The Ethnic Economy: Cubans and Chinese Reconsidered

AbstractUsing 1980 PUMS data for Miami Cuban and Bay Area Chinese immigrant males, this study operationalizes and tests three theories about the earnings of employees in ethnic economies. The results consistently show that the allocation of financial rewards in the ethnic economy closely resembles that found elsewhere. Although this finding merits more extensive confirmation in primary data, it implies that ethnic economy theories contribute little to the understanding of contemporary ethnic inequality within the working class.