Social Capital in Ethnic Churches and New Immigrant Entrepreneurs

• In Event: 118 - Section on Economic Sociology Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 09. Entrepreneurship, Laboring, and Mobility

Abstract

Previous literature on the relationship between self-employment and religious engagement either claims a spiritual effect of religion on entrepreneurs or structurally argues that church helps accumulate social capital and lead to the emergence of entrepreneur. However, little quantitative evidence proves these claims. To fix this gap, I used the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) to test whether new immigrant entrepreneurs obtain resources in ethnic churches or are spiritually affected by religious beliefs. Using a series of different generalized linear models, I find that new immigrant entrepreneurs are more likely to participate in ethnic church service, but not more likely to obtain any religious belief. My analysis also suggests that immigrant entrepreneurs with higher personal-level social capital are less likely to obtain resources provided by ethnic churches. These findings reveal the importance of ethnic churches for entrepreneurial resources among new immigrants.

Author

• Guangyu Tong, Duke University