Residential Segregation Influences on the Likelihood of Ethnic Self–Employment

Abstract

Geographic and environmental influences on economic action have a long history in managerial research. This paper develops and estimates a model of the potential of a broad set of U.S. racial minority groups to enter self-employment based on individual-level, householdlevel, and metropolitan area-level factors. The model allows for an analysis of two distinct residential segregation processes on self-employment likelihood. Results indicate that clustering by race has group-specific influences, increasing the likelihood of self-employment for some groups and diminishing for others. Higher levels of racial exposure raise the likelihood of entrepreneurial careers for all groups, but especially for Blacks.

National culture, networks and ethnic entrepreneurship: A comparison of the Indian and Chinese immigrants in the US

“…Generally speaking, minorities are more likely to become self-employed (Fairchild, 2009;van Delft, Gorter, & Nijkamp, 2000). For example, in the US, Black youth are more likely than their White counterparts to endeavor entrepreneurship (Waistad & Kourilsky, 1998).…”

Ethics and entrepreneurship

“…A small but growing body of work (Bates et al, 2007;Boyd, 1991Boyd, , 1998Fairchild, 2008Fairchild, , 2009Fairlie, 2004) explores the antecedents and outcomes of ethnic minority entrepreneurship, highlighting strategic and policy-related implications, yet a number of questions raised in this growing literature bear further exploration. How are different ethnic minorities, such as native vs. immigrant populations (c.f.…”

Intergenerational ethnic enclave influences on the likelihood of being self-employed

“…Individual, household and community influences on self-employment As mentioned above, a valuable and prolific arena of research in self-employment has involved the individual-level, householdlevel, and community-level factors that influence the likelihood of being a self-employed worker rather than a wage or salary employee (Boyd, 1991;Fairchild, 2007Fairchild, , 2008Fairlie, 2004;Fairlie and Meyer, 1996;Fischer and Massey, 2000). One underlying hypothesis across these studies is that actors perceive differences in the net returns to self-employment versus wage and salary employment based on their personal resources and skills, and that these perceptions influence the decision to become selfemployed (Fairlie and Meyer, 1996).…”

“…Specifically, the paper examines the impact of the incidence of self-employment among an individual's co-ethnic relations and the level of exposure to these relations during childhood on the likelihood of being a self-employed adult rather than wage or salary worker. 4 This study builds on recent research examining the influence of residential segregation on self-employment (Clark and Drinkwater, 2002;Fairchild, 2007Fairchild, , 2008. This paper differs from those in that it takes an intergenerational approach, examining the influence of segregation during childhood on outcomes in the present day.…”