Financing small businesses : a comparative study of Pakistani-immigrant businesses and UK-indigenous businesses in the travel trade

摘要

This research is about financing practices of Pakistani-immigrant and indigenous-ownedsmall travel agents. The study provides an understanding of the capital structures ofbusinesses owned by both groups and compares these to draw similarities and differencesbetween both groups. The research integrates the "ethnic enclave" immigrant theory, thecapital structure theory in particular the Pecking Order Hypothesis, the role of "networks"in business financing, and the business life-cycle theories.The research question and the research hypotheses emerged from the literature reviewed.Ten case studies, five Pakistani businesses and five indigenous businesses, confirmed thehypotheses which formed the basis of a survey of a large sample of sixty businesses,thirty in each group. The case study data is considered invaluable since it provided thereal evidence of the sensitive nature of financial information in these businesses. Themethodology adopted was a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches.The findings of the study show that there are more similarities than differences among thecapital structures of both groups of businesses. The nuclear family plays a crucial rolethroughout the life-cycle of the business in both groups. The role of family labour is notas prominent as among other industries such as Confectionery, Tobacconists, andNewsagents (CTN's). Informal sources of finance are preferred over formal sources byboth groups of businesses due to their availability and lower cost. The Pecking OrderHypothesis theory applies to both groups of businesses. The main sources of formalfinance were high street banks, bank overdrafts and loans. Pakistani businesses were notdisadvantaged in any way by the formal providers of finance.This research is the first to report on the comparative capital structures among bothgroups of businesses. However, although considerable contribution has been made bythis research to the small business finance literature further research should be conductedinto the area.