Abstract
This paper documents the exceptional confluence between employment as a U.S. farmworker and business owner. Hispanics compose the overall majority (79.7%) of U.S. farmworkers, with two-thirds (66.6%) of all farmworkers identifying as Mexican. Utilizing the National Agricultural Workers Survey conducted annually by the U.S. Department of Labor from 1989 to 2009, we explore the characteristics and determinants of these unique farmworker/business owners. Approximately 1% (or about 10,000) U.S. farmworkers are business owners either in the U.S. or in their native homeland. Both Hispanics (53.0%) and non-Hispanics (47.0%) form this unique subset, although Hispanic farmworkers are underrepresented in this business owner subset given that they make up a relatively high proportion of all U.S. farmworkers. Implications for business growth, entrepreneurship, and economic development abound; even in the most trying of occupations entrepreneurial outcomes may emerge. Two case studies outline possible pathways to business formation for agricultural workers.
Highlights
The National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), conducted annually by the U.S Department of Labor, indicates that only one percent of U.S agricultural workers in the period of 1989 to 2009 owned their own business
Results we report on the descriptive statistics for farmworker and business owner and for farmworkers in the NAWS sample over the period 1989-2009
Respondents who are farmworkers and businesses owners will be referred to as “business owners,” and farmworkers who are not business owners will be referred to as “farmworkers.” While business owners appear in each year of the survey, the 1989 to 1994 period has the most respondents identifying as business owners, a likely result of the regularization of immigration status after the implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986.11
Summary
The National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), conducted annually by the U.S Department of Labor, indicates that only one percent of U.S agricultural workers in the period of 1989 to 2009 owned their own business. With over one million agricultural workers in the U.S, there are approximately 10,000 farmworkers who are business owners either in the U.S or in their country of origin, if the latter are cross-border agricultural workers.. The phenomenon of agricultural work as a possible path to business ownership is understudied, especially the development from farmworker to business owner. In this paper we focus on this “exceptional” one percent—those who are simultaneously agricultural workers and business owners—and examine the determinants of farmworker entrepreneurship using data from the NAWS gathered between 1989 and 2009
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
