Albanian businesses in Slovenia: a need, an opportunity or just a tradition?

Slovenia, as one of the most successful transition economies in Europe, has become attractive for immigration. As the most developed republic of the former Yugoslavia, Slovenia has traditionally been a destination for economic immigration coming from areas with lower economic standards. Albanians seems to play the most significant socioeconomic role among all minorities evidenced. Their ethnic minority has rather closed and parallel cultural and economic systems. This may be partly a consequence of the linguistic difference. They are seldom publicly recognised in ethnic associations and rarely included into ordinary business chains. Eleven Albanian businesses, ten of which are regarded as family businesses, from four different cities were examined in this paper. This was a case study qualitative research approach. The data collection was based on interviews with the family bosses and some family members. The knowledge of Albanian businesses in Slovenia has been limited to mere anecdotic observations and interpretations. The findings will improve understanding of the specific life and business models of this ethnic minority. The study is the first contribution to better understanding the ethnically based entrepreneurship in Slovenia and probably one of the first pieces of research of its kind in European transition economies.