66
• Specific issues: The factors in this category include
anti-discrimination measures, crime indexes, the risk Spain 70 60 66
of armed conflict, terrorism, and kidnapping Hungary 59 43 62
• Climatic and other natural conditions: This category Ukraine 50 48 57
considers various factors such as environmental Note: The third column shows the position of the countries according
quality, geological and climatic hazard risks, risks of to the author’s calculations of the IMIGRENT scores.
disease (e.g., malaria), and air pollution levels. Abbreviations: IMIGRENT: Migrant Entrepreneurship;
MIPEX: Migrant integration policy index; EuCham: European chamber.
The country score is determined by the following formula:
Score (country) = ∑ Q × W, i 3.3.2. Results of the IMIGRENT index: The case of
i
i
where the sum of i refers to all the questions under Europe
investigation, totaling 77 (or 25 in the reduced version). For more clarity, the 25 main questions in the reduced
Meanwhile, Q represents the discrete values introduced version of this analysis are presented in the Appendix. An
i
by these questions (e.g., 0, 10, or different values) and illustration of the application of these questions to various
W refers to the corresponding weights assigned for each European countries, based on each country’s legislation
i
question, ranging from 0 to 1. Based on these aspects, the and the author’s criteria of a hypothetical EU citizen
maximum score for a country is normalized to 100. entrepreneur, is presented in Figure 4.

Volume 11 Issue 2 (2025) 124 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.4447