Ten years of research on how migrations have transformed the economic fabric of Turin.

2015 – KNOWLEDGE MIGRATION

The research project aims to analyse migration for study purposes to Italy and Turin paying special attention to determinants of the choice of these destinations and of the two Universities of Turin, to integration processes, work aspirations and mobility plans at the time of the first entry into the labour market.

2012 – NOT JUST LABOR

The research focused on the relationship between companies – Italian and foreign – and immigrant labor. The path was articulated into the following phases: a) statistical mapping of the presence and distribution of immigrant labor in the enterprises of Turin – looking at both Italian and foreign companies; b) qualitative analysis of the forms of integration of the immigrant workers in the Turin area enterprises and related issues through a series of in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, individual interviews and focus groups with key informants (entrepreneurs, managers of trade associations, trade union representatives, experts and other privileged observers); c) Drafting and online delivery of a short questionnaire on the same issues, to a representative sample of companies stratified by field and firm size.

2011 – BECOMING LAOBAN

The focus of the research work, funded by the Chamber of Commerce of Turin, are the entrepreneurs of the Turin Chinese community. The quantitative part of the analysis is an annual update of the general descriptive statistics on the trend of foreign entrepreneurship in the Province of Turin, and on individual Chinese enterprises, based on the data processed by the Turin Chamber of Commerce. The qualitative part of the work has the following objectives: 1) to build an “enterprise biography” of a limited sample of Chinese enterprises working in the Province of Turin; 2) to deepen aspects like the inner organisation and the distribution of roles within the enterprise, the role of families and networks in the birth and development of enterprises, the (possible) entrepreneurial relations with the home country, possible entrepreneurial relations with Italian enterprises, funding strategies of enterprises, the ways of recruiting labour force and the relations with employees.

2010 – INTEGRATION IN LOCAL MARKETS

The object of the research work on foreign entrepreneurship for the year 2009-2010 were local markets. The quantitative part of the project had two main goals: to provide an update of data concerning the year 2009, produced in a previous analysis carried out by FIERI and published in a volume edited by the Turin Chamber of Commerce, about statistics on foreign-owned businesses in the Province of Turin and their comparison with those run by Italian owners; to provide a quantitative context to the issue of “local markets”, which were the topic of the qualitative analysis. As for the qualitative study, the research work aimed at exploring the dynamics of interaction developing in the market context, among various actors: holders of a licence, operators of the informal economy, mediators, market customers, professional associations, etc.

2009 – THE JOURNEY OF FOOD, THE FOOD OF JOURNEYS

The research project, funded by the Chamber of Commerce of Turin, focuses on the various forms of foreign entrepreneurship which have “ethnic” food at the centre of their activity. The project is divided into a quantitative and qualitative section. The first has two main objectives: 1. to provide an updating of the statistics on foreign-owned businesses in the Province of Turin in the 2008-2009 period; 2. to provide a quantitative context to the issue of “ethnic food”, which is the core of the qualitative in-depth analysis. The qualitative section will take into consideration the activities of: 1. wholesale trade – import – export; 2. retail trade; 3. restaurant management. The structure of these activities will be studied through: production systems, systems of transport, supplying/distribution systems, the articulation of commercial networks; the transformation and consumption of food. The project is financed by the Turin Chamber of Commerce.

2008 – IMMIGRATION THAT VENTURES

The research, funded by the Chamber of Commerce of Turin, provides an update on statistics concerning businesses with foreign ownership in the city of Turin and in some significant contexts. In addition to the quantitative analysis of the phenomenon, the research included a qualitative investigation into sectors characterized by a higher incidence of foreign entrepreneurs: street vending, construction, and phone centers.

2005 – FOREIGN ENTREPRENEURS IN THE PROVINCE OF TURIN

The research compared foreign and Italian entrepreneurs to verify the substitutive or complementary nature of immigrant entrepreneurship compared to the national one. In the quantitative section, data from the years 1999 to 2003 regarding businesses with foreign owners registered in the Business Register of the Chamber of Commerce of the province of Turin were analyzed and systematized. In the qualitative section, an in-depth investigation was conducted with the aim of highlighting the relational resources (social capital) of immigrants in starting entrepreneurial activities and highlighting similarities and differences between this phenomenon in Italy and other European countries.”