Entrepreneurship in Ethnic Enterprises: The Making of New Immigrant Businesses in New York

Abstract

Research on ethnic entrepreneurship has generated substantial literature on the development of ethnic businesses among different immigrant groups in North America. Such studies tend to focus on the emergence of immigrant entrepreneurship among earlier immigrant groups by highlighting either the group characteristics or the opportunity structure. Existing studies also tend to overlook the importance of innovation in immigrants’ small businesses due to the marginality of immigrant businesses. Thus, there is a dearth of research on new immigrant communities in the USA that illuminates immigrants’ innovative practices. Drawing on the experiences of 50 Bangladeshi entrepreneurs in New York, this research examined how this emerging immigrant group transformed into immigrant entrepreneurs through the investigation of their innovative practices in small business. This paper determined that immigrant entrepreneurs are embedded within the dynamics of the immigration trajectory and the broader context of American society. Although these new immigrants were driven towards the lower end of the economy, this study found that innovations have expanded the breadth and depth of their businesses and made their businesses different and rewarding.