Self-Employment among the Portuguese in the U.S.: Can It Be Explained by Class or Ethnic Resources?

Maria Mulcahy, Brown University

This study uses data from the 1990 census (IPUMS) and logistic regression analysis to investigate the self-employment of Portuguese men by comparing them with Italians and other Euro-Americans. The analysis shows that the frameworks developed to explain the self-employment of ethnic groups in general are of little use in predicting the self-employment of the Portuguese in the U.S. Overall, Portuguese men have a much lower likelihood of being self-employed than white natives of European ancestry, including Italians. Controlling for human capital and family characteristics reduces group differences to an insignificant level for U.S.-born Italians, but not for U.S.-born Portuguese or immigrants of either group. Furthermore, living in areas of high concentration of Portuguese, with but one exception, has no effect on the self-employment of Portuguese Americans, indicating that, for the most part, they do not avail themselves of the potential Portuguese ethnic market to go into business for themselves.