The urban economic development impacts of ethnic entrepreneurship : a case study of Dominican entrepreneurs in Lawrence, Massachusetts

Abstract

This thesis examines the process through which ethnic entrepreneurship impacts urban economic development. In many urban places across the United States, demographic change has led to the rise of ethnic communities and the rise of ethnic entrepreneurs. In cities with sustained economic decline, the rise of ethnic entrepreneurship has been viewed with two perspectives: they are seen as symbols of continued economic decline or they are perceived as the new source of economic opportunity. Economic development practice has generally assumed the former, and in this thesis I focus on how ethnic entrepreneurship represents the latter. The thesis thus provides a strong criticism of contemporary economic development practice, and presents the case that economic development practice must embrace the role that ethnic entrepreneurship and the process of ethnic community formation plays in urban economic development. I present my arguments by first establishing a series of conceptual frameworks that show the ways in which ethnic entrepreneurship and the process of ethnic community formation influence economic activity and lead to urban economic development. I then apply the conceptual framework to a case study of Dominican entrepreneurs in the city of Lawrence, Massachusetts, a low-income city whose population is 61% Latino and 24% Dominican. Based on the findings and analysis from the case study showing the urban economic development impacts of Dominican entrepreneurship in Lawrence, I present a series of recommendations for economic development practice in the city that highlights the opportunities present in ethnic entrepreneurship in Lawrence.