Georges Sabagh

Beyond the Ethnic Enclave Economy

The terms “ethnic economy” and “ethnic enclave economy” designate an immigrant or minority business and employment sector that coexists with the general economy. Users often treat these terms as synonymous. In fact, they are not. The concept of ethnic enclave economy derives from the labor segmentation literature, whereas the concept of ethnic economy derives from the middleman minorities literature. The derivations have shaped the problems that both concepts address. The strenuous debate about relative wages in the ethnic enclave versus the general economy is a case in point. When conceptualized in terms of an ethnic economy, the salience of this debate greatly diminishes. Agreeing that the concept of ethnic enclave economy is useful, we nonetheless claim that it is less general than the older concept of the ethnic economy. Indeed, we show that the ethnic enclave economy is really a special case of the ethnic economy. Evidence for this conclusion derives, in part, from our survey of Iranian immigrants in Los Angeles, the results of which fit the older ethnic economy concept but cannot be squeezed into the concept of an ethnic enclave economy.

Patterns of City Growth

Residential construction is proposed as the mechanism whereby city-wide population growth is translated into population redistribution from mature to relatively undeveloped areas. Cohort analysis of Los Angeles residential areas indicates that the rapidity of redistribution varies directly with both the rate iof population growth and the ratio of new dwellings to incremental population. The accelerted redistribution in the immediate postwar period, coupled with the maturity of central cities and the rigidity of their corporate limits, resulted in the so-called flight to the suburbs.

Internal ethnicity in the ethnic economy

Abstract Internal ethnicity refers to ethnic subgroups within an immigrant group. An ‘ethnic economy’ includes the self‐employed and their co‐ethnic workers. Although most research treats the boundaries of ‘ethnic economy’ and its variant, the ‘ethnic enclave economy’, as though they were coterminous with those of national‐origin immigrant groups, this assumption is unreliable. Ethnic boundaries need not coincide with those of nationality origin when internal ethnicity exists. To test this hypothesis, we utilize survey data collected from a sample of Iranians in Los Angeles. Because this national‐origin immigrant group contains four ethno‐religious subgroups (Armenians, Bahais, Jews and Muslims), the Iranians in Los Angeles operated four distinctive ethnic economies, not one. Each ethno‐religious subgroup had its own ethnic economy, and these separate economies were only weakly tied to an encompassing Iranian ethnic economy.

Retrospective and subsequent metropolitan residential mobility

ResumenEn enfoque de la investigadión en EU sobre movilidad residencial ha consistido principalmente en una integración de perspectivas demográjicas y psicologicas sociales del mismo tipo del que ha sido usado en el estudio de la fertilidad humana. Este artículo combina datos sobre movilidad retrospectiva y subsecuenteobtenidos por medio de una muestra al azar del area de Los Angeles para demostrar que un plan de movilidad expresado en el pasado, elegida su secuencia de actualización es congruente con subsecuentes cambios de domicilio.Primero, nosotros hicimos comparaciones de planes de movilidad con un criteria de medida de subsecuente movilidad, manteniendo controles por ciclo de vida-etapas. Segundo, nosotros usamos planes de movilidad, elección, y conducta subsecuente para construir tipologias de “moviles” y “estables” definidos en terminos de anticipación de movilidad, cumplimiento y conducta. Tercero, nosoteros comparamos anteriores mudanzas con planes y elecciones, las cuales son luego constrastadas con movilidad subsecuente. Movilidad anterior, planes, eleccion, y el ciclo de vida de la familia responden por aproximadamente el 80 por ciento de las posibles variaciones en tasa de movilidad para el distrito metropolitano de Los Angeles. Para las definiciones de tiempo y medida utilizadas, la mayor contribución relativa a las tasas de movilidad son hechas por plan y elección, pero las mas notables diferencias de tasas son observadas cuando la experiencia es tomada en cuenta. Experiencia de movilidad lleva a una mayor probabilidad de un plan y eleccion de mudarse, y a una crecienie probabilidad de realizar esas metas.La analogía con investigaciones de fertilidad sugiere que futuros estudios de movilidad residencial necesitan incorporar conceptos psicologicos sociales con el foco en historia de migración, cadena de Markov, análisis de Cohortes, tablas de expectativas de migración, y técnicas de conexión de población a traves del tiempo. Esas investigacionesvan a indicar con más claridad como la actualización de planes o elecciones lleva a la población en diferentes canales de movilidad o estabilidad.SummaryThe focus of United States residential mobility research on either past or future moves has hindered an integration of demographic and social psychological perspectives of the type that have been used in the study of human fertility. This paper combines retrospective and subsequent mobility data obtained from a Los Angeles area probability sample to demonstrate that a past mobility—choice, plan—actualization sequence is congruent with subsequent moves.First, comparisons are made of mobility plans and choices with subsequent mobility, controlling for life cycle stages. Second, mobility plan, choice, and subsequent behavior are used to construct a typology of “movers” and “stayers” defined in terms of mobility anticipation, fulfillment, and behavior. Third, past moves are compared with plan and choice, which are then contrasted with subsequent mobility. Past mobility, plan, choice, and the life cycle account for approximately 80 percent of the possible subsequent mobility-rate variation for the Los Angeles metropolis. For the time period and indexes, the greatest relative contributions to subsequent mobility rates are made by plan and choice, but striking rate differences are observed when past behavior is taken into account. Mobility experiences lead to a likelihood of a plan and choice to move, and increase possibilities of realizing these goals.An analogy with fertility research suggests that future studies of residential mobility need to incorporate social psychological concepts with the current focus on migration histories, Markov chains, cohort analyses, migration expectancy tables, and techniques of linking populations over time. Demographers must extend both their theoretical and statistical apparatus in order fully to account for residence changes. Such research should indicate more clearly how actualizing plans or choices leads populations into different mobility or stability channels.

Untangling Structural and Normative Aspects of the Minority Status-Fertility Hypothesis'

Since the residual differential fertility of racial and ethnic minorities can be explained in theoretically opposed ways, effects due to subcultural norms can be established only by direct measurement. Data from a recent survey of Los Angeles Chicano couples indicate that ethnic integration is actually associated with reduced fertility, suggesting that the structural negative minority-status effect on fertility hypothesized by Goldscheider and Uhlenberg operates even within a high fertility minority and contradicting their suggestion that high minority fertility is due to subcultural norms.

Attitudes toward abortion among Catholic Mexican-American women: the effects of religiosity and education.

Contrary to observed trends in religious fertility and contraceptive use differentials, Catholic/non-Catholic differentials in attitudes toward abortion have not been converging. This study suggests that this may be due to an interaction between religiosity and education. In a sample of Catholic Mexican-American women in Los Angeles County, the authors found that among respondents brought up in Mexico, education had a liberalizing effect on their attitudes. With the exception of the most devout, the same trend was observed among U.S.-reared respondents. Among the most religious group, however, education had the opposite effect, suggesting that convergence will be delayed.

Survey Research among Middle Eastern Immigrant Groups in the United States: Iranians in Los Angeles

Immigration research poses special problems, but survey researchers studying immigrant groups rarely write about the problems they encounter in the design and conduct of their surveys (Hurh and Kim 1984). Three areas of particular importance are: (1) securing the approval of community leaders or persons of influence; (2) identifying adequate frames for relatively small immigrant populations, from which random samples can be selected; and (3) conducting the fieldwork, including recruiting and training interviewers fluent in immigrant languages. The main objective of this paper is to describe various stages of our recently completed survey of Iranians in Los Angeles (see Figure 1). We pay particular attention to the problems we have faced in carrying out this study, and how resolving some of them reshaped our original research design.

A comparison of different survey techniques for obtaining vital data in A developing country

ResumenEste artículo presenta estimaciones sobre las fuentes y magnitud de los errores de observación en diferentes cuestionarios y métodos utilizados en Marruecos en 1961-63, en la encuesta por muestreo de propósito múltiple, realizada para recopilar datos sobre nacimientos y defunciones.Los cuestionarios utilizados en el análisis de las tresfases de la encuesta fueron: una relación de las viviendas consideradas (fases 1 y 2) y una lista (fase 3),. defunciones retrospectivas (fases 1, 2 y 3) e interrogatorios sobre nacimientos (fase 3); una tabulación: por fecha de nacimiento (fase 2); y una lista de cotejo de viviendas para explicar las diferencias entre las fases 1 y 2. Se reunió y compaginó todos los cuestionarios disponibles para una vivienda determinada, para tener varias fuentes de información sobre nacimientos y muertes y una base para apreciar los errores.De este análisis, la encuesia intentó definir la naturaleza y estimarla frecuencia de los errores que hubieran ocurrido, si se hubiera utilizado diseños deencuesta de tipo más restringido. Los resultados, en base al período entre las fases 1 y 2, llevan a tres conclusiones principles: Primera, si se hubierarecogido los datos vitales porel procedimiento retrospectivo de una sola fase, el error bruto (sobreenu meraci/m. mas subenumeración), hubiera sido 17 por ciento para nacimientos i 36 por ciento para defunciones. Hay un error netode sobreenumeración. del 3 por ciento para nacimientos (1.4 por1000 habitantes), y 9 por ciento para defunciones (2.1 por 1000 habitantes). Segunda, si se tuviera disponibles dos fases, para permitir una combinación del seguimiento en la compoeición de una vivienda y un cuestionario de mortalidad retrospectiva, la sobreenumeración sería. casi enteramente eliminada y la subenumeración sería notablemente reducida. Tercera, la mayor parte de los restantes errores de subenumeración pueden ser atribuidos a: (1) un número estimado de niños nacidos i muertos entre dosfases y que no figuran en los cuestionarios; (2) fracasos en la confrontacion debido a la ausencia de adultos en la fase 1; Y (3) errores de confroniación;SummaryThis article presents estimates of the sources and the extent of observation errors in different questionnaires and methods used to collect birth and death data in the 1961–63 multi-purpose sample survey of Morocco.The questionnaires used in the analysis of the three survey rounds were a list of household members (Rounds1 and 2) and a roll-call (Round3); retrospective death (Rounds1, 2, and 3) and birth (Round 3) queries; a date-of-birth tabulation (Round 2); and a household check-sheet to explain differences between Rounds 1 and 2. All available questionnaires for a given household were brought together and collated to provide several sources of information on births and deaths and a basis for assessing errors.From this analysis, the survey attempted to define the nature and to estimate the frequency of the errors which would have occurred if more restricted types of survey design had been used. Results, based on the period between Rounds 1 and 2, led to three major conclusions.First, if vital data had been collected with a single-round retrospective procedure, gross error (over enumeration plus underenumeration) would have been 17 percent for births and 36 percent for deaths. There is a net error of overenumeration of 3 percent for births (1.4 per1,000population) and 9 percent for deaths (2.3 per1,000population).Second, if two rounds were available to permit a combination of household composition follow-up and a retrospective mortality questionnaire, overenumeration would be almost entirely eliminated and underenumeration would be noticeably reduced. Third, most of the remaining errors of underestimation may be attributed to (1) an estimated number of infants born and deceased between two rounds and missed by all questionnaires, (2) matching failures caused by the absence of adults at Round 1, and (3) matching errors.

The relationship between migration and fertility in an historical context: the case of Morocco in the 1960s.

This paper explores the relationship between migration and fertility on the basis of data from a survey in the nine largest cities of Morocco in 1966. The findings suggest that this relationship depends on both the origin and historical context of migration streams. Women who migrated from villages before 1956, date of the independence of Morocco, had the highest fertility of any group. Post-1956 migrants, from urban or rural origin, had the lowest fertility of any group. Controlling for the effects of age at marriage and various socioeconomic factors reduced the fertility differentials but did not change their pattern. It is hypothesized that social mobility may explain the lower fertility of recent migrants.

Family Socio-Cultural Background and the Behavioral Retardation of Children*

Hypotheses relating family socio-cultural background to behavioral retardation of children are examined in this paper. Data obtained from a stratified-random sample of all Anglo and Mexican-American households in a southern California city of about 100,000 population are used in the research. Generally, the data support the existence of a relationship between family socio-cultural factors of ethnicity, social status, community of origin, and residential mobility and the behavioral retardation of children. When ethnic groups are considered separately, more variance is explained by socio-cultural factors for Mexican-Americans than for Anglos. For both Mexican-Americans and Anglos, the single most important variable explaining families with and without a behaviorally retarded child is mothers education.