Lavoro autonomo e piccole imprese come canali di integrazione dal basso degli immigrati : il caso della provincia di Trento

This article analyzes the main theoretical interpretations of the spreading of self-employment and small enterprises among immigrant workers in Italy, building on empirical research in the local area of Trent. Generally, the Italian context provides immigrant entrepreneurs with several opportunities, as well as constraints, on institutional, economic and cultural grounds. Immigrant self-employment, in Italy, relies both on demand factors (e.g. vacancy chain dynamics, out-sourcing, differentiation of consumption models, and the first signs of "ethnic markets") and supply factors (e.g. immigrants' research for social and work mobility, not to mention their adaptation to self-employment, when unable to find more stable job solutions). This articles analyzes the methodological and substantive results, of a local research, relying both on quantitative and qualitative techniques. Access to self-employment (and possibly to enterprise creation) for immigrants turns out to follow on a relevant experience in the local job market (as employees), more often than being just a "second best" choice. Immigrant entrepreneurs in Trentino mostly deal with Italian customers and providers, "ethnic" patterns of consumption being the exception rather than the rule, as they seem to endure a widespread isolation from local institutions. The article concludes focusing on some possible guidelines for a better governance of immigrant entrepreneurship, involving local interventions in technical guidance, training and credit facilities, building on the assumption that the growth of such enterprises, as long as they are properly regulated, may have a positive impact both on immigrants and on receiving societies.