From static to dynamic embeddedness: advancing mixed embeddedness theory through the study of high-skilled migrant entrepreneurs

Purpose Mixed embeddedness theory has become a foundational framework in migrant entrepreneurship research. However, it predominantly conceptualises embeddedness in static or binary terms, treating entrepreneurs as embedded or disembedded within specific contexts. Prior empirical research focuses on how entrepreneurs respond to embeddedness/dis-embeddedness while overlooking the factors and mechanisms that shape it. This study aims to reconceptualise embeddedness as a dynamic and agentic process and highlight individual-level and contextual factors influencing entrepreneurs' action to embed. Given its pivotal role in business success, it is important to understand how entrepreneurs strategically construct and adjust their embeddedness across multiple contexts to pursue their business goals. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on qualitative data from 22 high-skilled migrant entrepreneurs in New Zealand. Using in-depth interviews and egocentric social network analysis, it explores how these entrepreneurs actively construct local and transnational embeddedness to overcome structural constraints and gain access to business resources, legitimacy and relevant market opportunities. Findings The study identifies two distinct mechanisms of embeddedness: sequential (local first, then transnational) and simultaneous (local and transnational concurrently). These mechanisms depend on factors such as the type of entry visa, cultural distance and the home-country institutional environment. The findings reveal that embeddedness is not a fixed condition but a dynamic and iterative process shaped by entrepreneurial agency, structural constraints and contextual opportunities. Originality/value The findings extend mixed embeddedness theory by advancing the concept of dynamic embeddedness, which captures embeddedness as strategically enacted and temporally patterned rather than passively experienced. This theoretical contribution highlights migrant entrepreneurs as institutional bricoleurs who actively reconfigure their embeddedness in response to structural conditions for achieving their business goals. By introducing dynamic embeddedness, the study offers a more processual and adaptive understanding of entrepreneurial action within transnational ecosystems and provides new theoretical leverage for explaining heterogeneity in migrant entrepreneurial trajectories.