Ethnic Economies in Metropolitan Regions: Miami and Beyond

This article surveys the labor market status of racial and ethnic groups in seventeen metropolitan areas. Five Asian groups (Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, and Asian Indians) and three Hispanic groups (Cubans, Mexicans, and Puerto Ricans) are compared to non-Hispanic whites and blacks. Minority business concentrations are found mostly in a few low-wage sectors with low capitalization, low levels of unionization, and high proportions of female employees. Patterns of economic incorporation meeting a minimal definition of an enclave economy are identified for several groups. Of these, the Cuban economy in Miami (along with Japanese in Honolulu and Koreans in Los Angeles) is unusual in terms of both size and sectoral diversity; the typical “enclave” appears to be based on a combination of apparel manufacturing and ethnic foods.