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Black business ownership in the rural south

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The Review of Black Political Economy

Abstract

The relatively low business ownership rate among blacks nationwide (12.5 per 1,000 people) is even lower in the rural South (8.8 per 1,000). This study uses Census Bureau data to document the level of business ownership among blacks in the rural South and to explore a number of hypotheses regarding the low level of business ownership among rural blacks and the variation from state to state. The size of the black population in the rural areas of a state is negatively correlated with the rural black business ownership rate in the state, while the education level, income level and homeownership level of blacks in rural areas of a state is positively correlated with the rural black business ownership rate. However, it appears that statewide economic conditions may be more closely related to the level of rural black business ownership than are characteristics of rural blacks.

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Notes

  1. U.S. Bureau of the Census,U.S. Statistical Abstract: 1987, Table 851 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1987).

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  2. William P. O’Hare, “Best Metros for Black Businesses,”American Demographics, Vol. 9, No. 7 (1987).

  3. William P. O’Hare, “Best Metros for Black Businesses,”American Demographics, Vol. 9, No. 11 (1987).

  4. Wendy Manning and William P. O’Hare, “Best Metros for Asian Businesses,”American Demographics, Vol. 10, No. 8 (1988).

  5. Frank Fratoe and Ronald L. Meeks,Business Participation Rates of the 50 Largest U.S. Ancestry Groups,” A Preliminary Report, Research Division, Minority Business Development Agency (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, June 1985).

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  7. William P. O’Hare, “Best Metros for Black Businesses,”American Demographics, Vol. 9, No. 7 (1987).

  8. Robert Suggs,Recent Changes in Black-Owned Business, (Washington, D.C.: Joint Center for Political Studies, 1986).

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  9. Ibid.

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  10. Timothy M. Bates, “The Nature of the Growth Dynamic in Emerging Lines of Minority Enterprise: Human Capital and Financial Capital Considerations” (Burlington, Vt.: University of Vermont, September 1983).

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  13. U.S. Bureau of the Census,1982 Characteristics of Business Owners, CBO82-1, Table 14a.

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  15. Peter J. Bearse,An Econometric Analysis of Minority Entrepreneurship, Research Division, Minority Business Development Agency (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, September 1983).

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  16. U.S. Bureau of the Census,1982 Characteristics of Business Owners, CBO82-1.

  17. Timothy M. Bates, “Characteristics of Minorities Who Are Entering SelfEmployment,”The Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 15, No. 2 (1986), 31–49.

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Authors
  1. William P. O’Hare
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O’Hare, W.P. Black business ownership in the rural south. Rev Black Polit Econ 18, 93–104 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02717877

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