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Title: Small Businesses in Springfield, Massachusetts: A Look at Latino Entrepreneurship
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2011
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Abstract: One of the most pressing challenges for Springfield is increasing the labor force participation and employment rates of its residents. Recent figures from the American Community Survey show that the citys employed population as a share of the working-age population was only 52 percent compared with 64 percent for the state as a whole. The citys labor force participation rate is extremely low even when compared with other older industrial cities in the region. In Springfields Latino neighborhoods less than half of the working-age population is in the labor force. Springfield residents face a number of barriers when looking for jobs, including low educational achievement rates, a lack of connections to job networks, and a lack of access totransportation to work sites outside the city. These challenges are particularly significant among the Latino population, which accounts for more than a third of the citys residents. In previous research, we studied the causes of Springfields low employment rates. We seek to understand the prominence of self-employment within Springfield, especially among Latinos, and identify the major barriers small business owners face. Given the extremely low labor force participation and employment rates in the city, particularly in impoverished neighborhoods, self-employment might be the best alternative to help residents make ends meet. As Fairlie and Woodruff (2007) point out, business ownership is the main alternative to wage and salary employment for making a living, and thus has important implications for earnings and wealth inequality. In addition, successful businesses, even if they are small scale or home based, provide goods and services to the community that would otherwise be lacking. This study focuses on business ownership as a potential strategy for job creation in the city and for income generation in impoverished areas.
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Authors: Muoz, Ana Patricia; Carbonell, Sol; Walker, Richard; Chakrabarti, Prabal; Steiger, Anna; Zhao, Bo; Kodrzycki, Yolanda; Browne, Lynn; Green, DeAnna
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Publication Number: 2011-02
Institution: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Race and Ethnicity
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