Ethnic minority business in comparative perspective: The case of the independent restaurant sector

Abstract

British research on ethnic minority entrepreneurship has often endeavoured to account for the prominence or otherwise of ethnic minority groups in business. This trend towards explicating the diversity of ethnic minorities in business has intensified with recent attention to apparently significant variations within the South Asian community itself. But how 'different' is ethnic minority business activity from the wider small firm population? This question is addressed through a qualitative study of a variety of ethnic groups involved in Birmingham's independent restaurant sector. In this article we examine two processes that have been marked out for particular attention in debates on ethnic minority business activity: the role of the family in the process of business formation and management of the enterprise, and the dynamics of 'workforce construction'; that is, the 'qualities' that employers look for in recruiting workers. The results highlight the interplay of culture and economics at work. In so doing, they serve to bring into question 'solidaristic' notions of ethnicity, that attach primary importance to 'culturalist' explanations of ethnic minority business development. It is argued that accounts of the apparent distinctiveness of ethnic minority businesses need to be more carefully embedded in the sectoral context in which they operate. Further, qualitative approaches are more likely to capture the connection between culture and economics in action than quantitatively-based survey assessments.