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Entrepreneurship, ethnicity and local contexts: Hispanic entrepreneurs in three U.S. southern metropolitan areas

GeoJournal volume 68, pages 167–182 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Previous research suggests that entrepreneurship can provide ethnic minorities a springboard for economic advancement and social integration. However, self-employment rates vary significantly among ethnic groups, between men and women, and in different places. The prevailing literature suggests that personal characteristics, including human capital attributes, ethnic networking, institutional regulations, societal structures and discrimination, all contribute to the differential ethnic entrepreneurship rates. However, very few recent studies have analyzed how different urban socio-economic contexts influence this process. Using the 2000 Public Usable Microdata Samples (PUMS), this study examines how Hispanic entrepreneurs perform in three different metropolitan areas in the US South. The results show that the ethnic diversity, history of immigration, and the economic structure in each local area have provided different opportunities and challenges for Hispanics to start up and maintain their own businesses. This study suggests that the process of economic incorporation of ethnic minorities and immigrants depends significantly on the institutional capacity and social, cultural and political resources of local communities.

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Notes

  1. “Ethnic enterprises” generally refer to businesses owned or managed by people (ethnic entrepreneurs) “whose group membership is tied to a common cultural heritage or origin and is known to out-group members as having such traits” (Zhou 2004). In this study, we will use "self-employment" and "entrepreneurship" interchangeably (Light and Rosenstein 1995).

  2. We recognize that Hispanic (or Latino) is an extreme heterogeneous group, varying in country of origin and socio-economic characteristics. Treating them as one single group risks losing the vast internal diversity. However, this term, as a major ethnic category, has been recognized and used in US census for decades. As an analytical category, it is still useful in the US societal context, especially in terms of resource allocation, economic equality, and political empowerment. A practical concern is in many newly emerging immigrant gateways, sample sizes for Hispanic subgroups are too small to be useful. Given the above reasons, we still analyze Hispanic as a whole whereas dealing with their internal differences whenever possible. In addition, we use “Hispanics” and “Latinos” interchangeably throughout the paper, following US census definition.

  3. The relationship between self-employment and industry involved is complicated, as the latter may be the result of self-employment. However, information of entrepreneurial opportunities in many cases is brought to potential entrepreneurs because of his or her personal networking at workplace or defined by the occupational or industrial sectors involved (Sorenson 2003). We also include transportation mode and time to work as result of the arguments made by “spatial mismatch” literature which argues that spatial mobility (here is measured by the transportation mode and travel time from home to work) of ethnic minorities may impact their labor market outcomes (Kain 1968; Johnston-Anumonwo 1997; McLafferty and Preston 1996). This may be particularly relevant to new Hispanic immigrants as many of whom rely on public transit to move between home and work. Therefore, pre-existing urban infrastructure matters more in such cases.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Carlos Teixeira and the anonymous reviewer for their comments which help strengthen our article. Qingfang Wang’s research for this study is financially supported by UNC Charlotte Urban Institute’s Faculty Fellows Research Stipend Program. Wei Li is grateful to the Canada-US Fulbright Foundation and the Center of International Exchange of Scholars for granting her a Fulbright Visiting Research Chair position during 2006–2007, as well as for supports from her colleagues at Queen’s University, Canada. We alone, however, are responsible for any errors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, 28223, USA

    Qingfang Wang

  2. Asian Pacific American Studies and School of Geographical Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874401, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4401, USA

    Wei Li

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  1. Qingfang Wang
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Correspondence to Qingfang Wang.

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Wang, Q., Li, W. Entrepreneurship, ethnicity and local contexts: Hispanic entrepreneurs in three U.S. southern metropolitan areas. GeoJournal 68, 167–182 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-007-9081-0

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Keywords

  • American South
  • Ethnic entrepreneurship
  • Hispanics/Latinos
  • Immigration
  • Urban contexts