From Cities to Suburbs: Intrametropolitan Location and Growth of Ethnic Enterprises

Abstract

This study traces the geographic evolution of minority-owned businesses in submetropolitan areas across the United States and investigates potential factors that underlie their intra-metropolitan location shift. Using data from the 2002 and 2007 Survey of Business Owner, this study addresses these questions for Asian-, Black-and Hispanic-owned enterprises in 19 selected large metropolitan areas in the U.S. It is found that ethnic enterprises have a stronger presence in the cities versus the suburbs but have experienced faster growth in the suburbs. The rate and direction of this spatial shift varies by ethnic business type, region, and metropolitan context.