Social Capital and Income Attainment among Chinese Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Toronto

Ooka, Emi

doi:10.1177/011719680101000107

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Transnationalism is even said to have affected middleman minorities. Ooka (2001) reports that 'ethnic social capital' did not increase the income of Chinese business owners in Toronto, but bridging social capital (connects to non-Chinese) did as did class resources. Ethnic social capital would have been more characteristic of middleman minorities so its ineffectiveness here suggests a new kind of international business among the Chinese.…”

Section: Transnationalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transnationals in an English-speaking world

Light¹

2014

IJESB

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The dominance of the English language in the last half century has simplified globalisation and enabled more peoples to engage in transnational entrepreneurship than ever was possible in the past. Currently, transnational entrepreneurs need only English language competence to undertake the work of knitting together geographically and linguistically distant regions and countries. Although everywhere an elite skill, English language competence is now widespread in every region of the world. Therefore, linking two non-English-speaking countries now requires only one language, English. In the past, when middleman minorities undertook international trade, that same linkage required mastery of three language: the language of the exporter, the language of the middlemen and the language of the importer. English language dominance is a cultural resource that abets globalisation, but some evidence suggests a peculiar asymmetry arises when English-speaking countries export to non-English-speaking countries.

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Section: Transnationalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transnationals in an English-speaking world

Light¹

2014

IJESB

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“…Such research has focused on the benefits of densely-knit, tightly-bounded ethnic networks that are supported by solidarity and mutual trust (Wellman and Leighton 1979;Wellman 1988;Light and Bonacich, 1988). Yet this celebration of ethnic solidarity has overlooked the possible usefulness of ethnically heterogeneous ties to gain access to better opportunities (Portes and Sensenbrenner 1993;Portes 1998;Ooka 2001).…”

Section: Building On Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

9. Does Social Capital Pay Off More Within or Between Ethnic Groups? Analysing Job Searches in Five Toronto Ethnic Groups

Ooka

Wellman

2006

Inside the Mosaic

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In a multicultural society such as Canada, it is important to study the extent to which members of immigrant or minority groups perpetuate their disadvantaged status or overcome barriers to having access to unevenly distributed economic opportunities (Porter 1965; Portes and Zhou 1992; Lian and Matthews 1998; Pendakur and Pendakur 1998). This is especially significant in perceiving the long-term consequences of immigration. Job search is one of the strategic sites to explore social processes through which immigrants and minority members attain equality. In job searches, economic inequality along racial/ethnic lines can be produced, reproduced, or overcome using social contacts. This is because particular social contacts within and outside of ethnic communities can expose job seekers to varying structural opportunities. In this chapter, we look at the job search experiences of three generations of five Toronto ethnic groups: English, German, Jewish, Ukrainian, and Italian-Canadian. We address two questions about the social networks of immigrant and minority group members. 1. What factors influenced the use of intra-ethnic and inter-ethnic ties in their job searches? 2. Which ethnic groups attained higher incomes when their members use job contacts within or outside of their own ethnicity? Overall, we show that different types of social contacts exposed minority job-seekers to varying opportunities, and that the existing ethnic stratification in the labor market significantly conditioned the cost and the benefit of the inter-ethnic and intra-ethnic ties. Members of lowstatus ethnic groups tended to achieve higher income when they had ties outside of their own ethnic group. By contrast, members of high-status groups tended to do better when they had ties within their own group. Both gender and generation of immigration played complex roles in the nexus of ethnicity and network heterogeneity. These results suggest that the social processes of job searches both sustained and overcame inequality along racial/ethnic lines through which the often vertical structure of the Canadian mosaic has been sustained and altered.

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“…This, in turn, motivates them to share resources for the group's benefit without any expectation of reciprocity (Levanon, 2014). Thus, bounded solidarity allows immigrant entrepreneurs to obtain benefits that may Immigrant entrepreneurs and social capital lead to greater business success or longevity (Ooka, 2001). By the same reasoning, immigrant entrepreneurs' success may benefit their community since they may be inclined to "give back" to their ethnic community by making their resources available without the expectation of reciprocity (McGrath, 2010;Portes, 1998).…”

Section: Principled and Instrumental Motivationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immigrant entrepreneurs and community social capital: an exploration of motivations and agency

Gomez

Perera

Wesinger

et al. 2020

JSBED

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PurposeThe social capital used to access ethnic community resources is widely recognized in the literature as being important for immigrant entrepreneurship. However, there is limited knowledge regarding the extent to which immigrant entrepreneurs' agency, specifically their motivations, influence their use of, and contributions to, their ethnic social capital. In this paper, the authors explore this relationship.Design/methodology/approachBased on a qualitative approach, this research utilizes semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to identify the motivations, sources and effects of ethnic social capital.FindingsThis research indicates that immigrant entrepreneurs have mixed motives when engaging with their ethnic communities. The findings suggest that the immigrant entrepreneurs' social capital–mediated interactions within their ethnic community are driven not only by the social structure but that their agency, specifically their motivations, play an important role in them. While entrepreneurs hold mixed motives, they recognize the importance of business success. Thus, they make concessions to their ethnic community and utilize its resources if doing so benefits their business.Research limitations/implicationsThis research explores the role that immigrant entrepreneurs' motivations play in how they use and contribute to immigrant community social capital. By doing so, this study brings agency to the forefront of the discussion on immigrant entrepreneurship and social capital.Practical implicationsThis study provides insight into the connection between the extent to which immigrant entrepreneurs utilize and contribute to their ethnic community's social capital, their motivations for doing so and the effect that these factors have on the businesses as well as their ethnic communities. This understanding might be useful for organizations seeking to foster immigrant entrepreneurship as well as for entrepreneurs themselves.Originality/valueIndividuals' motivations as they relate to social capital involve a variable that is rarely, if ever, considered – that is, individual agency. Thus, this research contributes this perspective to the immigrant entrepreneurship literature but also more broadly to the social capital and entrepreneurship fields. This research can be extended to understand the impact of entrepreneurs' motivations on the communities in which they are embedded.

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Social Capital and Income Attainment among Chinese Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Toronto

Cited by 8 publications

References 47 publications

Transnationals in an English-speaking world

Transnationals in an English-speaking world

9. Does Social Capital Pay Off More Within or Between Ethnic Groups? Analysing Job Searches in Five Toronto Ethnic Groups

Immigrant entrepreneurs and community social capital: an exploration of motivations and agency

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