Purpose The Government of Korea institutionalized the World Korean Business Convention (WKBC) and the World Korean Business Network (WKBN) to promote Korean diaspora entrepreneurs’ investment in the homeland. Few studies have examined the effectiveness of the WKBC and WKBN and the critical variables affecting them. This paper aims to fill this gap by exploring important variables affecting Korean diaspora entrepreneurs’ investment in the homeland. It also seeks to examine the relationships among these variables to inquire upon a set of critical questions pertaining to Korean diaspora entrepreneurs’ investment in the homeland including the effectiveness of the WKBC and WKBN. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the above purpose, critical variables influencing Korean diaspora entrepreneurs’ investment in the homeland were identified and four hypotheses that include the inquiries pertaining to the effectiveness of the WKBC and WKBN were developed in terms of those variables. The hypotheses were empirically tested using the survey data gathered from the participants of the annual WKBC. Findings The current research found that Korean diaspora entrepreneurs’ evaluation of the investment climate in the homeland was not favorable. The WKBC was positively evaluated by Korean diaspora entrepreneurs willing to make investment, There is discrepancy between expectations of the WKBN’s target group (i.e. Korean diaspora entrepreneurs willing to make investment) and its performance for the group, and there is a difference between ascending and descending Korean diaspora entrepreneurs in assessment of investment value of the homeland. Originality/value A majority of studies on diaspora entrepreneurship and development have so far cast light on ascending diaspora entrepreneurs while neglecting descending diaspora entrepreneurs. In this regard, the most interesting finding of the current study to both researchers and policymakers may be the fact that descending Korean diaspora entrepreneurs assess the investment value of the homeland differently from ascending Korea diaspora entrepreneurs. The finding calls for further research on causes of the difference, and different natures of descending diaspora entrepreneurs compared to those of ascending diaspora entrepreneurs. Such research will enable policymakers to formulate and implement effective strategic diaspora policies that take the differences into consideration.

中文翻译：

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影响韩国散居海外企业家在祖国投资的因素探讨

目的韩国政府将《世界韩国商业公约》（WKBC）和世界韩国商业网络（WKBN）体制化，以促进散居海外的韩国企业家对祖国的投资。很少有研究检查WKBC和WKBN的有效性以及影响它们的关键变量。本文旨在通过探索影响韩国侨民企业家在祖国投资的重要变量来填补这一空白。它还试图检查这些变量之间的关系，以询问与散居海外的韩国企业家在祖国的投资有关的一系列关键问题，包括WKBC和WKBN的有效性。设计/方法/方法为了达到上述目的，确定了影响韩国侨民企业家在祖国投资的关键变量，并根据这些变量提出了四个假设，其中包括有关WKBC和WKBN有效性的询问。使用从年度WKBC参与者收集的调查数据对假设进行了经验检验。调查结果当前的研究发现，散居海外的韩国企业家对祖国的投资环境的评价并不理想。WKBC得到了愿意投资的韩国侨民企业家的积极评价。WKBN目标群体（即愿意投资的韩国侨民企业家）的期望与该群体的业绩之间存在差异，韩国侨民企业家的升迁与降落在评估祖国的投资价值方面有所不同。原创性/价值迄今为止，有关侨民企业家精神和发展的大多数研究都将重点放在升迁的侨民企业家上，而忽略了后裔的侨民企业家。在这方面，对研究人员和政策制定者来说，本研究最有趣的发现可能是，与日俱增的散居在外的韩国企业家相比，后裔散居在海外的企业家对祖国的投资价值进行了评估。这一发现需要进一步研究造成这种差异的原因，以及与上升的散居企业家相比，下降的散居企业家的性质不同。