Abstract
The migration of people from the developing nations to the industrialized world has created significant minority population concentrations in those industrialized countries. Invariably, the minority population (generally black, Hispanic, and/or Asian) occupies the lower end of the socioeconomic distribution spectrum because of lower levels of educational achievement and higher unemployment rates. The host countries confronted with these issues of minority inequities are exploring a variety of alternatives to alleviate the socioeconomic problems; one of which is minority business development. This article looks at the industrialized countries of Canada, France, Great Britain, Holland, West Germany, and the United States, and how they are addressing the issue of minority business development. The size and diversity of the minority population, the economic, social, and political conditions under which they migrate, and the host country recognition of their status affects the economic climate and the development success of this business sector, formed outside of their native habitats. Although conditions differ from country to country, minority businesses in general suffer from similar problems of capital access, market restrictions, and general management inadequacies. The developmental path of these business sectors are, however, affected by the host country policy and the official programs designed specifically to address their needs.
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Notes
A study by David Birch et al.,The Evolution of Minority Business Enterprises, (MBDA Report, 1983), indicates that small business formation and failure account for the growth and fluctuation in employment opportunities annually.
Jeremy Boissevan, Issac Joseph, Ivan Light, Marlene Sway, Pnina Weber, “Ethnic Community and Family Firms: Strategies of Ethnic Enterprise,” Proceedings of International Ethnic Business Development Symposia, Birmingham, England. July 1985, and New York, May 1986.
Jochem Blaschke and Ahmet Ersoz, “Life Histories: The Establishment of Turkish Small Business in West Berlin,” unpublished study, Berlin, 1985.
Ibid.
Thomas Sowell,The Economics and Politics of Race. Wm. Morrow and Co., New York, 1983.
Peter Bearse, “An Econometric Analysis of Minority Entrepreneurship.” (U.S. Department of Commerce/MBDA, Washington, D.C., 1983). Further elaborations show that migrant status and educational attainment are indicative of social class and not merely ascriptive to migrant psychological trait; Timothy Bates, “An Analysis of the Minority Entrepreneur: Traits and Trends.” U.S. Dept. of Commerce//MBDA/ARI, Washington, D.C., 1986 and Development Associates, “The Sociology of Minority Business Enterprise,” USDOC/MBDA/ARI. November 30, 1985.
Frank Fratoe, “Abstract of the Sociological Literature on Minority Ownership.” USDOC/MBDA/ARI. Unpublished Report, 1984.
Boissevan et al., 1986.
Blaschke, 1985.
JACA, “Issues in Equity Capital Formation and Use,” Preliminary Report for USDOC/MBDA/ARI, 1986 and Robin Ward and Richard Jenkins, ed.Ethnic Communities in Britain, Cambridge University Press, London, 1984.
Fratoe, Frank, 1984. (Friedman) Multiculturalism Canada, “Highlights of Self-Employment of Ethnic Cultural Groups in Canada,” March 1986, and Ward and Jenkins, 1984.
JACA, 1984.
See the discussion by Lorenzo Brown elswhere in this issue.
MBDA/ARI is currently addressing this issue of regulatory discrimination in two research studies. The idea is that regulations are uniform but enforcement varies because of discrimination.
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Chen, G.M. Minority business development: An international comparison. Rev Black Polit Econ 15, 93–111 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02900915
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02900915