Responding to financing uncertainty in complex settings: the case of immigrant entrepreneurs from the Arab world in Sweden

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the financing decisions of immigrant entrepreneurs (IEs) in complex settings in host countries, where uncertainties surrounding access to finance persist. While previous studies have acknowledged the presence of financing barriers, they have not sufficiently explained how IEs manage to sustain their entrepreneurial activities. To address this gap, this study presents a dynamic analysis of the financing decision-making process of IEs based on qualitative data gathered from 30 interviews with IEs from the Arab world residing and operating in Sweden. Findings reveal a three-phase decision-making process influenced by situational and dispositional factors. Additionally, the study captures distinct patterns of financing choices made by IEs when confronting uncertainty in complex settings. Specifically, it captures a behavioural aspect of being financially ‘ambidextrous’ or ‘non-ambidextrous’ across multiple contexts.


Introduction
In the context of immigrant entrepreneurship, extant literature provides extensive evidence of the financing barriers encountered by immigrant entrepreneurs (IEs) in host countries (e.g.Duan, Kotey, and Sandhu 2023;Yamamura, Lassalle, and Shaw 2022).These barriers are prominently observed in accessing essential financing IEs require to survive their entrepreneurial entities (e.g.Malki, Uman, and Pittino 2020).To capture such an inherent unlikelihood of obtaining desired access to financing while facing these barriers (c.f., McMullen and Shepherd 2006), this study employs the term 'financing uncertainty', influenced by the Knightian perspective (Knight 1921).
Employing descriptive and comparative approaches in examining the IEs' financing endeavour, the extant literature falls short of providing a comprehensive understanding of how IEs respond to financing uncertainty.Typically, prior studies tend to focus on describing the different sources of IEs' financing, the barriers they encounter, and the role of social networks in their pursuit of financial resources (e.g.Aldén and Hammarstedt 2016;Bird and Wennberg 2016).Additionally, these studies frequently engage in comparisons between IEs and native entrepreneurs, as well as across different ethnic groups and generations with regard to their financing pursuits (e.g.Hulten and Ahmed 2013;Ostrovsky, Picot, and Leung 2019).This static approach to IEs' financing lacks the necessary depth to fully understand the mechanisms and the factors involved in shaping the IEs' responses to financing uncertainty.
However, to efficiently examine the IEs' financing uncertainty, it is essential to account for the complexity of their opportunity structures in host countries, including co-ethnic and mainstream settings (Hegde and Tumlinson 2014).The existing literature on uncertainty in complex environments is notably limited (see Townsend et al. 2018), exhibiting a significant gap in knowledge concerning economic behavioural dynamics in complex settings.This gap is equally salient in the realm of immigrant entrepreneurial financing, with a limited understanding of the IEs' behavioural responses to financing uncertainty across multiple opportunity structures to secure their survival in host countries.While preliminary conceptual frameworks have been proposed (see Malki 2022), there remains a dearth of empirical insights on this critical subject.Therefore, the primary objective of this paper is to empirically address this gap by investigating the following question: How do IEs make financing decisions in response to financing uncertainty in complex settings in host countries?
In addressing this question, the study employs a qualitative interpretative approach (Gioia 2021) analysing data from 30 in-depth interviews with IEs from the Arab world residing and operating in Sweden.The findings reveal that IEs' decision-making passes through three main phases: building of cognitive repertoire, formation of financing preferences, and determination of financing choice.The evolution of each of these phases is informed by four situational and dispositional factors: structural integration and financing awareness, perceptual appraisal of financing alternatives, situational conditions, and financial flexibility.As such, the findings contribute to the literature on immigrant entrepreneurship in four ways.First, by challenging the traditional static view of the IEs' pursuit of finance in host countries (Bird and Wennberg 2016), and presenting it instead in a continuum that explains the occurrence, development, and decline of financing uncertainty.Second, by providing an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms shaping the decision-making process of IEs in complex settings.While the study outlines a cognitive process for making financing choices (c.f., Johansson et al. 2021;Lee et al. 2019), it also incorporates situational and dispositional elements that inform different behavioural patterns of financing choices.Third, in addition to situational barriers commonly discussed in the literature (e.g.Aldén and Hammarstedt 2016), the study introduces the psychological factor as an additional component of these barriers (c.f., Harima 2022;Jones et al. 2014).Finally, in terms of financing choices, the study offers new insights into the patterns of choices made by IEs when facing uncertainty in complex settings.Specifically, the findings present a behavioural perspective that classifies the financing choices of IEs as either ambidextrous or nonambidextrous, depending on the opportunity structure within which their actual and intended access to finance occurs (see Malki 2022, forthcoming).
Next, the paper discusses the relevant literature and establishes the theoretical framework for defining IEs' financing uncertainty in host countries.Following this, it discusses the qualitative method and analytical process employed, presents the findings, and concludes with contributions, implications, limitations, and future research directions.

Uncertainty in IEs' financing
IEs, like other seekers of finance, must fulfil standard criteria for business creditworthiness, viability, risk, and planning when applying for formal financing in the host market.However, what distinguishes IEs is their exposure to additional barriers stemming from issues related to ethnic homophily and integration deficiencies in host countries (Aldén and Hammarstedt 2016).Research on immigrant entrepreneurship highlights that IEs heavily rely on coethnic structures to access resources in host countries (Ding 2018).However, coethnic opportunity structures are characterized by a limited supply of resources, including financing (Saxenian 2002), making accessibility to necessary resources uncertain due to intense competition (Kloosterman, Van der Leun, and Rath 1999).
Additionally, although some immigrants show adequate levels of integration into host societies, frequent cases of deficient socio-economic integration remain a common issue (Zheng, Song, and Sun 2020).Concerning their pursuit of finance, studies show that poorly integrated IEs fail to show proper behaviour and conformity with mainstream financers, thus preventing the initiation of trustbased financial collaboration between them (Deakins et al. 2009).As a result of distrust, communication with mainstream actors will be reduced, which in turns excludes IEs from accessing proper financial information in the mainstream market, i.e. an information asymmetry problem (Ostrovsky, Picot, and Leung 2019).Besides distrust and information asymmetry, the empirical evidence shows an association between the denial rates of financing applications and the demographic characteristics of applicants from non-native backgrounds (Aldén and Hammarstedt 2016), based on their ethnicity, race, and gender (Zhang, Wong, and Ho 2016).Whether the denial originates from the attitudes of mainstream financers, or from the IEs' failure to integrate and demonstrate a trustworthy attitude, this demographic discrimination, along with distrust and information asymmetry, constitutes a substantial barrier to the IEs' financing.
In the light of the above-discussed barriers, the IEs' ability to access financing is highly uncertain (McMullen and Shepherd 2006), threatening the survival and growth of their ventures in host countries (Kariv and Coleman 2015).According to Knight's 1921 epistemic approach, a situation is 'uncertain' when its outcome cannot be predicted.As such, uncertainty includes a sense of 'doubt' about achieving the desired outcome, e.g.accessing necessary financing (Lipshitz and Strauss 1997).Drawing on this logic, the paper defines the term 'financing uncertainty of IEs' as the situation where the likelihood of the IEs' access to necessary financing in host countries being rendered doubtful, due to a multitude of barriers.Even though uncertainty in this sense is also applicable to native entrepreneurs, it is higher for the IEs given their exposure to barriers in different opportunity structures, e.g.coethnic and mainstream (Malki 2022).
Finally, it is essential to acknowledge that the perception of uncertainty is inherently subjective, as it varies among individuals based on the situational and dispositional determinants in place (Lipshitz and Strauss 1997).For instance, contextual factors, including laws, regulations, and resource availability, as well as dispositional factors like values and beliefs, can influence individuals' confidence in accessing targeted resources.This perspective on financial uncertainty, although theoretically articulated, remains to be empirically substantiated.

IEs' response to uncertainty
Given the critical role of uncertainty in business operations (Venkataraman 2019), entrepreneurs regularly engage in addressing it as an inherent part of their processes.Extensive research highlights that entrepreneurs overcome uncertainty through complex decision-making approaches guided by entrepreneurial judgement (Foss, Klein, and Bjørnskov 2019).Hastie (2001) defines judgement as the assessment, estimation, and inference of potential consequences and responses to uncertain circumstances.In the context of entrepreneurial endeavours, judgement primarily pertains to resource utilization encompassing acquisition, combination, and reconfiguration (Foss, Klein, and Bjørnskov 2019).In essence, entrepreneurial judgement involves evaluating various scenarios related to resource availability and alternative applications within an uncertain context.Consequently, entrepreneurs employ their judgement to select a behavioural response that aligns with their expectations (McMullen and Shepherd 2006).
Since the decision-making process is best understood in connection with context (Foss, Klein, and Bjørnskov 2019), acknowledging the multi-contextuality of IEs in host countries enables capturing the complexity of their decision-making in the face of uncertainty.Over time, IEs demonstrate an increased inclination to integrate into mainstream networks (Arrighetti, Bolzani, and Lasagni 2014;Vershinina et al. 2021), and thus become functional across multiple contexts, including coethnic and mainstream contexts (Kloosterman, Van der Leun, and Rath 1999;Rodgers et al. 2019).However, achieving multicontextuality does not necessarily entail complete and equal integration into all aspects of institutional, economic, and social domains within these contexts.Instead, IEs often exhibit uneven integration (Hulten and Ahmed 2013), being more economically integrated into one context while socially integrated into another.Such uneven integration exposes IEs to inconsistent influences arising from contextual differences (Malki, Uman, and Pittino 2020), thus rendering their responses to uncertainty a complex phenomenon.
When pursuing finance, facing uncertainty in multiple contexts confronts IEs with challenging decisions.Specifically, due to limited access to financing within coethnic structures, IEs may opt to extend their pursuit of finance to mainstream structures in search of better opportunities (Ram et al. 2003).However, this choice comes with a potential trade-off, namely, the risk of losing social capital with individuals who share their values, beliefs, and identity.Such a loss creates an existential dilemma for IEs as it threatens their social connection to their original identity (Keefe 1992).Conversely, IEs may choose to preserve social capital with coethnics and rely on conventional financing structures (e.g.Biggs, Raturi, and Srivastava 2002).Nevertheless, this choice exposes them to the risk of business failure, as they become locked into saturated structures with limited resources (Kloosterman, Van der Leun, and Rath 1999).Consequently, making a rational judgement in such paradoxical situations becomes a complex task requiring IEs to possess heightened awareness, flexibility, and behavioural complexity (Malki, Uman, and Pittino 2020).Despite facing such challenges in their pursuit of finance, IEs demonstrate an intriguing ability to ensure the survival and success of their entrepreneurial ventures in host countries (Kerr and Kerr 2020).Hence, adopting this perspective on financing uncertainty provides an appropriate framework for exploring how IEs make financing decisions that enable their survival in complex settings in host countries.

Research context
Sweden was chosen as the research context for this study due to its active participation in international refugee protection programmes (UNHCR 2020).Over the past five decades , Sweden experienced a significant increase in international migration, driven by migration policy reforms aimed at addressing labour force shortages and promoting entrepreneurship (Englund 2002).These reforms, accompanied by institutional improvements, have created a conducive environment for entrepreneurship, attracting immigrants to start their own ventures in Sweden (Kazlou 2019;Kazlou and Klinthall 2019).
Immigrants in Sweden are heterogeneous in terms of their origins (Yazdanfar, Abbasian, and Brouder 2015), with approximately 25% of the immigrant population hailing from the Arab world (Statistics Sweden 2021).It is worth noting that this paper employs the term 'Arab world' to indicate countries or regions where the Arabic language is central, serving as a unifying factor for diverse ethnic and cultural groups.Given the proximate social, institutional, and belief systems these IEs generally share, this paper considers them a harmonious social group, and thus adopts this group as its unit of analysis.By doing so, the paper aims to provide a fine-grained analysis of patterns derived from a specific ethnic group in a specific context (Waldinger, Aldrich, and Ward 1990).

Research design and sample
This paper employs an exploratory, interpretative approach to understand how IEs respond to financing uncertainty in complex settings in host countries (Gioia, Corley, and Hamilton 2013).By accessing the lived experiences of individuals in their natural settings, this qualitative approach helps us to understand complex phenomena that shape human behaviour (Gioia 2021).However, delving into the IEs' financing experiences incorporates a high level of sensitivity.Therefore, the study uses a purposive sampling technique (Charmaz 2006), initiating contact with IEs who meet the unit of analysis criteria and share an ethnic background with a researcher (Patton 1990).Next, a snowballing technique is employed, where initial interviewees connect the researchers with other participants sharing similar ethnic, personal, familial, or business relations (Patton 1990).
The final sample consisted of 30 participants from eight different countries: Syria, Lebanon, the State of Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Morocco, Somalia, and Turkey (Arabic-speaking region).The majority of participants were male entrepreneurs (25 out of 30), consistent with the male dominance observed in ethnic studies (González-González et al. 2011).The age range of participants was 23 to 69 years old, and their operations were spread over various business activities across 10 domains: commerce, market services, clothing services, labour support, car services, housing, health care, food, construction, and financial services.The participants also represented different generations, including 1 st generation, 2 nd generation, and in-between generation (arriving in the host country at ages between six months and 13 years).This generational diversity aimed to explore potential variations in perception and response to financing uncertainty among IEs of different generations.The diverse characteristics of the sample allowed for the identification of a wide range of factors and provided nuanced insights into the decision-making process of IEs.

Data collection
Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection to access the participants' real-time experiences and retrospective accounts (e.g.Gioia, Corley, and Hamilton 2013).Participants were asked to tell stories about their integration and business experience, as well as their financing barriers, preferences, and choices in Sweden.In addition to the story-telling questions, the interviews included situational questions in the form of 'what would you do if' to reflect on hypothetical scenarios in contrast to those they actually experienced (c.f., Latham et al. 1980).The use of such questions helped obtaining a deeper insight into the participants' emotions, knowledge, experience, intentions, and personality characteristics (e.g.Latham et al. 1980).
The data collection process employed an iterative approach, aiming to enhance conceptual saturation and obtain deeper insights into the factors and processes shaping the IEs' response to financing uncertainty (Thornberg and Charmaz 2014).A total of 30 interviews were conducted to investigate various themes, including integration, business experiences, as well as financing barriers, preferences, and financing choices.This inquiry involved exploring the factors and rationales involved, alongside the intended choices in the absence of the actual ones.Interviews, ranging from 55 to 142 minutes, were conducted in Arabic, the participants' original language, to facilitate their expression of experiences, emotions, and knowledge.Finally, the interviews were digitally recorded after obtaining the participants' consent.These recordings were transcribed verbatim in Arabic, with no translation into English, to retain the participants' intended meanings.

Data analysis
The analysis commenced with the utilization of the open coding technique, in English, conducted by a native Arab member of the research team.This approach involved a thorough coding of each manuscript using active-form codes, facilitating deeper access to the latent meanings in the participants' experiences (Gioia 2021;Thornberg and Charmaz 2014).The subsequent theorization process encompassed an analysis stage of two orders (Gioia, Corley, and Hamilton 2013).In the first order, the codes were categorized based on the central meanings, ideas, and patterns captured in the participants' narratives.This was followed by the second order, which involved a thematization of the intended meanings within each category.The resulting themes were then synthesized into overarching conceptual constructs, providing a detailed depiction of the main factors that influenced the participants' experiences.Throughout this process, code categories, themes, and aggregate dimensions were continually refined and adjusted through comparison with one another and with the data itself (Gioia, Corley, and Hamilton 2013).
The analysis process, which employed extensive analytical memoing, was concluded upon reaching theoretical saturation, whereby no new insights were derived from the incoming data regarding the aggregate dimensions and their relationships (Charmaz 2006).Diagramming the data structure was essential to ensure transparency and facilitate an understanding of the evolution and interrelationships of code categories, themes, and dimensions (Pratt 2008).Finally, a model was developed to depict the relationships between the emergent concepts and provide a visual representation of the IEs' behavioural mechanism in response to financing uncertainty (Gioia 2021).

Ensuring trustworthiness and ethicality
To ensure methodological rigour, this study adheres to the trustworthiness criteria proposed by Lincoln and Guba (1985).for qualitative research: credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability.Credibility and dependability were established through the systematic application of recommended steps and guidelines in qualitative literature (Charmaz 2006;Gioia 2021).This included the use of methodological techniques such as prob and situational interview questions, open coding, analytical memoing, and data structuring and modelling (Gioia 2021).Moreover, the research team demonstrated a strong familiarity with the phenomenon context and units of analysis, encompassing factors like ethnic origins and research orientation.Lastly, confirmability was addressed by engaging an external native reviewer to ensure the accuracy of English coding in reflecting the intended meanings transcribed from the original data in Arabic.Furthermore, the study provides a comprehensive description of the context to facilitate the transferability of findings to similar situations and contexts.
To ensure ethical compliance, this paper adheres to the principles of the Helsinki Declaration by following a rigorous process concerning the acquisition of informed consent from participants, safeguarding their privacy, and preserving research data confidentiality.Namely, to obtain informed consent, the participants were provided a form via email detailing the study purpose and procedures, data preservation and anonymization methods, besides their explicit right to retract from the project at any time.This form was extensively discussed with the participants prior to the interviews.During this discussion, the participants were encouraged to ask further questions about the information provided and beyond.Informed consent was verbally obtained through voice recording before each interview.

Findings
Figure A1 displays the data structure, depicting codes, themes, and conceptual dimensions derived from participants' experiences.Building upon empirical insights and logical patterns in the data structure, Figure A2 presents a model illustrating the three phases of IEs' decision-making process.The model also showcases barriers, factors influencing each decision-making phase, and the resulting patterns in financing choices.
For consistency, the study categorized the IEs' financing sources into two groups based on their context: internal financing and external financing.Internal financing refers to funds originating from the IEs' natural settings, such as personal savings, business revenues, and support from family, friends, and coethnics.External financing, on the other hand, involves formal and informal actors outside the IEs' personal and coethnic circles, such as bank loans, governmental programmes, noncoethnic trade credit, and venture capitalists (VCs), etc.

Phase 1: building cognitive repertoire about financing
This dimension represents the knowledge IEs accumulate about financing alternatives in the host country and the requirements for accessing them.Surprisingly, participants in 16 instances demonstrated a balanced awareness of both internal and external financing sources, contrary to the expectation that they would be more knowledgeable about internal sources.Among the 11 types of external alternatives, participants primarily focused on sources such as banks, government-owned venture capitalists (VCs), and business angels.For example, participant i10 mentioned several financing alternatives, including both internal and external sources, when asked about options for business initiation and operation: In entrepreneurship, you can always start by putting some money out of your own pocket, or borrowing, if possible, from family and friends [. ..] in small-size businesses bootstrapping is always preferable [. ..] however, you can also present your business idea to a business angel who might like it and become a partner [. ..] you can also approach a bank for a personal or business loan [. ..] you can also pump some money in by asking someone from your surroundings for partnership [. . .] or you can approach a venture capitalist [. ..] or if you want your business to become big, and if it achieves certain criteria, it can be made publicly owned by a larger number of people through an IPO.(i10) Additionally, in eight instances, participants exhibited an even greater knowledge of external alternatives than internal ones.For example, out of the 5 alternatives available, participant i24 mentioned 4 external alternatives and 1 internal: I know (Science Park Alpha) which helps newly established firms to kick off and develop [. ..]ALMI could also help with loans.There are some platforms called crowdfunding as well to collect money after you have pitched your idea.So, anyone, even ordinary people, might be interested in financing your idea.You can also approach a bank [. ..] you can also ask your friends if you have some.[. ..] (i24) Concerning knowledge about the requirements to access the stated external alternatives, all participants identified six different prerequisites, with a near-consensus on 'creditworthiness'.For instance, participants i22 and i11 discussed creditworthiness from different perspectives: In other instances, the participants discussed other requirements, such as 'business experience' and 'business plan' (i08 and i29): [. ..]Banks in Sweden consider immigrant businesses as creating job opportunities for those people; therefore, banks require loan applicants to have proven experience in their claimed business domain.(i08) You need a solid business plan if you intend to approach ALMI.They want to ensure you do your business properly and won't give you money if your plan is not solid.(i29) Regarding whether social interaction with native peers facilitated acquiring such financial knowledge, participants in 22 incidents reported average to no social integration with native peers.For instance, participants i05 and i30 explained social difficulties with native peers in the host country: Business relations are very different from social, they are better than social and based on what each part can offer [. ..] making a social relationship with Swedes is a bit complex [. ..] social integration is very difficult.(i05) Society is very difficult to get into and make social relations.I feel integrated in the country system, but not in social terms.(i30) However, further investigation revealed that these participants perceived themselves as more structurally integrated into the economic and institutional systems of the host country.For instance, they described active interaction with actors such as business customers, Governmentowned VCs (e.g.ALMI), business incubators (e.g.Science Park, Krinova), the job centre, university, workplaces, and business-related authorities.The participants further indicated that such a structural integration in the host country was helpful for learning about the available financing and how access to it.For instance, participants i04, i05, i24, and i29 mentioned the role of some institutions in developing their knowledge about economic conduct in the host country, including financing: [. ..]I've been in contact with some incubators that work at the European level in Stockholm.They've helped with a lot of information about what is required to establish a company from A-Z. (i04) I needed someone to help me write the business plan for my company, thus I contacted the job center, which linked me with a specialist who even helped with advice about how to approach banks for loans.(i05) [. ..] (Science Park Alpha) helped me to kick off the company and get access to lots of market contacts, including people working at ALMI, to get a loan if needed.(i24) I approached ALMI, where I learned to prepare a budget for my company.They helped develop my business plan so that it gets a better chance for a loan.(i29)

Phase 2: formation of financing preferences
This dimension refers to the participants' preferences and prioritization of financing alternatives based on their perceptions and personal qualities.Namely, based on their accumulated financing knowledge, participants evaluated internal and external financing alternatives and assigned positive and negative attributes to each based on their perceptions.This perception was mostly determined by criteria such as risk, cost, commitment, religion, stress, and ownership dilution.For example, risk was a key factor for participants in 13 instances when evaluating the suitability of internal and external alternatives (see Table A1).In nine additional cases, participants perceived external financing as risky, expressing concerns about potential loan repayment failure due to high costs, which implied credit risk: I think interest prices on bank loans are high for newly established businesses.You're establishing a business in a new country [. ..] so with a few mistakes one could be suddenly sunk into huge debt, which makes a lot of trouble if you are not able to pay off [. ..] (i04) In contrast, other participants considered internal alternatives such as loans from family, friends, and coethnics as risky due to concerns about jeopardizing their loved ones' savings, i.e.capital risk, and potentially damaging their relationships, i.e. relational risk.This created a dilemma where participants had to balance their business financing needs with the impact on their personal relationships: You should already have part of the capital before starting your business.It's not acceptable to borrow from friends and family and gamble with their money; no, this is not appropriate.(i11) Participants also assessed financing alternatives based on the level of commitment they required from individuals (Table A1).In this concern, participants in seven instances held a lower appreciation for external financing compared to internal sources: The good idea with family money is that it's free of interest, while you have a strict commitment with the bank, and you could get some issues if you don't pay on time.(i23) Additionally, participants' preferences were influenced by the psychological strain associated with financing, particularly the stress experienced by the recipients (Table A1).Notably, in eight instances, participants perceived external financing as stressful and therefore expressed a preference for internal financing instead: I reached a point of conviction not to take any type of loan except from my family [. ..] loans imply a lot of stress because you have requirements to fill [. ..] besides the risk of failing the business, so you can imagine how stressful that would be.(i22) Lastly, participants expressed their preferences from a specific religious perspective, namely Islam.In particular, 8 participants mentioned that interest cost, particularly associated with external financing, was considered taboo, and not favoured.In these cases, internal financing where no interest is imposed was preferred: Interest is considered as 'Riba' in Islam, thus it is absolutely taboo for us.(i03) Despite the religious criterion favouring internal alternatives, participants exhibited an equal preference for mixed financing alternatives (Table A1).When asked to rank their financing choices, 28 participants were evenly divided between solely internal and mixed sources.While preferences in the former group were driven by emotions, religion, and risk-and cost-aversion, the latter group demonstrated more informed preferences based on a deeper understanding of available financing alternatives: Family is tolerant.They will support you even if you lose your business.Most important is that with family I don't have to pay interest [. ..] interest is taboo in our religion, Islam.(i03) [. ..]After family tolerance, I prefer a bank loan because it is time prolonged and affordable over the long run.Banks prefer safe businesses to invest in; therefore, it becomes difficult to convince them when I have a bold idea.(i02) While internal financing was commonly favoured as a hedging element in participants' financial preferences, it was not a universal trend.Two participants (i10, i29) showed a preference for exclusively relying on external financing, deviating from the general pattern: I don't prefer mixing family relationships with money [. ..] once money is involved, there will be problems, and then you might lose someone in the family.Therefore, I prefer to get an investor who is neither family nor a friend.(i10) Finally, the participants' subjective evaluation of financing alternatives revealed the presence of selfimposed psychological barriers.The perception of a financing alternative as risky, taboo, expensive, requiring commitment, or psychologically stressful is primarily influenced by personal judgement, resulting in variations among individuals (Table A1).For example, while some participants found financing from family and friends favourable, others did not share the same perception.Similarly, opinions regarding bank financing ranged from perceiving it as expensive and taboo to considering it convenient: I prefer formal loans [. ..]When you borrow money from family or friends you may suddenly be asked to pay back the borrowed amount [. ..] you will be indebted with favor as well [. . .] it is psychologically relieving to avoid this risk and situation.(i01) In this example, i01's assumption regarding the possibility of being asked for early redemption when borrowing from family and friends was a personal belief rather than a factual observation.Although lacking a factual basis, this assumption acted as a psychological barrier, preventing the participant from considering finance from family and friends as a viable alternative.

Phase 3: determination of the financing choice
This phase refers to the IEs' final decision about the financing alternatives to be used.This decision relies on the interaction between the participants' financing preferences, situational conditions, and financing flexibility.Analysis of the data revealed unexpected patterns: 16 participants favoured mixed financing, while 13 preferred internal sources (Table A1).This imbalance resulted from participants collectively shifting their preferences from one financing type to another, with different directions observed.For example, 8 participants who initially favoured internal financing later included external financing in their actual portfolios.Additionally, participant i10, who initially leaned towards a sole preference for external financing, later used internal alternatives as a final choice.Participant i13 provides an example of such a shift: Preference (i13): Personally, I prefer to count on myself to finance my business [. ..] it also goes smoothly to borrow money from family and friends, especially if extra money is available.
Choice (i13): I've financed the business from my and my wife's savings and asked my siblings for a small amount [. ..] however, we needed to pay for a larger capital, so I took two loans, one from ALMI, and another from the bank.
Inversely, 7 participants who initially favoured mixed financing later decided to exclude external alternatives from their final choices.An illustrative example of this shift is participant i25: Preference (i25): I don't prefer mixing family and business relations.I would rather use my own savings or borrow from a bank to avoid distorting family relations.
Choice (i25): At the beginning, my project didn't need a large capital, so I used my own savings to start with [. ..]When the business started to generate revenues, I used them to gradually expand.
These shifts indicate that the participants possessed a high level of flexibility and a diverse repertoire of financing knowledge.The data reveals that participants deviated from their initial preferences based on the specific conditions they faced during the financing decision.Three main conditions (creditworthiness, lack of alternatives, and the need for additional financing) were identified as the primary drivers behind the shifts observed in the 16 mentioned cases (Table A1).While the need for additional financing is a common condition for any business seeking survival or expansion, creditworthiness and the lack of alternatives present situational barriers that hinder access to preferred financing alternatives.For example, in six instances, participants indicated that external financing was unnecessary, limiting their choices to internal alternatives: When I started the accounting office, I didn't need that large capital, therefore I used some money I saved [. ..] there was no inventory to buy, no machinery.I even worked from home in the first period [. ..] then after a while, I used the business revenues to rent an office.(i09) Inversely, in 12 other instances, external additional financing was needed to expand and/or survive, leading the participants to use external financing: Out of these cases, 8 participants mentioned that the insufficient availability of internal alternatives pushed their choices towards external sources, contradicting their initial preferences.In other words, the scarcity of preferred financing options such as personal savings, family, friends, and coethnics forced their choices towards opposite alternatives, such as external loans: [. ..]Even though it is prohibited in our religion to take a bank loan, however, I had no other solution [. ..]I've already borrowed from family and friends, but it wasn't enough.(i15) Creditworthiness was another situational barrier that participants in six instances reported as hindering their access to external financing.As a result, they were compelled to shift their choices towards internal alternatives: In the first business attempt, access to a bank loan was impossible because the business was new and I couldn't provide proof that the business was profitable, and I didn't have fixed income at that time as collateral.(i30) While participants demonstrated flexibility in their actual responses to situational conditions, this flexibility was also evident in their planned choices when asked about their reaction in case their current choices were unavailable.For example, in 7 out of the 17 cases where the actual choice was either mixed or solely external, participants indicated that they would turn to internal alternatives such as savings, coethnic partnerships, and bootstrapping if their preferred choice was unavailable: In this case, I would look for a wealthy partner.Preferably someone who is trustworthy, creative, and shares similar values.(i02) In contrast, among the 13 cases where the actual choice was internal, 6 participants mentioned that they would opt for external alternatives, specifically turning to banks: If I didn't have my savings to finance the business, I would then go to the bank and ask for a loan.I'm sure they would give me the loan since I have a fixed employment income as a guarantee.(i07) Indeed, it is important to highlight that situational conditions can also present opportunities that enhance access to finance, rather than solely implying barriers.In five cases, participants mentioned receiving assistance through intermediation from natives, coethnics, and family members, which expanded their financing alternatives beyond their initial preferences (Table A1).For example, participants i16 and i11 shared that they received intermediation from natives, which ultimately facilitated their access to external financing through network provision: [. ..]Having had one of my cofounders, who was native and the CEO of our company, enabled us to get our financing request approved by native business angels [. ..]I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have got this approval if I was the one negotiating.(i16) In the remaining cases, the participants reported an intermediation role by family and coethnics, resulting in direct involvement in the form of either collateral provision or help with loan applications: I was in a wheelchair when I asked one of my relatives to take me to a shopping center to search for premises to rent for my furniture store [. ..]The premises were expensive, and the owners didn't accept renting it to me because I was not credible to them [. . .]This was solved when my relative made a bank deposit that covered one rental year.(i18)

Discussion and theoretical contribution
This paper investigates the financing decisions of IEs in complex settings in host countries characterized by persistent uncertainties in accessing finance.Specifically, it addresses the research question: how do IEs make financing decisions in response to financing uncertainty in complex settings in host countries?Findings reveal a three-phase progression in the financing decision-making process of IEs (see Figure A2).These phases involve building cognitive repertoire about financing, formation of financing preferences, and determination of financing choices.Several factors influenced the decisionmaking process, including structural integration, perceptual appraisal of financing alternatives, situational conditions, and financial flexibility.This interplay led IEs to demonstrate complex financing patterns, characterized as 'ambidextrous' and 'non-ambidextrous', flexibly leveraging their multiple opportunity structures.
The study makes four significant contributions to the literature on immigrant entrepreneurship.First, by expanding upon existing research on IEs' pursuit of financing in host countries (e.g.Bird and Wennberg 2016).While previous studies have examined the accessibility of finance for IEs from a static perspective, focusing on whether access is obtained or not, this study adopts a dynamic perspective inspired by Knight's concept of accessibility in the face of barriers (1921).This dynamic perspective views financing as a continuum rather than an endpoint and explores strategies to overcome the uncertainty associated with financing barriers (c.f., Zayadin et al. 2022).The proposed model in Figure A2 depicts the IEs' exposure to psychological (e.g.religious, perceptual) and situational barriers (e.g.creditworthiness, lack of alternatives) that emerge during their pursuit of financing, leading to uncertain access.However, the model also illustrates a mechanism where several factors, such as cognitive repertoire, intermediation, and financing flexibility, intervene to enable IEs to overcome financing uncertainty and ultimately access the necessary funds.Therefore, the study contributes by presenting financing uncertainty as a dynamic continuum, offering insights into its emergence, development, and decline.
Second, previous studies have primarily taken a descriptive or comparative approach to understanding the financing choices of IEs (Ostrovsky, Picot, and Leung 2019;Santamaria-Alvarez, Sarmiento-González, and Arango-Vieira 2019) without explicitly examining the decision-making process.This paper fills this gap by providing a detailed insight into the mechanism depicting the IEs' decision-making process in complex settings, contributing to a better understanding of the continuum perspective of financing uncertainty.The study identifies three phases in the IEs' financing decision-making process and makes significant contributions at each phase.In the first phase, the study challenges the previous findings regarding the significance of social integration for accessing resources (e.g.Kloosterman and Rath 2010).It reveals that even with limited social engagement, IEs are able to develop cognitive repertoires about financing in the host country.Specifically, their involvement in economic and institutional systems provides access to formal channels that disseminate information about various aspects, including financing.This engagement enables them to accumulate relevant knowledge about available financing alternatives and the requirements for accessing them.In the second phase, IEs form portfolios of financing preferences based on their subjective evaluation of their repertoires accumulated about different alternatives.Contrary to the prevailing claim that IEs primarily prefer internal financing (e.g.Rezaei, Dana, and Ramadani 2017), this paper presents evidence of their equal preference for mixed financing portfolios.It also expands on the determinants of these preferences, going beyond factors like ethnic homophily, prejudices, and information asymmetry explored in previous studies (e.g.Bengtsson and Hsu 2015;Ding 2018;Moghaddam et al. 2017).The study incorporates additional factors related to individual perception, such as risk-and cost-tolerance, commitment level, religion, and psychological strain, to explain the dynamics of financing preferences over time.In the third phase, the study reveals the development of complex portfolios of financing preferences informed by knowledge and perceptual appraisal.However, it highlights that these portfolios are subject to frequent variability due to situational factors present during the financing decision-making process, such as creditworthiness, lack of alternatives, and the need for additional options.While the influence of situational factors on financing choices has been discussed in previous literature (Zhang, Wong, and Ho 2016), this study emphasizes the financing flexibility demonstrated by IEs in their actual and intended choices.It demonstrates their ability to utilize their accumulated repertoires flexibly, even when their choices deviate from their initial preferences.This shifting behaviour is observed when they approach opposite alternatives in response to unplanned situational factors and when they intend to revert to their original choices if the alternative options become unavailable.
Third, while situational barriers are commonly discussed in the literature as the primary factors affecting immigrant entrepreneurs' financing (Beckers and Blumberg 2013;Sepulveda, Syrett, and Lyon 2011), this paper introduces the psychological factor as an additional component of these barriers.It demonstrates that IEs' perception of different financing alternatives in terms of risk, cost, commitment, religion, and stress shapes their personal convictions about these alternatives.Consequently, when they hold negative convictions, they engage in psychological denial (c.f., Sheahan et al. 2010), consciously excluding negatively perceived alternatives from their choices to avoid potential unfavourable implications.
Fourth, regarding financing choices, this study empirically examines the diverse choice patterns observed among IEs facing uncertainty in complex settings.The paper captures the behavioural aspect of IEs' financing decisions, influenced by the interplay between their cognitive repertoires of financing and situational and psychological factors that affect the decisionmaking process.For instance, IEs may shift from their preferred internal financing to choosing external sources or vice versa, or they may shift from any certain choice to the opposite one.These findings empirically support theoretical assumptions presented in previous studies (Malki 2022, forthcoming), which describe financing choices in multiple contexts as 'ambidextrous'.This leads to the conclusion that IEs demonstrate a certain level of financial ambidexterity in response to financing uncertainty, making flexible financing choices within complex opportunity structures.

Practical implications, limitations, and future research
The paper provides two practical recommendations.First, it advises policymakers to actively engage IEs in both formal and informal communication channels to improve their understanding of financing in the host country.This can be achieved by implementing effective support programmes that promote the integration of IEs into the social, economic, and institutional systems of the host country.Such initiatives will equip IEs with a more informed and nuanced decision-making approach, enriched by the increased involvement of mainstream actors.Additionally, recognizing the significant role of intermediation in facilitating IEs' access to financing, policymakers are encouraged to establish government-based agencies or support non-governmental organizations that connect IEs with other market participants.This will enhance the likelihood of IEs accessing financing directly or indirectly through access to relevant information.Second, the paper highlights the importance for finance providers to understand the preferences of IEs, particularly regarding religion, in order to develop appropriate financing products.This understanding can help reduce the impact of psychological barriers and enable more inclusive portfolio preferences.
The current model has five limitations for future research.First, it overlooks the significant role of social and cultural integration in shaping the cognitive repertoire of IEs regarding financing, focusing primarily on structural integration (e.g.Vershinina, Barrett, and Meyer 2011).Future research should examine the decision-making process of biculturally integrated IEs and its implications for the model.Additionally, investigating the determinants of social integration, such as self-identification and perceived belongingness to the host community, would enhance our understanding of IEs' experiences (c.f., Ozasir Kacar and Essers 2019).
Second, while the empirical evidence in this study emphasizes the flexibility of IEs in their decision-making, the determinants of this flexibility remain unexplored.In this concern, future researchers are encouraged to delve into the experiences of IEs throughout their migration journey to comprehend how these experiences shape their learning, mentality, worldview, adaptability, etc.Additionally, the paper suggests future research to explore the role of personality traits, specifically the big five traits (c.f., Roccas et al. 2002), in facilitating flexible decision-making among IEs.
Third, while the current model captures the influential role of religion in the IEs' financing pursuits, it does not explain their willingness to engage in religiously prohibited alternatives in their financing portfolios.Future research should explore the concept of religious pragmatism and its impact on IEs' financing decisions, shedding light on how they reconcile religious taboos with pragmatic approaches to financing (c.f., Ormerod 2006).
Fourth, it is evident that the sample in this paper predominantly comprises male IEs.While this is consistent with prevailing trends in ethnic research (e.g.Essers and Benschop 2007), it may disregard the potential distinctive financing behaviour exhibited by female IEs (e.g.Welter 2004).Hence, future research may explore how female IEs pursue financing in host countries in contrast to their male peers with coethnic or native origins.
Finally, although this paper primarily focuses on IEs' financing in host countries, it is important to recognize that IEs face barriers in various entrepreneurial aspects such as market entry, information asymmetry, labour difficulties, etc. (Dheer 2018).Future research should extend the concept of 'ambidexterity' beyond financing barriers to encompass the strategies employed by IEs to overcome diverse entrepreneurial challenges in host countries by simultaneously or alternately utilizing opportunity structures in multiple contexts.

Conclusion
The extant scholarly discourse on immigrant entrepreneurship highlights substantial barriers IEs encounter in securing necessary financing in host countries (Malki, Uman, and Pittino 2020;Yamamura, Lassalle, and Shaw 2022).Influenced by the Knightian perspective (Knight 1921), this study employs the term 'financing uncertainty' to denote the situation where access to financing becomes unlikely due to the barriers IEs face.Acknowledging the complexity of their opportunity structures, this paper addresses a literature gap by answering the research question: How do IEs make financing decisions in response to financing uncertainty in complex settings in host countries?
In doing so, the paper draws on interviews conducted with 30 IEs from the Arab world residing and operating in Sweden.The findings show that the IEs' decision-making process passes through three main phases (see Figure A2): building cognitive repertoire about financing, formation of financing preferences, and determination of financing choices.Financing uncertainty is captured through psychological and situational barriers influencing IEs' choices.The study further identifies key factors guiding IEs' decisions, including structural integration, perceptual appraisal of financing alternatives, situational conditions, and financial flexibility.Additionally, IEs were found to demonstrate flexible use of their cognitive repertoire in making complex financing choices aligned with their unique contexts.In these choices, IEs demonstrate distinct patterns of both 'ambidextrous' and 'non-ambidextrous' financing.
These findings contribute to the literature on immigrant entrepreneurship by providing dynamic insights into the IEs' financing decision-making under uncertainty.Through this contribution, the paper proposes an explanation for the varying degrees of success among the IEs in host countries, providing policymakers and finance providers with recommendations to optimize IEs' financing accessibility in host countries.Finally, the paper acknowledges its limitations and recommends avenues for future research, encouraging exploration into the role of social and cultural integration, personal traits, religion, and gender in the financing pursuit of IEs'.Additionally, it suggests extending the application of the term 'ambidexterity' to encompass various facets of business operations beyond financing.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
[. ..]You may not be able to get a bank loan if you don't have income.(i22) [. ..]The banks require your last two years' financial reports to assess the profitability of your business [. ..]After the company became stronger, I started to receive loan offers every now and then.(i11) Our restaurant suffered during Covid [. ..]I did whatever I could to survive the business [. ..]I used all my savings to save it [. ..] it wasn't an easy decision to close the restaurant [. ..]I had hope for the future [. ..] there was no solution other than taking a loan from the bank.(i12)