PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - William R. Kerr
AU  - Martin Mandorff
TI  - Social Networks, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.58.3.0719-10306R2
DP  - 2021 Jan 11
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0719-10306R2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/04/06/jhr.58.3.0719-10306R2.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/04/06/jhr.58.3.0719-10306R2.full
AB  - We study the relationship between ethnicity, occupational choice, and entrepreneurship. Immigrant groups in the United States cluster in specific business sectors. For example, Koreans are 34 times more concentrated in self-employment for dry cleaning than other immigrant groups, and Gujarati-speaking Indians are 84 times more concentrated in managing motels. We quantify that smaller and more socially isolated ethnic groups display higher rates of entrepreneurial concentration. This is consistent with a model of social interactions where nonwork relationships facilitate the acquisition of sector-specific skills and result in occupational stratification along ethnic lines via concentrated entrepreneurship.