BLACK ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS: THE EFFECT OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD TYPE

Michael Ogbolu ()
Additional contact information
Michael Ogbolu: Management and Entrepreneurship, Howard University, Washington, D.C., USA

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), 2024, vol. 29, issue 04, 1-29

Abstract: Americans tend to cluster into distinct neighborhoods based on their race/ethnicity. The extent of this clustering can be seen in the differences in the racial/ethnic constitution of the U.S. inner cities and the suburbs. This clustering profoundly affects the success of ethnic entrepreneurs, who are usually dependent on co-ethnic patronage in their ethnic enclaves because of their ethnic identity. Successful ethnic entrepreneurship affects the economic vibrance of the ethnic enclave, the neighborhood’s health and the inhabitants’ wealth. Most African American-owned businesses are in African American enclaves, which are usually in urban areas and depend primarily on African American customers for survival. Individual and group outcomes are influenced by how individuals develop their social identities based on demographic characteristics (Miller, 2019). Social identity theory postulates that the social category into which individuals fall and to which individuals feel they belong forms the basis of their identity (Tajfel and Turner, 1979). However, there are some instances where these expected outcomes are violated. Unlike other ethnic-owned businesses in other ethnic enclaves that are thriving, African American-owned businesses continue to suffer higher failure rates and lower founding rates. As reported in an earlier study, one reason for the low entrepreneurship rates for Blacks is consumer attitudes toward Black entrepreneurs. Consumer attitudes can influence patronage, especially when information asymmetry or bias exists. This paper further explores the relationship between consumer attitudes and intended patronage of Black-owned businesses in the context of neighborhood type. Findings and implications are discussed.

Keywords: Black entrepreneurial success; consumer perceptions; ethnic enclaves; co-ethnic patronage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1084946724500237
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wsi:jdexxx:v:29:y:2024:i:04:n:s1084946724500237

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S1084946724500237

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE) is currently edited by Peter Koveos

More articles in Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().