Migrant Entrepreneurship and Social Integration: A Case-Study Analysis among Bangladeshi Vendors in Rome

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This is an interesting and relevant contribution to scholarship, and of interest to scholars from a wide range of disciplines. I, as a geographer, certainly find it interesting, as will other social scientists. The research is well informed, seemingly well conducted (although how many hours does the 10 interviews account for and where did they take place, how chosen etc. for methodological rigour) and the engagement with participants in different language highly relevant indeed. The findings are presented clearly and in an interesting manner, and the discussion follows logically from their analysis. In short, this is a very interesting article and one that the authors should be proud of. Interesting! 

Some things for consideration;

There are some key terms that would merit from brief clarification, even if it is expected that reader might reasonably be familiar with them. For example, 'Schumpeterian' would merit a quick outline.  

There seem to be a number of hyphenated words throughout the text that do not need to be (e.g. line 54... 'as of its institu-tions (14). Thus, while migrant entrepreneurship fosters social integration'. and line 61 'competi-tion (18). This article aims at providing an answer to these questions based on a...'). Not sure why this is but obviously needs correcting before publication. Furthermore there are some rogue capital letters throughout the text where not needed (e.g. 119-220 - located, 138 -twentieth). In places, the tense drifts between the past and present (168 - are needs to be were). 

The use of the interview materials is effective and the quotations well selected and pertinent to the discussion, however I would suggest separating and indented longer quotations, but this is perhaps more of a presentational issue. 

Do contact the journal editors for my email and I will happily read again. Well done.

Author Response

REVIEWER 1
1) Reviewer 1 requires more details about the methodology.
Action: Section "The ethnographic market analysis" has been expanded in order to cover more information concerning the different areas of interest touched by the reviewer
2) Reviewer 1 points out to specific terms such as Schumpeterian, to be clarified.
Action: Relevant technical terminology has been explained. 
3) Reviewers 1 indicated some wrong hyphenated words and rogue capital letters in the text
Action: the words the reviewer indicated were corrected; the text was revised by a professional proof reader.

Reviewer 2 Report

The research article is on an interesting topic, migrant entrepreneurship and social integration in the country of settlement.   There is a lot that has been written on this topic but there is a need for research that shows how immigrants integrate socially in addition to economic integration.  This paper discusses social integration but there is not a lot of content on what that looks like specifically for Bangladeshi vendors in Rome in the last few years.    Many of the sources used to support the author's argument that the Nuovo Mercato Esquilino is a place where Bangladeshi migrants through their entrepreneurial spirt can achieve social integration, uses old secondary sources, at time 10 years or more.  Several specific examples of this were identified in the comments left in the attached document.   

The author needs to revise the methodology and discussion sections.  The author needs to add more information from what they found from the participant observation of the market activities, mapping, food scouting and short interviews.  What kind of topics did the questions they asked cover?  How did the data they gathered during the ethnographic marketplace analysis help forward our understanding of how working in a market helps immigrants integrate socially with long-term residents?  Use more examples from interviews, other primary data collected to show what makes Bangladeshi migrant entrepreneurs in Rome unique from other immigrant entrepreneurs in Italy.   When using information taken from interviews they need to be cited. 

 The discuss section can benefit from stronger topic sentences.  In the introduction paragraph for that section summarize the main themes the section will cover.   There is good content in the section, such as the challenges immigrants face due to Italian legislation, but it is buried. 

There are many incorrect citations throughout the paper. Also there are a few incomplete paragraphs. The map needs to be improved. (More comments on this was left in the attached document).

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

REVIEWER 2

1) Reviewer 2 indicates the use of old data.
Action: the article was integrated with newer publications, stats, and data. All the points raised by the reviewer in the edited pdf were touched on and modified with the exception of the name of paragraph "Materials and Methods" which follows the standard wording of Societies. A new map was added.

2) Reviewer 2 requires more details about the methodology.
Action: Section "The ethnographic market analysis" has been expanded in order to cover more information concerning the different areas of interest touched by the reviewer

3) Reviewer 2 suggests revising the discussion section by adding an introduction paragraph in order to clarify the contribution.
Action: done.

4) Reviewer 2 suggests the use of more primary data. 
Action: more materials added. However, the point of the article is not to prove the uniqueness but rather the exemplarity of Bangladeshi migrant entrepreneurs. 

5) Reviewer 2 suggests indicating the information concerning when interviews were taken.
Action: done.

6) Reviewer 2 indicates incorrect citations throughout the paper. 
Action: all citations were revised accordingly with the journal's citation style

 

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Thank you for your time and effort in making modifications to this piece. It is a very interesting article and surely one that many will find of interest. Well done. 

Author Response

Thank you very much for your precious suggestions and feedback!

Reviewer 2 Report

This is a much improved version!  There are still a few errors in citations. 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

^{All the citations have been revised adding the missing information (e.g. DOI).}

^{New photo added.}