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Ethnic Churches as an Important Space of Co-ethnic Resources for Immigrant Entrepreneurs

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Review of Religious Research

Abstract

This paper provides new evidence that religious organizations with high co-ethnicity can be a space utilized by immigrant entrepreneurs for ethnic resources, especially for those with limited familial resources. Although a number of qualitative studies have previously identified the resource attainment through ethnic churches among immigrant entrepreneurs, such evidence is limited in quantitative analysis and the role of coethnicity is unclear. With the data from the New Immigrant Survey, this study shows that regardless of ethnic backgrounds and religious congregations, immigrant entrepreneurs with limited familial resources have a higher level of church involvement, and higher co-ethnicity in churches also increases the church involvement of immigrant entrepreneurs. These findings suggest that immigrant entrepreneurs may actively seek resources in ethnic churches. From a policy perspective, religious organizations that target immigrants in ethnic communities can potentially benefit immigrant entrepreneurs by providing co-ethnic resources and help them overcome initial barriers during economic assimilation.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks the editor and three anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and comments on this paper. The author is also grateful for Mark Chaves, Martin Ruef, and Linda Burton for their helpful discussions on this paper. The author gratefully acknowledges the Office of Population Research at Princeton University for providing the (public use) data of the New Immigrant Survey. An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.

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  1. Department of Sociology, Duke University, 346 Soc/Psych Building, 417 Chapel Dr., Durham, NC, 27708, USA

    Guangyu Tong

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Tong, G. Ethnic Churches as an Important Space of Co-ethnic Resources for Immigrant Entrepreneurs. Rev Relig Res 61, 135–156 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-019-00369-y

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