The representation of ethnic economies in industry clusters and the earnings differences of ethnic members from others: A case of Chinese in Canada

Abstract

Drawing from organizational, organizational ecology, and social network perspectives, we examined how earning differences between coethnic members (i.e., Chinese in Canada) and others (i.e., non-Chinese in Canada) were relatedto whether they participated in ethnic economy and also to the percentage of ethnic economies among related industrial sectors in a larger industry cluster. The study envisages ethnic economy is embedded in larger industry cluster and its operation is shaped by the larger industrial context. Drawing from the 2011 Canadian National Survey, we found thatthe percentage of ethnic economies among all related industrial sectors in an industry cluster was related to lower differences in the earnings of its coethnic members and others working there. The findings further showed that the relationship was significant for coethnic employees, but not for coethnic employers.