Pushed out or pulled in? Self-employment among ethnic minorities in England and Wales

High rates of self-employment among ethnic minorities in England and Wales investigated using a framework in which the self-employment decision is influenced by ethnic-specific attributes as well as sectoral earnings differentials. As expected, differences in an individual's predicted earnings in paid and self-employment are strongly correlated with self-employment decisions. Individuals with low English fluency, and recent immigrants, are less likely than other members of ethnic minorities to be self-employed. Perhaps surprisingly, this is also true of individuals living in "enclaves" - areas with a high percentage of their own ethnic group. The relatively deprived nature of such areas of England and Wales may explain this. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: J23: J7.