Black-owned Businesses Research Articles

Community and Commerce

“‘Where Do We Go from Here?’: Histories of Long-term Black Business Ownership, Community, and Family in Los Angeles County” is an oral history project of African American business owners conducted by the UCLA Center for Oral History Research. This report describes the design and implementation of the project, the challenges of outreach, and the ways in which narrators participated and negotiated their own agendas and investments in the project. It also argues for the importance of business oral history as a means of documenting African American community and social history. As this project shows, business oral histories can record the daily particulars of small business’s operations and the challenges business owners face, offer insight into the legacy of African American multi-generational businesses, demonstrate the on-going impact of racism and segregation on Black-owned businesses, and give evidence of how Black business owners conceive their relationship and responsibilities to the African American community.

Race and Survival: Examining the Interplay of Demand and Supply Factors on Black-Owned Businesses During Gentrification in New York City

Using an analytic autoethnography, this study investigates the survival of 20 Black-owned businesses, including the author's, amidst gentrification in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York. It introduces a demand-supply framework, illustrating that survival hinges on the balanced interplay of demand factors—such as attracting and maintaining customer interest and navigating competitive pressures—as well as supply factors, notably securing stable, affordable commercial space. The research emphasizes the multifaceted impact of race and racial discrimination on businesses, from strategic adaptation and operational management to financial capital access, real estate, and customer engagement. It notes that these influences arise from both inter-group and intra-group tensions, while also acknowledging that racial solidarity can offer crucial support. Strategies such as concealing racial identity and leveraging customer referrals emerge as key responses to discrimination. This research enriches the discourse on the commercial implications of gentrification for Black entrepreneurs and provides practical recommendations for policy and practice.

When and Why Antiegalitarianism Affects Resistance to Supporting Black-Owned Businesses

Understanding how initiatives to support Black-owned businesses are received, and why, has important social and economic implications. To address this, we designed three experiments to investigate the role of antiegalitarian versus egalitarian ideologies among White American adults. In Study 1 (N = 199), antiegalitarianism (vs. egalitarianism) predicted viewing initiatives supporting a Black-owned business as less fair, but only when the business was competing with other (presumably White-owned) businesses. In Study 2 (N = 801), antiegalitarianism predicted applying survival-of-the-fittest market beliefs, particularly to Black-owned businesses. Antiegalitarianism also predicted viewing initiatives supporting Black-owned businesses as less fair than initiatives that targeted other (presumably White-owned) businesses, especially for tangible (vs. symbolic) support that directly impacts the success of a business. In Study 3 (N = 590), antiegalitarianism predicted rejecting a program investing in Black-owned businesses. These insights demonstrate how antiegalitarian ideology can have the effect of maintaining race-based inequality, hindering programs designed to reduce that inequality.

Redefining nude: Unravelling nylon’s unmarked norms

In this article I critically examine the history of nylon stockings in the United States through the lenses of race and gender. Drawing on visual and material culture examples related to nylon and nude colours, I show how whiteness was standardized and presented as the unmarked norm. Employing an intersectional feminist approach, my archival research expands the narrative beyond these exclusionary practices, highlighting how in ensuing decades individuals and companies marketed and crafted nylon foundationwear for a wider range of consumers. These examples offer a vital counter-history to nylon’s normalization of bodies and mass production that mobilized a standard ideal of womanhood as white, thin, heterosexual and cisgender. The legacy of the creation of ‘nude’ colours that standardize whiteness as the norm can still be seen today in foundationwear branding and everyday items like bandages. However, this has not gone unchallenged and there are increased efforts to address this, particularly among Black-owned businesses like gc2b, Nude Barre and Browndages. It is important to historicize the emergence of standard practices, such as singular definitions of nude and limited sizing practices, and how they serve to reinforce norms of racialized gender. Deconstructing these practices and critically examining less documented alternatives uncovers and addresses embedded power structures within standardization.

Representation Matters: Measuring Black Travelers’ Legitimacy Judgments of DMOs

Legitimacy is a critical piece of the social contract organizations have with consumers; enabling them to operate within a given environment. Legitimacy is granted from a wide range of evaluators, but only a small number of studies explore factors that influence the judgments of consumers. This study recognizes the importance of individual judgments by developing a valid and reliable scale which measures how Black travelers evaluate the legitimacy of destination marketing organizations (DMOs). A three-factor solution including relational, cognitive, and pragmatic dimensions of legitimacy was established. The findings extend legitimacy theory by measuring relational legitimacy which considers how organizations affirm one’s identity. Results demonstrate the value of representation in marketing, employees, and tourism products/services. Recommendations from the Black Traveler DMO Legitimacy Scale suggests tourism offices can increase legitimacy by building partnerships with Black owned businesses, ensuring authenticity in marketing, and revisiting strategic plans related to employee recruitment and retention.

A Black Brewer Experience: Navigating White space and managing its culture

The craft beer industry is dominated by images of bearded White men and represents what is considered a “White space”. In the present research, we explore racism and discrimination in the marketplace by advancing an understanding of Black-owned business experiences within an industry culture dominated by Whiteness. This phenomenological inquiry utilized a storytelling framework (Bell, 2020) to study the ways in which Blackness is explained, minimized, or celebrated in the development of counter-narratives enacted to challenge the dominant narrative within the craft beer industry. Our findings, obtained from interviews with 27 Black brewers, explain how color-blind racism is encountered, history is reframed, and an inclusive future is envisioned through the explication of concealed, resistance, and emerging stories, respectively. Our study answers the call for marketing scholars to more critically engage with how race and racism impact marketplace interactions, particularly among minoritized business owners.

The promise of entrepreneurship ecosystems: a conceptual model for black American entrepreneurs

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to set forth a conceptual model describing the actors and roles in ecosystems created to enable productive black entrepreneurship in the USA.Design/methodology/approachThis paper provides a systematic literature review of entrepreneurship ecosystems. It further leverages such literature review by using an autoethnographic approach recommended by Guyotte and Kochacka (2016), drawing on the authors’ practical experience in studying, owning, educating or consulting employer businesses owned by persons of color in the USA and abroad.FindingsEach actor in the ecosystem has practical wisdom and assets that can be shared and leveraged through interacting with the other actors either as role model institutions or capacity development institutions, thus mitigating social inequalities and boosting economic progress by extending entrepreneurial opportunities beyond those that are greatly resourced.Research limitations/implicationsOur literature review is based on selected samples of relevant articles on entrepreneurship ecosystem research and ethnic minority entrepreneurship, and thus, is not exhaustive. The selection was partly influenced by the authors’ opinion of whether a given study was relevant or not to a black entrepreneurship ecosystem. There is the possibility that some relevant studies were excluded. Thus, other actors are encouraged to revise or adapt this model to inform their distinct roles and goals.Practical implicationsThe proposed model can help actors involved in the operation or support of a black-owned business make optimal business decisions, enabling each actor to be instrumental in another’s understanding of how to facilitate the success of black American entrepreneurs and business owners and thus, deploy marketing campaigns to boost the visibility and role of each actor. These campaigns play a role in their entrepreneurial marketing efforts.Originality/valueResponding to Gines and Sampson’s (2020) call, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to explicitly provide a comprehensive black entrepreneurship ecosystem model that identifies the actors, roles and activities that can help black Americans address social inequalities that limit their ability to become a successful employer business. The proposed model may aid in deepening the theoretical discussion on entrepreneurial ecosystems and be of inspiration for the future works of scholars and practitioners interested in the entrepreneurship and marketing interface.

"We've Got to Bring Information to Where People Are Comfortable": Community-Based Advance Care Planning with the Black Community.

People identifying as Black/African American are less likely to engage in advance care planning (ACP) compared to their White peers, despite the association of ACP with improved patient and caregiver outcomes. Assess facilitators/barriers to ACP in the San Francisco (SF) Black community and co-design/implement/test community-based ACP pilot events. Community-based participatory research, including qualitative research, intervention development, and implementation. In partnership with the SF Palliative Care Workgroup (which includes health system, city, and community-based organizations), we formed an African American Advisory Committee (n = 13). We conducted 6 focus groups with Black older adults (age ≥ 55), caregivers, and community leaders (n = 29). The Advisory Committee then selected 5 community-based organizations through a widespread request for proposal. These community-based organizations designed and implemented community-based pilot events to support ACP engagement. Two authors analyzed recorded focus group transcripts using thematic analysis. We assessed pre- vs post-event readiness to engage in ACP (validated ACP Engagement Survey; 1-4 scale, 4 = most ready) using Wilcoxon signed rank tests and assessed event acceptability with open-ended questions. Themes included the importance of ACP to the Black community (sub-themes: strengthens families; preserves dignity, particularly for sexual/gender minorities; is tied to financial planning) and facilitators for increasing ACP engagement (sub-themes: culturally relevant materials; events in trusted community spaces including Black-owned businesses). A total of 114 participants attended 5 events; 74% identified as Black, and 16% as sexual/gender minorities. Readiness to engage in ACP was similar pre- vs post-events; 98% would recommend the events to others. Community-based ACP events designed and led by and for the Black community are highly acceptable. Novel insights underscored the importance of financial planning as part of ACP and the role of Black-owned businesses as trusted spaces for ACP-related discussions.

If the Government Pays for Full Home-Charger Installation, Would Affordable-Housing and Middle-Income Residents Buy Electric Vehicles?

With climate change and inequities, this study assessed the willingness of affordable-housing and middle-income residents to buy an electric vehicle (EV) if they had a charging station at their home, the likelihood of buying an EV in 2 years, ideal charger locations, and payment preferences for installation. The new Green Books revealed charger opportunities. Volunteers completed paper surveys in Brookline, MA, in an affordable housing complex (n = 37) and a middle-income neighborhood (n = 128) (Total n = 165). Brookline is unique because drivers cannot leave their cars curbside overnight, and local historic districts (LHDs) require aesthetic charger-installations. Descriptive statistics (yes + likely) revealed that affordable housing (70%) and middle-income (65%) respondents would lease or buy a secondhand EV if they had a charging station where they park their car at their home. Affordable housing (43%) and middle-income (38%) respondents were more neutral about buying an EV in the next 2 years. The preferred charger location was the side of the house (44%) or a post by the driveway (38%). Preferred cost-for-installation included government reimbursement (47%) and tax deduction (41%). Data analysis combined affordable housing and middle-income responses and showed no significant differences for gender, significant differences for individuals 76 years and older, and minor differences for income. To inform individuals in the pre-contemplation phase, Black-owned businesses in the new Green Books could seek government funding for off-road chargers. While EV technology will improve, land is limited, so chargers should not displace climate-responsive bicyclists in curbside protected bike lanes. Following this study, governments and academics could pilot full funding of home charger installations to involve affordable housing and middle-income residents in this climate change solution, study details of these adopters, and develop worldwide policies to lessen greenhouse gas emissions.

Building Successful Black-Owned Businesses: How Black Entrepreneurs and White Consumers Can Help Close the Racial Wealth Gap in America

Building Successful Black-Owned Businesses: How Black Entrepreneurs and White Consumers Can Help Close the Racial Wealth Gap in America

Barriers to black entrepreneurship: Implications for welfare and aggregate output over time

The number of black-owned businesses in the U.S. has increased dramatically since the 1980s, even compared to the number of non-black-owned businesses and the rise in black labor-market participation. From 1982 to 2012 the fraction black labor-market participants who owned businesses rose from 4 to 16 percent, compared to an increase of 14 to 19 percent for other participants. Combined with other evidence, this suggests black entrepreneurs have faced significant barriers to starting and running businesses and these barriers have declined over time. Interpreted through a model of entrepreneurship, we find declining barriers led to a permanent 14.4 percent increase in (consumption-equivalent) black welfare, a 5.2 percent increase in output per worker (compared to an observed 70 percent increase), and a 9 percent increase in the welfare of other labor-market participants. These impacts are in addition to any gains from declining labor-market barriers.

Black Businesses Matter: A Longitudinal Study of Black-Owned Restaurants in the COVID-19 Pandemic Using Geospatial Big Data

Black communities in the United States have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic; however, few empirical studies have been conducted to examine the conditions of Black-owned businesses in the United States during this challenging time. In this article, we assess the circumstances of Black-owned restaurants during the entire year of 2020 through a longitudinal quantitative analysis of restaurant patronage. Using multiple sources of geospatial big data, the analysis reveals that most Black-owned restaurants in this study are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic among different cities in the United States over time. The finding reveals the need for a more in-depth understanding of Black-owned restaurants’ situations during the pandemic and further indicates the significance of carrying out place-based relief strategies. Our findings also urge big tech companies to improve existing Black-owned business campaigns to enable sustainable support. As the first to systematically examine the racialization of locational information, this article implies that geographic information systems (GIS) development should not be detached from human experience, especially that of minorities. A humanistic rewiring of GIS is envisioned to achieve a more racially equitable world.

Self-Reporting Race in Small Business Loans: A Game-Theoretic Analysis of Evidence from PPP Loans in Durham, NC

Using hand-collected race information about small business owners that concealed their race in Paycheck Protection Program applications, we find evidence that not disclosing race information in loan applications pays off significantly. Our results show that Black-owned businesses that concealed their race obtained 52 percent more in funding than self-reported Black-owned businesses. Interestingly, White-owned businesses that also concealed their race information obtained approximately 10 percent more in funding relative to self-reported White-owned businesses. However, the effect is not statistically significant. Our findings are consistent with a prisoner's dilemma theoretical framework in which all participants are better off by not self-reporting race.

Using Technology to Tackle Discrimination in Lending: The Role of Fintechs in the Paycheck Protection Program

We assess the role of fintech firms in loans made through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a US government policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic that provided loans to small businesses. We argue that fintech firms' reliance on technology rather than relationship-banking approaches used by traditional banks helps to address discrimination in lending, at least in part. Using newly released data on the PPP program, we find support for our arguments: while Black-owned businesses received loans that were approximately 50 percent lower than observationally similar White-owned businesses, the effect narrows considerably when fintechs are allowed to provide loans.

Black-Owned Firms, Financial Constraints, and the Firm Size Gap

We document the smaller average employment size and lower financial access of Black-owned businesses compared to White-owned businesses. Controlling for other characteristics, we find that observed differences in finance account for 60 percent of the 11.3 percent racial gap in number of employees; differences in returns account for 103 percent. The results imply that if both the levels and returns on finance were equalized across races, then Black-owned firms would be 18.4 percent larger than their actual size. Equalizing financial factors alone would reverse the firm size gap so that Black-owned firms would be larger than White-owned firms by 7.1 percent.

Navigating Black Identity and White Desire: Seven-Eleven and the 1920s Crossover Musical Comedy

Navigating Black Identity and White Desire: <i>Seven-Eleven</i> and the 1920s Crossover Musical Comedy

Aquilombamento, Entrepreneurial Black Placemaking in an Anti-Black City

While an abundance of research focuses on how Black American entrepreneurs respond to systemic racism, less attention has been paid to examining how Black entrepreneurs outside the United States respond. This research addresses the extent to which entrepreneurship is a response to systematic racism, and “Black” businesses exist in a “color-blind” society. I examine Brazil because of its color-blind racial ideology; moreover, Afro-Brazilians comprise 54 percent of the country’s population and 50 percent of its entrepreneurs. Through participant observation and in-depth interviews at 28 Black-owned businesses, I find Afro-Brazilians challenge anti-Blackness through a process I call aquilombamento. As a method of entrepreneurial placemaking, I argue that aquilombamento enables Afro-Brazilian entrepreneurs to intentionally construct culturally significant physical spaces that openly resist and challenge the existing racial order. Aquilombamento functions through three mechanisms: (1) the entrepreneurs make Black culture readily perceivable, (2) the entrepreneurs center Black knowledge and understanding, and (3) the entrepreneurs conceive a community. In explicating aquilombamento, I illustrate an economic and symbolic value system that privileges Blackness in a “color-blind” society. I identify a critical distinction between Black-owned businesses and Black businesses. And, I underscore the important role of entrepreneurs in Black placemaking.

Are minority-owned businesses moving to suburbs? Intrametropolitan spatial shifts and their causes

It is well documented that the U.S. metropolitan areas have experienced significant spatial, economic and demographic changes with increasing minority and immigrant population living in the suburbs. At the same time, minority-owned businesses saw substantial growth over the years and play important roles in local economic development. Using data from the 2007 and 2012 Survey of Business Owner, we trace the intrametropolitan location shifts of minority-owned businesses (including black-, Asian-, and Hispanic-owned) for 60 metropolitan areas and their performances in cities and suburbs over time through descriptive analysis. We find that minority-owned businesses had a strong presence in the suburbs but have grown faster in the central counties. They hired about 20–23% of total central area workforce and about 15–17% of total suburban workforce during this time period. Black-owned businesses remain the least suburbanized of all groups Suburban firms in general outperform their central city counterparts. Using regression analysis, we test a series of demographic, economic, and policy factors as potential causes of business spatial change and find the strong impact of co-ethnic population’s presence in a community for the growth of their respective businesses.

Online engagement and persistent reactions to social causes: The black-owned business attribute

The persistence of COVID-19 exerts an unprecedented impact on the tourism and hospitality industry and the Black-owned businesses had been hit disproportionately harder than any other racial group. Many platforms (e.g., Airbnb and Yelp) have run a series of campaigns to support Black-owned businesses. Determining whether these campaigns are effective in attracting supports from consumers or just merely promotional is key. Based on the theoretical framework of Hennig-Thurau et al. (2004) and Aldous et al. (2019) and data collected from Yelp, this study reveals that higher levels of engagement produce persistent reactions. Specifically, the rating support lasts for one month and then vanishes; the review support increases for three months and then gets reversed; and the verbal support lasts for three months but does not get reversed. The findings of this study contribute to theories of online engagement and provide direct implications for platforms involving social campaigns in business practice.

Where Do We Go From Here? The Survival and Recovery of Black-Owned Businesses Post-COVID-19.

Given the direct relationship between business ownership and economic vibrancy within communities of color, this research explores a tailored approach for addressing persistent race-based economic disparities inhibiting business ownership in communities of color. While significant evidence exists regarding the need for access to capital, education, and the market to improve the sustainability of businesses of color, this research demonstrates the need for an additional component (the “Fourth Dimension”) to spur the development of thriving, socially oriented Black-owned business communities. We envision the “Fourth Dimension” comprising a collaborative, community-oriented social growth strategy for small Black-owned businesses implemented through enhanced and deliberate cooperative, community-supported market engagement.