Much ado about very little: The dubious connection between ethnic minority business policy and ethnic minority entrepreneurship

Trevor Jones,Richard Roberts,Monder Ram

doi:10.1111/imig.12959

Trevor Jones, Richard Roberts + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12959

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Journal: International Migration	Publication Date: Jan 28, 2022
Citations: 4	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Aston University

Abstract

AbstractThis article presents a historical reprise of 40 years of policy interest in ethnic minority businesses in the UK. It contrasts the pronouncements of policymakers with the reality of ethnic minority entrepreneurship. Such an exercise is surprisingly rare given the activism of policymakers in this arena and growing scholarly interest in this field. Our historical overview is informed by a novel research method that plots references to ethnic minority entrepreneurship in the British Houses of Parliament. Though the UK has been the site of some interesting policy experiments on ethnic minority entrepreneurship, their impact has been slight when set against the context of broader political‐economic change.

Highlights

“What is the connection between policies to support ethnic minority businesses1 (EMBs) and the actuality of ethnic minority entrepreneurship”? This deceptively simple question is rarely remarked upon in either scholarly or practitioner circles
We argue that the evolution of EMBs in Britain—in itself a narrative of proliferation, growth and diversification (Ram & Jones, 2008)—has to be seen primarily in the context of broader political-economic change
In addition to Enterprise Agencies (EAs) the Department of Trade and Industry set up a network of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), part of whose brief was to encourage enterprise development, with a special part envisaged for EMBs

Summary

Introduction

“What is the connection between policies to support ethnic minority businesses1 (EMBs) and the actuality of ethnic minority entrepreneurship”? This deceptively simple question is rarely remarked upon in either scholarly or practitioner circles. During 1981 encouraging and supporting business starts and self-employment amongst the ethnic minority communities of the UK suddenly appeared on the policy agenda.

Results

Conclusion