Alexander Shvarts

Elite Entrepreneurs from the Former Soviet Union in Toronto: How They Made Their Millions Alexander Shvarts

One of the most interesting results of the collapse of the former Soviet Union is the emergence of successful cosmopolitan entrepreneurs from former Soviet republics who have immigrated to countries, such as Canada, and have made millions establishing businesses. The purpose of this study is to examine how each of the following major factors: social capital,financial capital,human capital,and home country experience,specifically experience in the former Soviet communist economy and experience in the transitional economy affected the Russian entrepreneur at each stage of business development in Toronto (Pre-Start-Up-Motivation and Idea Development; Start-Up-Planning and Organizing the Founding of a Firm; Mature Stage-Establishing and Running a Newly Established Firm). I use the central postulates of three theoretical approaches (transitional economy,ethnic and class dimensions of entrepreneurship,and transnationalism) to extrapolate explanations regarding how these major factors influenced and shaped business practice and success in Toronto for the 30 Russian immigrants that I interviewed during the three stages of business development.