The earnings of self-employed Mexican Americans along the U.S.-Mexico border

Abstract

We utilize data from the 1990 1% Public Use Microdata Sample to analyze the earnings and occupational status of self-employed Mexican Americans in the ®ve major U.S.-Mexico border metropolitan statistical areas (Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo, and McAllen in Texas, and San Diego, California) relative to those in non-border cities. Our ®ndings suggest that selfemployed Mexican American men earned signi®cantly less in Texas-Mexico border cities than in other areas on average, while the earnings of selfemployed Mexican American women did not signi®cantly vary between border and non-border cities. We also ®nd evidence that these earnings differentials may be related to di¨erences in self-employment selection and occupational choice. As such,``across the board'' policies designed to foster self-employment may not have the desired e¨ect of boosting economic prosperity unless consideration is given to the socioeconomic and demographic composition of the region as well as to the speci®c occupational sector.

Self-Employed Mexican Immigrants Residing along the U.S.-Mexico Border: The Earnings Effect of Working in the U.S. versus Mexico

“…Table 1 contains the self‐employment rates – defined by the worker classification – of Mexican immigrants, 4 partitioned by border and U.S.‐interior residence 5 . As discussed in other studies (Flota and Mora, 2001; Robles, 2002; Mora and Dávila, 2006), workers in American cities located near Mexico exhibit significantly higher self‐employment rates than those in other U.S. cities. To illustrate, 12 percent of Mexican immigrants reported self‐employment along the U.S.‐Mexico border, compared to less than 7 percent of those residing in the U.S. interior.…”

“…Mexican American entrepreneurs in U.S. cities near the Mexican border earn less on average than their otherwise similar “salaried” peers; yet workers in the region, particularly Mexican immigrants, have significantly higher self‐employment rates than those in the U.S. interior (Flota and Mora, 2001; Robles, 2002; Mora and Dávila, 2006). One explanation for this higher self‐employment propensity is the relatively strong opportunity to cater to Mexican consumers who frequently enter U.S.‐border cities for shopping and trade (Mora and Dávila, 2006).…”

“…Recent studies have nevertheless found that workers in the border region exhibit greater entrepreneurial tendencies than those in the U.S. interior (Flota and Mora, 2001; Robles, 2002), particularly Mexican immigrants (Mora and Dávila, 2006). Anecdotal evidence indicates that many Mexican business owners residing on the U.S. side of the border often cater to Mexican consumers who frequently enter U.S.‐border cities for shopping, trade, and tourism.…”

Opportunity Knocks: Entrepreneurship, informality and home gardening in South Texas

“…The two studies taken together (Dávila & Mora 2000 and the present study), recalling that our present sample consists of two-thirds Mexican-born selfemployed gardeners, Spanish language affinity seems a plausible answer to the above stated work preference for Hispanics. 9 The competitive nature of self-employment along the Mexican-U.S. border fueled by an "unlimited" supply of labor is discussed by Flota and Mora (2001). Though somewhat dated (utilizing 1990 census data), Flota and Mora (2001) report an earnings penalty for self-employed Hispanic men, particularly so along the Texas-Mexican border (e.g., the MSAs of El Paso, Laredo, McAllen, and Brownsville).…”

Ukrainian entrepreneurship in Italy: factors influencing the creation of ethnic ventures

“…The choice of this dependent variable is in line with the evolution of the studies on ethnic entrepreneurship. Over the years, several scholars have underlined the relevance of the enclave and very interesting studies have been conducted (Boyd 1990;Peterson and Roquebert 1993;Light et al 1994;Portes 1995;Razin and Langlois 1996;Basu 1998;Kloosterman et al 1999;Le 2000;Light and Gold 2000;Flota and Mora 2001;Kloosterman and Rath 2001;Clark and Drinkwater 2002;Kloosterman 2003;Parker 2004;Zhou 2004;Volery 2007). Among them, Basu (1998), for example, has investigated three enclaves (Indian, Bengali and Pakistani) in the UK in order to compare inclinations towards entrepreneurship between different ethnic groups in their enclaves.…”