Embedding entrepreneurship in social structure: Israeli‐Arab entrepreneurship

The article offers a structurationalist analysis of the embeddedness of Arab entrepreneurs in the political economy of Israel in two stages. Firstly, we consider entrepreneurs' agency in the context of socio‐spatial structural aspects concerning tangible networks that are directly associated with business operation. Secondly, we consider agents' horizons of awareness of opportunities in the market in the context of their accessibility to support institutions and elites. The analysis focuses on exposing barriers to economic growth and the understanding of their root causes. From the three structural dimensions studied in the first stage – regional scale, ethnicity and peripherality – we found that while agents struggle to embed themselves in the national economy, ethnicity and peripherality create barriers to the expansion of networks beyond home regional networks. While ethnicity seems to be a secondary barrier, peripherality emerges as the more significant mechanism that maintains low development capacity in the Arab sector in Israel. The major mechanisms that maintain Arab entrepreneurs' peripheral status include: selective state policies that privilege Jewish New Towns over neighbouring Arab ones; the abuse of power by Jewish corporations; and a vicious circle of low profitability created by the large number of small competitors. The research demonstrates that even the great effort made by Arab entrepreneurs to embed themselves in business networks on a national scale does not enable them to transform these networks to economic success. L'article propose, en deux parties, une analyse structuraliste de l'intégration des chefs d'entreprise arabes dans l'économie politique d'Israël. Tout d'abord, il étudie leur ‘l'agence’ dans le cadre des aspects structurels socio‐spatiaux concernant les réseaux réels directement liés à l'activité commerciale. Ensuite, il examine les possibilités des agents de reconnaître les opportunités du marché en fonction de leur accessibilitéà soutenir institutions et élites. L'analyse s'attache à exposer les obstacles à la croissance économique, et à comprendre leurs causes premières. Des trois dimensions structurelles étudiées dans la première partie (échelle régionale, ethnicité et périphéricité), il ressort que, tandis que les agents luttent pour s'intégrer dans l'économie nationale, ethnicité et périphéricité entravent l'expansion des réseaux au‐delà des tissus régionaux intérieurs. Si l'ethnicité paraît un obstacle secondaire, la périphéricité se révèle le mécanisme prépondérant pour maintenir une faible capacité de développement dans le secteur arabe d'Israël. Les principaux mécanismes qui pérennisent le statut périphérique des chefs d'entreprise arabes comptent: les politiques gouvernementales sélectives qui privilégient les Villes Nouvelles Juives par rapport à leurs voisines arabes, l'abus de pouvoir d'entreprises juives, et un cercle vicieux de faible rentabilité généré par la multiplicité de petits concurrents. Selon les recherches, mäme l'énorme effort des chefs d'entreprise arabes pour s'intégrer dans les réseaux d'affaires au niveau national ne leur permet pas de transformer ces réseaux en réussite économique.     

Barriers to Mobility in Europe's Civil Aviation Markets: Theory and New Evidence

A questionnaire-based survey is applied to investigate the perception of mobilitybarriers by European airline managers. Whilst the liberalisation of Europe's airline markets removed regulatory mobility barriers, we find that mobility impediments still appear to exist. Potential entrants moreover, perceive some mobility barriers as significantly more effective than others. The perceived effectiveness of a particular mobility barrier varies considerably among airline managers. We also provide an overview of previous studies on the contestability hypothesis and the effectiveness of endogenous (strategic) mobility barriers. Our results support earlier findings for the U.S. to the effect that barriers to mobility are perceived to exist and matter. Whilst our results are clearly subjective, as they are based on the perceptions of managers, we believe such perceptions matter as they inform managerial actions. In this sensewe believe our results are of value.     

What determines the effectiveness of barriers to entry in liberalised airline markets?

Hypotheses are derived concerning the effectiveness of entry barriers in deterring route entry in liberalised airline markets. Survey data are used to reflect the perception of airline managers in Australia/New Zealand, Canada, the European Union (EU) and the US. We find that industry conditions, and an entrant's objectives, characteristics and strategies influence the effectiveness of entry conditions in hindering entry. The results suggest that effectiveness is a function of the perceived height of the barrier, the perceived ability of the entrant to overcome it, and the reward expected from entry.