Economic engagement of refugees analyzing success factors and barriers of Syrian refugee entrepreneurs in Turkey: Case of Istanbul

The main purpose of this thesis is to explore the success factors and barriers of Syrian refugee entrepreneurs in Turkey. According to the literature, four categories have been identified: individual success factors, environmental success factors, individual barriers, and environmental barriers. In total, forty predictors were examined by conducting a survey with Syrian entrepreneurs in Istanbul. A total of 244 entrepreneurs have been analyzed using multinomial regression analysis. Findings suggest that environmental success factors including access to capital and access to information related to the business are major and positive contributors to the success of Syrian entrepreneurs in Turkey. However, educational attainment, age, and social status are individual success factors that showed a negative relationship on the success of Syrian entrepreneurs. In terms of barriers, the results suggested a significant relationship between the success of entrepreneurs and the environmental barriers including the negative perception of Syrian refugees among locals, Negative portrayal of Syrian refugees in host Country's media, and locals' sense of intense competition in the labor market. Individual barriers include a low level of education, equivalence of degrees, and host country language proficiency. The findings of this study are important to policy makers in the host countries in particular and to all stakeholders interested in the refugee affairs. Programs on the economic engagement of refugees, as part of a more comprehensive integration of refugees, could be better designed in light of the finding of this study.