Glossary

Migrant entrepreneur

A general editorial term used by the Research Centre for a person engaged in entrepreneurship in connection with a migration experience. It does not automatically correspond to an official statistical category.

Foreign enterprise

A category used by business-register or chamber sources under their own classification rules. It measures enterprises, not people, and is not a synonym for migrant entrepreneur.

Self-employed person

A statistical category referring to people in a specific employment status. It is not equivalent to the number of registered enterprises.

Foreign citizen

A person classified by citizenship. Citizenship differs from place of birth and, by itself, does not reconstruct an individual's migration history.

Foreign-born person

A person classified by place of birth. This variable differs from citizenship and may include citizens of the country of residence.

Country of origin

In the editorial model, the country of departure or origin relevant to the story, research or route being analysed. Its precise meaning depends on the source or content.

Country of destination

The country in which the person or economic activity operates within the route being considered. Italy is not assumed to be the mandatory destination.

Entrepreneurial migration route

An origin → destination analytical relationship used by the Research Centre to connect data, stories, research and events between two countries or territories.

Research Centre processing

A documented transformation of a source value, such as a unit conversion. It must remain distinguishable from the value published directly by the original source.

Primary source

A source that originally produces or publishes the data, document or information used. A secondary source commenting on the data is not presented as the primary source.

Specific definitions stated on individual Observatory indicator pages take precedence over the glossary's general summaries.