Immigrant Self-Employment Among Latin American and Asian Immigrants in 1990: A Tale of Resources, A Tale of Cities.

We examine how self-employment among immigrants from Latin America (Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Cuban) and Asia (Chinese, Filipinos, and Koreans) is determined not only by their human capital (education, English ability) and social capital (extended family composition) but also by the social context (time and place) they encountered and the circumstances of their migration. We compare the likelihood of their being self-employed to that of native-born Whites, separately for men and women, in 30 different metropolitan areas in the U. S.. Using data from the 1990 U. S. Census, we improve upon Sanders and Nee?s (1996) contribution on the role social capital -- family composition ? plays in self-employment by including additional social context indicators ? time and place -- and stressing the role the circumstances of migration play. The results give credence to the interactionist perspective, which suggests that self-employment is a result of both the social resources of particular groups and the social context they encountered in particular cities. Our results also find substantial differences for men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]