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This paper introduces the special issue on "Urban Politics on Ethnic Entrepreneurship" based on research insights and focused discussion that bridges disciplinary discourses. It challenges ethnic entrepreneurship theory by presenting new perspectives and empirical case studies from North America and Europe. As ethnic diversity is widely regarded as a special asset for entrepreneurial cities in the competitive global city environment, there is a need to better understand how ethnic entrepreneurship is used as a resource in city branding and how it is enabled through certain policies. Starting from the historical development of ethnic entrepreneurship research, the introduction leads over to the theoretical embedding of the special issue with its relational focus on space. The contribution proceeds with linking ethnic entrepreneurship to urban politics and outlines three major fields of research that are covered in the special issue: symbolic value to urban development, placemaking and social inclusion, and urban planning.

The papers in this volume, the fourth in the series International Research in the Business Disciplines, provide a broad survey of the nature and scope of entrepreneurship within ethnic groups. Of particular interest, the contributors address the role of ethnic entrepreneurship in shaping the structure of modern economies. Ethnicity has heretofore been given less attention in entrepreneurship research than its importance might seem to warrant due largely to the prevalence of the assimilation hypothesis: the assumption that everyone, without regard to ethnicity, works as a producer in the general economy and buys as a consumer from the general economy. The economic uniformity implied by this assumption invites critical comment. In five parts, the collection explores aspects of ethnic entrepreneurship as both part of the structure of the general economy and in terms of the process of movement toward or away from assimilation. The collection features a comprehensive new study of ethnic entrepreneurship by Ivan Light. Additional highlights include examination of structural variables and abstract models, analysis of the components of the definition of ethnicity, consideration of impacts on assimilation, and finally, the relevance of access to financial capital provided by the general economy. Researchers are bringing new insights and methods to the phenomena of ethnic producers and consumers of ethnic products dependent on ethnic market mechanisms. This volume makes a significant contribution to this research

The proliferation of ethnic entrepreneurship varies not only from country to country, but also from sector to sector, from city to city, and – within cities – from neighbourhood to neighbourhood. In evaluating the interrelationship of ethnic entrepreneurship and urban governance, we discuss three specific points: ethnic variety and varieties; spatial levels in opportunities and constraints; and urban governance and institutions. In analysing the literature and positioning the four special issue articles in a spatiality‐governance framework, we identify 'roads less travelled'. Finally, we suggest scholars to move forward along five distinct pathways.

Ethnic entrepreneurship has become a popular concept in a modern multi–cultural society. This paper seeks to offer an overview of the potential of ethnic entrepreneurship for solving inter alia the structural unemployment problems of ethnic groups in cities. There is a general lack of empirical evidence on this issue in the current literature. The present paper aims to fill this gap by addressing in particular the critical success conditions for ethnic entrepreneurs. The focus of the research is on variations in success across three ethnic groups in the Amsterdam area. By means of structured personal interviews with many ethnic entrepreneurs, a systematic qualitative data base was created. The paper sets out to identify empirically the driving forces for business success, such as education or the role of informal networks. The explanatory framework deployed for the identification of these qualitative success factors for distinct ethnic groups is based on a particular, recently developed artificial intelligence method, viz. rough set analysis. This multidimensional classification approach appears to be able to identify various important factors for the motivation and performance of ethnic enterprises. Two major findings emerge from this investigation: (i) performance conditions vary across ethnic groups, and (ii) informal networks are crucial for business success.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a case study of ethnic minority entrepreneurship in Sweden offered through the sacred‐secular lens of the Islamic Dawoodi Bohra community, with the purpose of exploring the relationship of spirituality to entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThrough a case study, this paper spotlights the entrepreneurship of immigrant women from the Dawoodi Bohra Islamic community in Sweden. Utilizing the literature from spirituality, ethnography and ethnic minority entrepreneurship, this paper seeks to foreground the importance of a transcendent dimension in entrepreneurship which is woven into and sustains the day‐to‐day beliefs and practices of ethnic minority women entrepreneurs.FindingsThe women seem to be able to negotiate their spirituality within their role as ethnic minority women entrepreneurs, which gives meaning to their daily existence and increases their izzat (honour) in their community.Research limitations/implicationsThis is a specific case study and represents a particular Islamic community, hence cannot realistically reflect all Islamic women in entrepreneurship. Future research can uncover the role of migrant Islamic women from various communities and countries.Practical implicationsThe paper presents the interweaving and leavening effect of spirituality and entrepreneurship for Islamic women entrepreneurs and is a valuable insight on how such women negotiate their lives.Originality/valueThe paper presents a close look at Islamic women from the Dawoodi Bohra community whose lived experience represents a negotiation between their spirituality, patriarchy, migration, ethnicity and minority.

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In the past thirty years, many concepts and theories on ethnic entrepreneurship have been developed, challenged, and revised to provide a fuller account of the phenomenon. This article revisits the existing literature to address some of the conceptual and methodological issues and the controversies that have lingered around them and to highlight important advancements that have broken through conventional frameworks of this lasting subject matter. It first reexamines the meaning and analytical distinction of such relevant concepts as the middleman minority, ethnic economy, and enclave economy, arguing that ethnic social structures in which entrepreneurs are embedded must be stressed in the understanding of these concepts. It then draws attention to the convergencies and controversies in research on the causes and consequences of entrepreneurship. Finally, it highlights two interrelated conceptual advancements in the study of ethnic entrepreneurship – transnational entrepreneurship and the synergy of entrepreneurship in community building.