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Retail Niche Domination Among African American, Jewish, and Korean Entrepreneurs

Competition, Coethnic Advantage and Disadvantage

University of California, Los Angeles

Do immigrant entrepreneurs who open businesses in predominantly Black neighborhoods take business opportunities away from African Americans in the community? Given the prevalence of immigrant-owned businesses, one may assume that immigrant groups such as Koreans, Jews, Chinese, and Asian Indians compete with African American entrepreneurs, thereby inhibiting African American small-business development. However, immigrant groups enter and dominate retail niches different from those of African Americans, and because ethnic groups cluster in different industries, competition is more likely to be intra-ethnic. However, competition is more nuanced and manifests in subtle ways. Entrepreneurship is embedded in ethnic networks that act as coethnic advantages for some and blocked opportunities for others. The article examines why African Americans, Jews, and Koreans enter different retail niches and explores the coethnic advantages and disadvantages of niche domination. The article also illustrates how niches remain closed to outsiders, resulting in business disadvantage or exclusion from certain niches.

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