Black and Asian Self-Employment in Large Metropolitan Areas: A Comparative Analysis

This paper examines factors affecting the self-employment of Asian and black workers in large U.S. metropolitan areas. Self-employment is analyzed as a function of individual attributes and dimensions of local area social and economic organization. This individual/ecological distinction is based on the notion that self-employment is influenced by the entrepreneur's personal characteristics, social relationships, and the larger environment providing the setting for business ownership. Data are from the 1980 Public Use Microdata Sample, U.S. Census volumes, and other published sources. Major implications of the findings are: first, differences in the use of family members and social networks may account for at least part of the Asian-black discrepancy in self-employment. Second, there is evidence that as the share of public sector employment of blacks increases, individual black workers are disinclined to be self-employed. Third, Asian immigrants do not squeeze blacks out of entrepreneurial niches. Finally, directions for future research are described.