Sociology 339S Immigration and Employment Session 7 Immigrant Businesses February 27, 2006

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Sociology 339SImmigration and
EmploymentSession 7Immigrant
BusinessesFebruary 27, 2006

• Jeffrey G. Reitz
• Department of Sociology
• Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies
• Munk Centre for International Studies
• University of Toronto

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Dates for Assignments - Reminder

• Feb. 13 Mid-term take-home exam distributed
• Feb. 27 Mid-term due
• Mar. 6 Essay proposal due (exams returned)
• April 3 Essay due, End-term exam distributed
• April 10 End-term exam due
• Note all assignments due in class
• or submitted at Munk Centre reception desk
• not in sociology drop box

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Mar. 6 Essay proposal due

• See
• http//www.utoronto.ca/ethnicstudies/TermPaper2006
  .pdf
• First page proposals
• Second page outline of items to be included
  (rough)
• Proposals
• Topic
• Specific question
• References two or three studies to be examined
• Peer-reviewed journal, book, government report
• Full citation author, title, date, publisher

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Immigration Policy New Directions under Harper?

• Immigration Selection Criteria Supply vs. Demand
• Canadian points system mainly supply-based
• U.S. system mainly demand-based
• Both systems a mixture
• Private vs. public selection
• Policy Trade-offs
• Demand-side plusses job waiting
• Demand side minuses fraud, deportation,
  unemployment
• Supply-side plusses control, immigrant
  adaptability
• Supply-side minuses job uncertainty
• Key details of new proposals
• Nature of mix
• Enforcement procedures (regulation, costs)
• Time period of conditional visa

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Todays Agenda

• Definitions
• Theories
• Research findings
• Implications and issues

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Definitions

• Immigrant business and self-employment
• Ma and pa, Italian construction, Greek foods,
  Chinese malls
• Ethnic entrepreneurship
• Ethnic dimensions products, customers,
  employees, contractors
• Ethnic enclave economy
• Location ethnic neighborhood
• Underlying issue can immigrant self-employment
  lead to success?
• Examine impact of ethnic and class resources

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Theories

• Assimilation Theory immigrant business as
  indicator of marginality
• Blocked Mobility (i.e., mainstream
  discrimination)
• Mobility Trap (Norbert Wiley 1967) limits to
  immigrant business potential
• Middle-man Minority (Edna Bonacich 1974) East
  Indians in Africa, Jewish merchants
• Ethnic resources vs. class resources (Ivan Light
  1974) key ethnic resources arise from ethnic
  dimensions
• Funding
• Employees
• Access to products
• Access to customers

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Research Findings

• Rates of Immigrant Entrepreneurship
• Rank order among men
• Jewish, Italian, German, Chinese, Majority
  Canadian, West Indian
• Rank order among women
• Jewish, German, Chinese, Italian, Majority
  Canadian, West Indian
• Reasons?
• Earnings higher than for minorities not
  self-employment, and mainstream population
• Conditions minority population size, community
  age, business size
• Offsetting considerations
• Employees in ethnic businesses make less

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Research ProblemsMeasuring self-employment
earnings

• Survey question
• Family contributions
• Exclude professionals
• Exclude businesses outside ethnic neighborhoods

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Research Problems Causal analysis of effect

• Turnover
• Net of human capital
• Returns to human capital
• Comparison group? (other group members?
  mainstream population?)
• Include effect on employees? (Sanders and Nee)

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Outcomes other than income?

• Satisfaction
• see Eric Fong
• Training effect
• see Roger Waldinger
• Community leaders
• see Alejandro Portes)

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Implications and Issues

• Is employment discrimination OK for ethnic
  businesses?
• Should government support ethnic business?
• Why so much interest in ethnic business?