Abstract
Fostering agricultural green entrepreneurship (AGE) is essential for achieving inclusive rural development and environmental sustainability, particularly in regions facing severe resource constraints such as Pakistan. While resource bricolage theory has been widely applied in industrial and urban entrepreneurship research, its micro-level role in shaping agricultural green entrepreneurship among returnee migrants in developing countries remains largely unexplored. This study examines how resource bricolage the creative mobilization and recombination of available but limited resources affects AGE outcomes among returnee rural migrants in the Balochistan and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. Using survey data collected in 2023 from 480 returnee agricultural entrepreneurs, we apply multiple linear regression and mediation analysis to evaluate the effects of four types of bricolage: skill, customer, institutional, and network. The findings show that skill bricolage has the strongest impact on AGE, followed by customer, institutional, and network bricolage. Mechanism tests reveal that bricolage enhances AGE by expanding sales channels and broadening business scope. Subgroup analysis indicates stronger effects among market-oriented entrepreneurs, returning migrant workers, and younger or less-experienced returnees. These results highlight the importance of fostering adaptive capacity and resource integration strategies among returnees to promote inclusive and sustainable green entrepreneurship.
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The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This research is supported by the High level talent start up program fund of Shandong Xiehe University, Jinan, China, Poject No. (SDXHQD2025018) and Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project No. (PNURSP2026R545), Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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M.I conduct conceptualization, methodology design, data collection, statistical analysis, and original draft preparation. N.W wrote the methodology, results interpretation and reviewing the final draft. J.Z did the literature review, theoretical framework development, and editing of the manuscript. S.X. did visualization, preparation of tables/figures, and technical validation of results and reviewing of the original draft. A.A helped in data curation, preliminary analysis, funding acquisition, and discussion. N.K. has conducted the project administration, and final approval of the version to be published. H.X. supervised the project study, guidance on research design, and critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content and reviewing the final draft before submission. All authors reviewed the paper before final submission.
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All methods in this study were carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations of social science research ethics. The study protocol, including the data-collection procedures and participant protection measures, was reviewed and approved by the ethics committee of the School of Business, Shandong Xiehe University, Jinan, China.
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Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to administering the survey and interviews. Participants were briefed about the purpose of the research, the voluntary nature of their participation, their right to withdraw at any time, and the confidentiality of their responses. All participants provided informed consent, and no minors or individuals requiring guardianship were included in the study.
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Imran, M., Wei, N., Zhang, J. et al. Turning constraints into catalysts through bricolage to spur green agricultural entrepreneurship among returnees. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34732-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-34732-7
