John Sibley Butler

Entrepreneurship and self-help among Black Americans : a reconsideration of race and economics

www.sunypress.edu 11 Since its publication in 1991, Entrepreneurship and Self-Help among Black Americans has become a classic work, influencing the study of entrepreneurship and, more importantly, revitalizing a research tradition that places new ventures at the very center of success for black Americans. This revised edition updates and enhances the work by bringing it into the twenty-first century. John Sibley Butler traces the development of black enterprises and other community organizations among black Americans from before the Civil War to the present. He compares these efforts to other strong traditions of self-help among groups such as Japanese Americans, Jewish Americans, Greek Americans, and exciting new research on the Amish and the Pakistani. He also explores how higher education is already a valued tradition among black self-help groups—such that today their offspring are more likelyto be third and fourth generation college graduates. Butler effectively challenges the myth that nothing can be done to salvage America’s underclass without a massive infusion of public dollars, and offers a fresh perspective on those community based organizations and individuals who act to solve local social and economic problems. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND SELF-HELP AMONG BLACK AMERICANS A Reconsideration of Race and Economics, Revised Edition

Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship in America: Toward an Explanation of Racial and Ethnic Group Variations in Self-Employment

Using data from the 1983–1987 General Social Surveys, this paper investigates the degree to which being self-employed is more prevalent within certain racial and ethnic groups than others. Those of Jewish ancestry were more likely than others to be self-employed; those from “racial” ethnic groups were generally less likely than white ethnics to be self-employed. In addition, being older, more educated, from a higher-income family, male, from the South, non-Catholic, and having a self-employed father also increased ones likelihood of being self-employed. A stratified analysis separately examining the effects among the offspring of the self-employed and others revealed that, among the progeny of the self-employed, those of African, English, Hispanic, and Asian descent were less likely to be self-employed. Among those whose fathers were not self-employed, only Jewish respondents were significantly more likely be self-employed, and those of African descent and Polish descent were less likely to be self-employed. The implications of these findings for research on ethnic entrepreneurship are discussed.

The minority community as a natural business incubator

Abstract This study examines two methods of business implementation, the formal business incubator and a minority business community. A general picture of the business incubator is gathered from a review of business literature and compared to the initial results of a case study of the Ismaili Pakistani community in a midsize southwestern city. Major differences between the two implementation means are the motivations prompting the business initiations and some variety in services offered. Findings reinforce the necessity of understanding the institutional underpinnings of various types of business creation processes, as well as the continued importance of characteristics of the business founder.

Work and Health after Retirement: A Competing Risks Model with Semiparametric Unobserved Heterogeneity

Competing risks models recognize that there may be more than one exit from a given state, but they make the strong assumption that there is no correlation between unobserved heterogeneity components in each state. Here, a competing risks model that uses a semiparametric method of estimation and controls for the correlation between unobserved heterogeneity components in each state is compared with a traditional competing risks model of exit from retirement. The unobservable heterogeneity components of the competing risks are insignificantly positively correlated and the effects of policy-relevant variables are changed somewhat. Copyright 1989 by MIT Press.

The Importance of Accommodation on the Timing of Disability Insurance Applications: Results from the Survey of Disability and Work and the Health and Retirement Study

Using data from the 1978 Survey of Disability and Work and the 1992 Health and Retirement Study, we test the importance of accommodation and other policy variables on the timing of application for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits following the onset of a work-limiting condition. We correct for choice-based sampling in the Survey of Disability and Work by extending the Manski and Lerman (1977) correction to the likelihood function of our continuous time hazard model, we find that this correction significantly affects the results. Similar findings emerge from these two data sets. Accommodation significantly reduces the speed of application and more generous benefits increase the speed of applying for SSDI.

Affirmative Action in the Military

African Americans have fought in American conflicts since colonial days. The segregation practiced during the Civil War endured until abolished by President Truman in 1948. Since the all-volunteer force was established in 1973, the number of African American troops has risen; in 1991, they composed 28 percent of the Army and three-fifths of some combat units. Thus desegregation and affirmative action in the military have been years ahead of that in civilian society. Current policy seeks to increase the enlistment of whites and to ensure fully equal treatment and opportunity and good race relations.

“Don’t Call Me Small”: The Contribution of Ethnic Enterprises to the Economic and Social Well-Being of America

The source of U.S. entrepreneurs and their contributions to the economic and social well-being of American society are issues that are being addressed in many quarters today. One approach emphasizes the role that immigrant and minority entrepreneurs play in this process. The stereotypical enterprises created by ethnic immigrants evoke certain images: the corner retail establishment, predominately coethnic employees and customers, and a geographically bounded and identifiable section of town. Additional assumptions are also often made that the businesses are tied to the ethnic community and benefit from resources distributed through community ties. In fact, these businesses share many of the same characteristics of small enterprises in general. However, some also do share conditions, perceived as advantageous, that are related to the structure of specific ethnic communities. For these groups business enterprise is an important tool that contributes to the incorporation of ethnic immigrants into American society.

Military Capital in the Israeli Hi-tech Industry

The unique relations between the Israeli-armed forces and the local hi-tech industry have been identified as a strong explanatory variable for the Israeli hi-tech boom. This article highlights the role of the military as a socialization institution in those relations. We identify how the accumulation of “military capital” during military in service contributes to soldiers as veterans and employees in the hi-tech sector. Military service brings with it professional training, social ties, and social codes that influence the composition of the hi-tech workforce and hi-tech industry’s organizational and functional culture. Examination of Israeli hi-tech workers’ profiles reveals not only a very high proportion of military capital amongst the employees but also an institutional preference for those who possess it.

Status Inconsistency, Racial Separatism, and Job Satisfaction: A Case Study of the Military

This study examined the effects of status inconsistencies between time in service and rank on attitudes concerning racial separatism and job satisfaction for white males serving in the enlisted ranks of the U.S. military. Although analyses of national survey data often report no attitudinal effects of status inconsistency, such influences were predicted because of the unique status structure of the enlisted ranks. That system is characterized by highly crystallized status configurations and by well-defined congruence rules, both of which are structural properties thought to strengthen individual attitudinal responses to status inconsistency. Consistent with specific hypotheses developed from previous research, white enlisted personnel with relatively long time in service and low rank were found to express greater racial separatism and lower job satisfaction than predicted only by time in service and rank. Also as expected, those with relatively high rank and short time in service reported greater job satisfaction than otherwise predicted.

Assessing Black Enlisted Participation in The Army

Black enlisted participation in the Army is assessed through a presentation of trend data showing the distribution of blacks across the rank structure, and the assignment of blacks by military occupational specialities. The discussion analyzes the growing proportion of blacks in the Army following the advent of the all-volunteer force. The unequal distribution of blacks across ranks decreases over time but remains noticeable into the present. Blacks are underrepresented in technical occupations even when mental group level is controlled.