A political economy approach to understanding the economic incorporation of Chinese sub-ethnic groups

Lo, Lucia; Wang, Lu

doi:10.1007/s12134-004-1004-z

Cited by 9 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In addition, they have a feeling of insecurity; as ''non-natives'' and ''foreigners'' in Canada, their desire to ''save'' is greater than that to ''spend in shopping''. This is certainly due to their inder-valued human capital and poor labour market outcomes in Canada (Lo and Wang 2004).…”

Section: Evidence From the Focus Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global connectivity, local consumption, and Chinese immigrant experience

Wang

2007

GeoJournal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Acquiring consumer goods and services in the destination country signifies a different type of immigrant experience. This is especially pertinent in world cities where there is a strong presence of ethnic economies and where co-ethnic businesses and mainstream businesses compete against each other. The consumption pattern of immigrants is influenced not only by their pre-migration shopping habits, but also their post-migration transnational behaviour. In this paper, we focus on the consumption experience of Chinese immigrants in Toronto, which hosts one of the largest Chinese ethnic economies outside Asia. Based on a random survey and two focus group discussions, we explore how Chinese immigrants choose between ethnic Chinese and mainstream supermarkets, electronic stores and travel agencies. In theory, Chinese and non-Chinese stores providing similar goods and services are substitutes. The study however reveals intriguing results. Chinese and mainstream travel agencies are substitutes but Chinese and mainstream supermarkets and electronic stores are complements. Such differences reflect the importance of ethnicity and culture in immigrants' consumption behaviour. The paper provides new evidence on immigrant integration in the domain of consumption and contributes a consumer perspective to the literature on ethnic economy and transnationalism.

show abstract

Section: Evidence From the Focus Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global connectivity, local consumption, and Chinese immigrant experience

Wang

2007

GeoJournal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This study will improve our understanding of how socioeconomic status might be influenced by group-specific characteristics including ethnocultural origin and period of immigration of older immigrants in the Toronto CMA. The relevant literature suggests that recent immigrants generally have a lower socioeconomic status than their long-standing counterparts (Aging in poverty in Canada, 2005;Dempsey, 2005;Government of Canada, 2018;Lo & Wang, 2004;Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2019;Ng, 2012;Picot & Lu, 2017;Um & Lightman, 2016) and that different immigrant communities tend to concentrate in different neighbourhoods to form spatial clusters (Hiebert, 2015;McDonald, 2004;Murdie, 2008;Simich, 2000;Vezina & Houle, 2017). Understanding whether settlement challenges impact these subgroups differently, and most importantly, where these subgroups cluster in different neighbourhoods, can be used to identify systemic gaps in social and governmental services.…”

Section: Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Period of immigration is an additional factor that can compound settlement challenges. After landing, immigrants encounter barriers to integration and adjustment such as the devaluation of language, culture and education, lack of understanding of Canada's official languages, vulnerability to chronic low income, and an inability to access adequate governmental support programs, most importantly, employment-related settlement services (Creese, 2007;Dempsey, 2005;Galabuzi, 2005;Lo and Wang, 2004;. Unfortunately, these settlement challenges are exacerbated through societal perceptions of immigrants as a homogenous group of people with similar needs, regardless of ethnocultural origin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Unfortunately, these settlement challenges are exacerbated through societal perceptions of immigrants as a homogenous group of people with similar needs, regardless of ethnocultural origin. This problematic perception fails to acknowledge or seeks to address the unique and nuanced barriers that older recent immigrants from different ethnocultural background might encounter during their settlement process (Laher, 2017;Lo & Wang, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Examining Demographic Characteristics and Settlement Patterns of Ethnoculturally-Diverse Specific Long-Standing and Recent Older Immigrants in the Toronto CMA, 2016

Anthony¹

2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Understanding population characteristics and residential patterns of recent and long-standing older immigrants is important to ensure that settlement services are adequately supporting a diverse and vulnerable population. This research paper represents a pilot study to fill in the gap found in the already limited scholarship on the characterization, spatial distribution and in-group differences of older immigrants in the Toronto CMA. Firstly, it explores the nuanced differences in population composition of four ethnocultural-specific subgroups representing long-standing (Italian and Portuguese) and recent immigrants (Chinese and South Asian) and secondly, it identifies clusters of recent immigrants that are settling outside of the long-standing ethnocultural enclaves. Despite having higher rates of education than their long-standing counterparts, Chinese and South Asian are characterized by low income prevalence and lack of knowledge of an official language. Hence, determining the multilingual composition of the South Asian and Chinese subgroups can facilitate language-specific settlement services within recent older South Asian and Chinese immigrant clusters. Key words: older adults, immigration studies, recent immigrants, settlement challenges, low income, hot spot analysis, Toronto Census Metropolitan Area

show abstract

“…Instead, individual immigrants engage in selective behavior. Just as they refrain from displaying particular loyalties to obtain goods and services from either ethnic or mainstream economies they also seem to be selective in their choices regarding where and how to participate in the larger society (Lo and Wang, 2004, 2007).…”

Section: Gendered Immigrant Incorporation In New Urban Spacesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigrant Networks in New Urban Spaces: Gender and Social Integration

Avenarius

2012

International Migration

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article investigates how dispersed settlement in areas of urban sprawl affects the structure of personal networks that in turn influences the likelihood of social integration among male and female immigrants from Taiwan. Settlement in the deconcentrated spaces that currently constitute the new urban spaces of U.S. metropolitan areas potentially offers more opportunities to interact with ethnically diverse people than the traditional ethnic enclaves of inner cities. However, these spatial structures also increase dependency on cars and road systems. Findings from ethnographic fieldwork in Orange County, California, show that the social networks of affluent first generation immigrants from Taiwan are not comparable to the densely knit broadly based ties linking neighbors and kin group members traditionally attributed to immigrants.Instead, the social networks of immigrants with high levels of human and economic capital are based on loosely bounded, sparsely knit, and dynamic specialized ties. At the local level networks involve few ties to extended relatives, but a substantial amount of relationships with former classmates and members of recreational associations. However, despite good English skills and employment in diverse workplaces the number of interactions with nonimmigrants outside of work and school environments is rather small. These circumstances are experienced differently by men and women. Female immigrants consider living in the deconcentrated spaces of master-plan communities beneficial for achieving personal contentment. They welcome the changed conditions for social interaction and enjoy the decrease in network size and frequency of contacts that result in less obligations and responsibilities compared to life back in their country of origin. Male immigrants, however, mourn the loss of opportunities to gain reputation and social recognition. They would prefer to live in areas with close spatial proximity of immigrant residences. These gendered evaluations further affect the likelihood of social integration for first generation immigrants.

show abstract

A political economy approach to understanding the economic incorporation of Chinese sub-ethnic groups

Cited by 9 publications

References 16 publications

Global connectivity, local consumption, and Chinese immigrant experience

Global connectivity, local consumption, and Chinese immigrant experience

Examining Demographic Characteristics and Settlement Patterns of Ethnoculturally-Diverse Specific Long-Standing and Recent Older Immigrants in the Toronto CMA, 2016

Immigrant Networks in New Urban Spaces: Gender and Social Integration

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About