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

Abstract

How does the experience of living in an ethnic enclave during formative years influence the propensity to be self-employed? This study examines the intergenerational influence of exposure to self-employed, co-ethnic neighbors on the likelihood that racial or ethnic minorities will become self-employed. The paper develops a model of factors that influence self-employment likelihood, including intergenerational co-ethnic predictors, and tests them through an analysis of respondents to the 2000 U.S. Census long-form survey (i.e., IPUMS). Results show that higher levels of exposure to entrepreneurial co-ethnics in the parent's generation have a strong impact on self-employment likelihood.