Recent Asian Immigrants Research Articles

Ethnic foundations of economic transactions: Mexican and Korean immigrant entrepreneurs in Chicago

Although researchers have chronicled the high rate of entrepreneurship in Chicago among recent Asian immigrants, especially Koreans, few studies examine groups with low rates of self-employment, such as Mexicans. In this article we analyse a unique survey of business owners operating in an immigrant community to identify circumstances that help and hinder entrepreneurship by comparing the experiences of Mexicans, with those of Koreans. We find that Korean and Mexican business owners draw on thinner ethnic social networks and do not reap similar advantages from co-ethnic business dealings. Until Mexicans consolidate a market niche, their opportunities to benefit from ethnic vertical integration will remain limited.

Public Resistance to Electing Asian Americans in Southern California

The transformation of regional politics is a likely consequence of the resurgence of new Asian immigration since the mid-1960s into Southern California. Unlike immigrants from other parts of the world, recent Asian immigrants often come with education, skills, and, in many cases, family assets. Asian Americans are not only the fastest growing minority according to the 1990 Census, but they also possess socioeconomic levels, rates of naturalization, and voter turnout that are either comparable to or exceed those of non-Hispanic Whites. 1 These group-specific resources are fundamental to the acquisition of political power in electoral politics. Although Asian Americans in the aggregate still vote less than Blacks or Whites, more Asian Americans have been elected or appointed to local, state, and federal offices in recent years than in any other period of the group's 150 years in America. 2 For instance, in 1992, a newly created congressional district in Southern California elected Jay Kim, who became the first Korean-born person ever elected to the House. The same year also saw the election of Tony Lam, a Vietnamese refugee, who pioneered the entry of his ethnic group into electoral politics with his election to the city council of Westminster, California. In the 1996 election, Gary Locke, son of Chinese immigrants, became the first Asian American governor of a mainland state (Washington).

Development of Targeted Message Concepts for Recent Asian Immigrants About Secondhand Smoke

Residents of Boston's Chinatown and the Vietnamese community in Boston's Dorchester section are recent immigrants from China and Vietnam, countries whose smoking prevalence rates for men are among the highest in the world and whose rates for women are very low. We conducted exploratory focus groups in these communities to examine issues related to secondhand smoke and to generate message concepts for health education materials that would convince recent Asian immigrants to respond to the public health threat that secondhand smoke poses. The message concepts, which were tailored specifically for Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants, used themes that were consistent with the cultural values of each group as expressed in the focus groups, yet also reflected the fact that, in many ways, these immigrants are seeking to adapt to American norms. We suggest that it is possible to construct culturally appropriate health education materials for recent immigrant populations rather than rely on simple translations of English-language materials. An intervention study using these message concepts is needed.

MEN N THE HOOD: SKILL, SPATIAL, AND SOCIAL MISMATCH AMONG MALE WORKERS IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Using data from the Los Angeles Survey of Urban Inequality (LASUI)—part of a four-city study that includes unique data on network connections as well as educational level, race/ethnicity, and English-language skills—we estimate how skill, spatial, and social mismatches influence labor market outcomes for employed male workers in Los Angeles County. We find that wage differences are impacted by both job growth in local areas and spatially based skill differences, as well as the quality of one's social network. Network quality matters most for Anglos and recent Asian immigrants; spatially based skill mismatches are more important for African Americans, U.S.-born Latinos, U.S.-born Asians, and Anglos; and job growth per se is most important for recent Asian immigrants. Results suggest that business-attraction strategies alone will not insure that local skill and network gaps will be overcome. Consequently, more innovative policies are needed. [Key words: skill, spatial, mismatch, networks, inequality.]

Ethnic enclaves in New Zealand?

Most studies of ethnic segregation use relative measures of the residential separation of various groups within cities. The models that they are implicitly testing call for absolute rather than relative measures, however, and these are employed here in a comparative study of Maori, Pacific Island and Asian ethnic minorities in New Zealand's 36 largest urban areas. We find relatively little evidence of ghetto/enclave-like concentration of individual groups, except in some smaller cities where the Maori comprise a substantial proportion of the total population. There is more evidence of clustering of the Polynesian populations as a whole, however, and certainly so relative to the more recent Asian immigrants, which suggests the importance of economic disadvantage in the production of those differences. Levels of segregation across New Zealand's urban system are closely linked to the ethnic group's share of each urban area's population. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Two Roads to Positive Regard: Implicit and Explicit Self-Evaluation and Culture

Three studies examined the implicit (nonconscious) and explicit (conscious) self-concepts of people who varied in their degree of exposure to individualistic cultures. Studies 1 and 2 compared the implicit and explicit self-concepts of recent Asian immigrants with those of European Americans and Asian Americans reared in the United States. Implicit measures revealed clear differences in the self-evaluations of the three groups, and these differences were generally consistent with recent analyses of culture and the self-concept. In contrast, explicit measures revealed that all three groups possessed positively valenced, individualistic self-concepts. Additionally, there was evidence that the implicit self-evaluations of the recent immigrants were becoming increasingly individualistic over time. Study 3 examined the implicit and explicit self-concepts of Japanese students who either had or had not lived abroad in the United States or Canada. For both the implicit and the explicit measures, the findings were conceptually similar to those of Studies 1 and 2. Implications for the nature of self-representations and the need for positive regard are discussed.

Self-Employment Rates of Asian Immigrant Groups: An Analysis of Intragroup and Intergroup Differences

Self-employment rates and related business activities of four groups of recent adult Asian immigrants (Koreans, Chinese, Asian Indians, and Vietnamese) are empirically examined with the 1990 census data. As expected, both intra- and intergroup differences in self-employment rates are observed among the four groups. Korean immigrants are sharply different from other Asian immigrant groups in their rate of self-employment and pattern of intragroup differences in self-employment rates. As a whole, for non-Korean Asian immigrant groups, intragroup differences in self-employment rates can be explained by the interactive model and by the related issue of immigrants’ labor market disadvantage in the United States. To some extent, the interactive model also offers a useful framework to explain Korean immigrants’ rate of self-employment. But the pattern of their intragroup difference is better explained by the linkage between their businesses and their home country economies reflecting the international dimension of immigrant small business entrepreneurship. Implications of the findings of intra- and intergroup differences observed among the four groups are discussed.

Ethnic, gender, and length‐of‐residency influences on sexual knowledge and attitudes

We examined potential differences in sexual knowledge and attitudes between 702 Canadian undergraduates of Asian (n = 356) and European (n = 346) ancestry. We also examined potential influences of length of residency in Canada on these variables among Asians, and the role of gender both across and within ethnic groups. The primary purpose was to examine whether length of exposure to North American sexual values influences sexual knowledge or attitudes among Asians living in Canada. Results revealed that compared to Europeans, Asians held more conservative sexual attitudes and demonstrated significantly less sexual knowledge. Recent Asian immigrants were significantly more likely than Canadian‐born or long‐term Canadian residents to hold conservative sexual attitudes on a number of sexuality items. Among Asians and Non‐Asians, males reported more negative attitudes toward homosexuals than did females; females held more conservative sexual attitudes toward uncommitted sexual relations than did males. The findings provide partial support for a cultural explanation of the frequently reported finding that, compared with North Americans, Asians are more restricted in their expression of sexuality.

A Political Ecology of Picking: Non-Timber Forest Products in the Pacific Northwest

Using a political ecology framework, this research analyzes the recent entry of recent Latino and Southeast Asian immigrants into the harvesting of non-timber forest products in the Pacific Northwest. Using both permit data and interviewing, it suggests that a world market for these products, government policy, and environmental conditions have the potential for driving harvests to unsustainable levels and exacerbating incipient conflicts.

Concepts of Citizenship and Identity among Recent Asian Immigrants in Australia

Theories of citizenship and, in particular, its exclusionary features in a period of globalization have particular significance for an avowedly immigrant society such as Australia with a policy commitment to multiculturalism. The nature of Australian national identity and citizenship reemerged on the political agenda in conjunction with the 1988 Bicentennial celebrations of European settlement. Debate continues as moves towards becoming a republic with an Australian head of state replacing the British monarch strengthen. As elsewhere, government is focusing attention on the need for citizenship and civics education. An important constituency in this process are the immigrants, especially those from Asia whose ancestors were the target of nationalistic exclusion critical to the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia. This article examines the views on citizenship and identity of a national sample of recent Asian immigrants to Australia. We argue that for considerable numbers an instrumental conception of citizenship underlies their approach to acquiring Australian citizenship. This ‘instrumental citizenship’ is located within their migratory experience and the political traditions of their homelands as well as within their Australian settlement experiences. For many, legal citizenship has not led to a sense of full incorporation into Australian society as indicted by their continuing perception of themselves as ‘migrants’. Reasons for this are complex and involve an interplay of personal factors as well as attitudes and experiences in Australian society whose significance varies from group to group. Such a disjuncture between legal citizenship and personal identity has implications for both governmental policies and theorization about the nature of citizenship.

Tuberculosis in recent Asian immigrants to British Columbia, Canada: 1982–1985

The prevalence and incidence of active tuberculosis among 21 959 recently arrived (1982–1985) immigrants from 7 selected Asian countries into British Columbia (BC), Canada, were reviewed. Among these newly arrived immigrants, 1173 (5.3%) were judged to have inactive tuberculosis at the immigration examination in their country of origin. In this subgroup, 14 of 932 (1.5%) were found to have active tuberculosis at the initial examination after arrival in Canada. Subsequently, 7 further cases arose in this group of inactive cases giving an average annual incidence rate of 0.33% over the 4-year period of study. Only 3 of these 21 cases had previous antituberculosis chemotherapy. The remaining 20 786 recent immigrants with normal X-rays at the immigration examination contributed 30 cases during the next 4 years — an average annual incidence rate of 0.08% or 8 times the comparable rate for BC (0.01%). The limitations of the immigration screening process are illustrated and the value of early surveillance of immigrants designated as having inactive tuberculosis is underlined. The apparent failure to exclude active disease prior to the arrival of these immigrants is one factor elevating the incidence of active tuberculosis in the first few years after arrival in the host country. Other factors include the relatively high prevalence of inactive tuberculosis among the immigrants from certain countries and their high rate of early relapse after entry, especially in those not previously treated. Such immigrants should be considered for chemoprophylaxis immediately after entry.

City Jobs and Residents on a Collision Course: The Urban Underclass Dilemma

As U.S. cities have transformed industrially from centers of goods processing to centers of information processing, the demand for poorly educated labor has declined markedly and the demand for labor with higher education has increased substantially. Urban blacks have been caught in this web of change. Despite improvements in their overall educational attainment, most still lack sufficient schooling to gain access to new urban growth industries which typically require education beyond high school. Whereas jobs requiring a high school degree or less have been rapidly increasing in the suburbs, poorly educated blacks remain residentially constrained in inner-city housing. These conditions, along with other economic, demographic, and social factors contributing to the rise of a residential subgroup known as the urban underclass, are discussed. Lessons to be learned from the relative economic success of recent Asian immigrants to America's transforming cities are considered. Strategies are then suggested to rekindle the social and spatial mobility of the black urban underclass.

Vitamin B deficiency neuropathy. Case reports

Poor nutrition is common throughout the third world. The US also has examples among recent Asian and Latin American immigrants, alcoholics, the homeless, and former prisoners of war. All of these groups are susceptible to long-term pathologic damage, depending on the degree of malnutrition which they experience. The peripheral nervous system is quite vulnerable to impairment and damage from vitamin B loss.

Urban Industrial Transition and the Underclass

Major U.S. cities have transformed industrially from centers of goods processing to centers of information processing. Concurrently, the demand for poorly educated labor has declined markedly and the demand for labor with higher education has increased substantially. Urban blacks have been caught in this web of change. Despite improvements in their overall educational attainment, a great majority still have very little schooling and therefore have been unable to gain significant access to new urban growth industries. Underclass blacks, with exceptionally high rates of school dropout, are especially handicapped. Whereas jobs requiring only limited education have been rapidly increasing in the suburbs, poorly educated blacks remain residentially constrained in inner-city housing. Within underclass neighborhoods, few households have private vehicles, which are shown to be increasingly necessary for employment in dispersing metropolitan economies. The implications of interactions among race, space, and urban industrial change are explored. Reasons for the success of recent Asian immigrants in transforming cities are considered, and policies are suggested to rekindle social mobility in the black underclass.

Diet and the excretion and enterohepatic cycling of estrogens

Urinary and fecal excretion and plasma levels of estrogens were measured in pre- and postmenopausal women eating different diets. When premenopausal U.S. women eating a comprising high fat (40% of calories) and low fiber, were compared with age-matched vegetarians eating a moderate-fat (30%), high-fiber diet, it was found that the vegetarians excreted threefold more estrogen in their feces, had lower urinary excretion, and had 15-20% lower plasma estrogen levels. When U.S. pre- and postmenopausal women eating a Western diet were compared with recent Asian immigrants eating a very low-fat diet (20-25% of calories), similar results were obtained except that plasma estrogen levels were 30% lower among Orientals compared with those among Western omnivore women. Correlation analysis of dietary components and plasma estrogen showed that plasma estrogen was positively associated with fat and was negatively associated with fiber. The results indicate that diet can alter the route of excretion of estrogen by influencing the enterohepatic circulation and that this, in turn, influences plasma estrogen levels.

Diet and the excretion and enterohepatic cycling of estrogens

Urinary and fecal excretion and plasma levels of estrogens were measured in pre- and postmenopausal women eating different diets. When premenopausal U.S. women eating a “Western diet,” comprising high fat (40% of calories) and low fiber, were compared with age-matched vegetarians eating a moderate-fat (30%), high-fiber diet, it was found that the vegetarians excreted threefold more estrogen in their feces, had lower urinary excretion, and had 15–20% lower plasma estrogen levels. When U.S. pre- and postmenopausal women eating a Western diet were compared with recent Asian immigrants eating a very low-fat diet (20–25% of calories), similar results were obtained except that plasma estrogen levels were 30% lower among Orientals compared with those among Western omnivore women. Correlation analysis of dietary components and plasma estrogen showed that plasma estrogen was positively associated with fat and was negatively associated with fiber. The results indicate that diet can alter the route of excretion of estrogen by influencing the enterohepatic circulation and that this, in turn, influences plasma estrogen levels.