entrepreneur

Student thesis.

Sint Eustatius (Statia) is the special municipality of the Dutch Kingdom and intends to economically develop by means of sustainable tourism. Local entrepreneurship is necessary to achieve economic development; however entrepreneurship seems to poorly develop in the Caribbean region. The purpose of this research is to gain insight in the Statian entrepreneurial culture by investigating Statian identities. An adapted model of multiple dimensions of identity was used, in order to understand the local entrepreneurial culture from the individual’s social identity perspective. The empirical part of this research was conducted mid-October 2015 on Statia. Qualitative data for this research were collected among individual Statians by means of semi-structured in-depth interviews. Research findings shed light on intersecting identity dimensions – including culture, history, race, religion, political affiliation and family background – and economic factors – including capital, education, fiscal policy and industrial policy – influencing the local entrepreneurial culture on Statia. On the basis of the research findings, it can be concluded that the Statian community is heterogeneous and therefore ‘the typical Statian’ does not exist. The main conclusion of this thesis is that intersecting identity dimensions – including culture, family background, history, race, religion and political affiliation – of the Statian community affect the local entrepreneurial culture on the island.