This article contributes to the growing literature maintaining that the ethnic enclave represents a distinct, third alternative to a dual economy. The data are interviews with 45 elderly, immigrant blacks, Jews and Italians from New York City. Two facets of the enclave are explored: determinants of job outcomes for employees and factors responsible for entrepreneurial viability. With regard to employees, the analysis shows enclave workers obtain job security and job status equivalent to openings in the primary sector. Investigation of the organization of ethnic entrepreneurship reveals that the mobilization of several factors unique to ethnicity enhances the competitiveness of minority firms.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AldrichH.1984 “Ethnic Advantage and Minority Business Development”, In Ethnic Communities in Business. Edited by WardR. and JenkinsR.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2.
AndersonG.1974Networks of Contact: The Portuguese and Toronto.Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
3.
BeckE.M.1978 “Stratification in a Dual Economy: A Sectoral Model of Earnings Determination”, American Sociological Review, 43:704–20. Oct.
4.
BlauP. and DuncanO.D.1967The American Occupational Structure.New York: The Free Press.
5.
BodnarJ.1982Lives of Their Own.Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
6.
BonacichE.1973 “A Theory of Middleman Minorities”, American Sociological Review, 38:583–94. Oct.
7.
BonacichE. and ModellJ.1980The Economic Basis of Ethnic Solidarity.Berkeley: University of California Press.
8.
CalzaveraL.1983 “Social Networks and Access to Job Opportunities”. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Detroit.
9.
DuncanO.D.1972Socioeconomic Background and Achievement.New York: Seminar Press.
GordonD.1982Segmented Work, Divided Workers.New York: Cambridge University Press.
13.
GranovetterM.1974Getting a Job.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
14.
GranovetterM.1983 “Economic Action and Social Structure: A Theory of Embeddedness”, Dept. of Sociology, S.U.N.Y. at Stony Brook. Mimeo.
15.
HutchinsonE.1956Immigrants and Their Children, 1850–1950.New York: John Wiley.
16.
LiebersonS.1980A Piece of the Pie.Berkeley, University of California Press.
17.
LightI.1972Ethnic Enterprise in America.Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
18.
LinN.1981 “Social Resources and Strength of Ties: Structural Factors in Occupational Status Attainment”, American Sociological Review, 46:393–405, August.
19.
Lovell-TroyL.1980 “Clan Structure and Economic Activity: The Case of the Greeks in Small Business Enterprise”. In Self Help in Urban America. Edited by CummingsS.Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press.
20.
ModelS.1985Ethnic Bonds in the Workplace: Blacks, Italians, and Jews in New York City. Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Michigan.
21.
MooreD.1981At Home in America: Second Generation New York Jews.New York: Columbia University Press.
22.
PioreM.1979Birds of Passage.New York: Cambridge University Press.
23.
PortesA. and BachR.1980 “Immigrant Earnings: Cuban and Mexican Immigrants in the United States”, International Migration Review, 14:315–41, Fall.
24.
ReitzJ.1981 “Ethnic Inequality and Segregation in Jobs”. Research Paper No. 123. Center for Urban and Community Studies, University of Toronto.
25.
RischinM.1962The Promised City: New York's Jews, 1870–1914.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
26.
SowellT.1981Markets and Minorities.New York: Basic Books.
27.
ThernstromS.1973The Other Bostonians.Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
28.
U.S. Bureau of the Census1952U.S. Census of the Population: 1950. Vol. II, Characteristics of the Population, Part 32, New York.Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
29.
U.S. Bureau of the Census1954U.S. Census of the Populations: 1950. Vol. IV, Special Reports, Part 3, Nativity and Parentage.Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
30.
U.S. Immigration Commission1911Reports, Part 23, Immigrants in Industry. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.
31.
WaldingerR.1983 “Ethnic Enterprise: A Critique and Reformulation”. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Detroit.
32.
WallaceM. and KallebergA.1981 “Economic Organization of Firms and Labor Market Consequences: Towards a Specification of Dual Economy Theory”. In Sociological Perspectives on Labor Markets. Edited by BergI.New York: Academic Press. Pp. 77–117.
33.
WilsonK. and PortesA.1980 “Immigrant Enclaves: An Analysis of the Labor Market Experience of Cubans in Miami”, American Journal of Sociology, 86:295–319, Sept.
34.
WilsonK. and MartinW.1982 “Ethnic Enclaves: A Comparison of the Cuban and Black Economies in Miami”, American Journal of Sociology, 88:135–160, July.
35.
WongB.1974Patronage, Brokerage, and Entrepreneurship and the Chinese Community of New York. Unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Wisconsin.
36.
WongB.1976 “Social Stratification, Adaptive Strategies, and the Chinese Community of New York”, Urban Life, 5:33–52, April.
37.
WrightE. and PerroneL.1977 “Marxist Class Categories and Income Inequality”, American Sociological Review, 42:32–55, Feb.
