Volume 26 Number 3 July 2000

Articles
Debate
Report
Reviews
Abstracts

Abstract It has been known for many years that Britain’s ethnic minorities suffer disadvantage in employment. Recent findings have, however, shown a gap between the experiences of different minority groups. Indians and Chinese have employment rates and earnings levels similar to those of white members of the population; Caribbeans, Africans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis fare worse. Eleven years of Labour Force Survey data have been combined, so that the employment of men in their 20s and 30s can be analysed in terms of age and migration, educational qualifications, the economic environment and family structures. The contrasts between different groups’ economic positions are all the more striking when educational attainments are taken into account.
Keywords: Ethnic minority employment; labour markets, economic disadvantage, Great Britain
(Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Vol. 26 No. 3: 389-416, © 2000 Taylor and Francis Ltd.)

Rights and ratios? Evaluating the relationship between social rights and immigration
Brian K. Gran and Elizabeth J. Clifford

Abstract. Since 1960 citizens of many industrialised democracies have obtained greater rights, including access to social welfare programmes. Several countries have also offered similar rights to immigrants. Some researchers hypothesise that, as a result of extending rights to immigrants, these countries face constraints in relation to the reduction of immigration flows. We evaluate this rights-based hypothesis by comparing long-term immigration of children and older adults to nine countries over a 25-year period. We find the rights-based hypothesis is a strong explanation for immigration of children, but is not the key to evaluating entry of older immigrants.
Keywords: Immigration, Rights; Social welfare
(Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Vol. 26 No. 3: 417-447, © 2000 Taylor and Francis Ltd.)

Institutional plurality: a way out of the Basque conflict?
Hans van Amersfoort and Jan Mansveldt Beck

Abstract The aim of this article is to analyse the possibilities for a peaceful solution to the ‘Basque question’. In particular, we will explore whether the concept of institutional plurality might be a suitable framework within which to identify a political solution to one of the most enduring and violent nationalistic conflicts in Western Europe. Institutional plurality is described in a previous article (Van Amersfoort 1995). Basically institutional plurality can be found in two forms in modern democracies, a territorial one and a non-territorial parallel organisation of basic institutions. Switzerland and the Netherlands are the classical examples of states in Western Europe with a high degree of institutional plurality; Switzerland in a territorial form, the Netherlands in a non-territorial defined form. Even a first general analysis of Basque nationalism makes clear that the Basque problem is very complicated. A territorial form of pluralism is (just as complete separatism) hampered by the geographical distribution of the Basque and non-Basque segments of the population and by the involvement of two states. The only chance of finding a solution would appear to be a combination of territorial and non-territorial forms of institutional plurality. However such a solution will not necessarily be acceptable to all parties concerned.
Keywords: Democracy; Basques, Spain
(Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Vol. 26 No. 3: 449-467, © 2000 Taylor and Francis Ltd.)

Immigration and native-born male earnings: a jobs-level analysis of the New York City metropolitan area labour market, 1980–90
David R. Howell and Elizabeth J. Mueller

Abstract During the 1980s foreign-born workers increased from about 30 per cent to almost 50 per cent of all workers in the lowest paying (secondary) jobs that employ about one-third of the workforce in the New York metropolitan labour market. With data from the 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples of the US Census, we document this growth and test for the effects of recent immigrants on mean job earnings for native-born white, black and Hispanic male workers. We find that employment growth for all three native-born groups was inversely related to immigrant growth among production and non-supervisory jobs; among the best (professional, managerial and technical) jobs, both native-born black and Hispanic employment growth is fastest in the jobs experiencing rapid growth of recent immigrants. In these ‘independent primary’ jobs, immigrant workers appear to ‘replace’ only white workers. Concerning wages, we find evidence of negative immigrant wage effects for all three native-born groups, but while these impacts are substantial across the job structure for white men, they are strongest in the best (independent primary) and worst (secondary) job segments for African-American men and in the middle of the job structure (good blue-collar jobs) for native-born Hispanic men.
Keywords: Immigration; Male Earnings; Labour Markets; New York
(Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Vol. 26 No. 3: 469-493, © 2000 Taylor and Francis Ltd.)

Abstract British research on ethnic minority entrepreneurship has often endeavoured to account for the prominence or otherwise of ethnic minority groups in business. This trend towards explicating the diversity of ethnic minorities in business has intensified with recent attention to apparently significant variations within the South Asian community itself. But how ‘different’ is ethnic minority business activity from the wider small firm population? This question is addressed through a qualitative study of a variety of ethnic groups involved in Birmingham’s independent restaurant sector. In this article we examine two processes that have been marked out for particular attention in debates on ethnic minority business activity: the role of the family in the process of business formation and management of the enterprise, and the dynamics of ‘workforce construction’; that is, the ‘qualities’ that employers look for in recruiting workers. The results highlight the interplay of culture and economics at work. In so doing, they serve to bring into question ‘solidaristic’ notions of ethnicity, that attach primary importance to ‘culturalist’ explanations of ethnic minority business development. It is argued that accounts of the apparent distinctiveness of ethnic minority businesses need to be more carefully embedded in the sectoral context in which they operate. Further, qualitative approaches are more likely to capture the connection between culture and economics in action than quantitatively-based survey assessments.
Keywords: Ethnic Minority Business; South Asians; Britain
(Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Vol. 26 No. 3: 495-510, © 2000 Taylor and Francis Ltd.)

Neutral migration models for Israel and Japan
Boris A. Portnov

Abstract The 1985–95 statistical data for Israel and Japan are used to test the assumption that inter-regional migration is a function of the relationship between employment and housing availability in the area. When the relation between these factors remains constant, there is little change in net migration. When scarcity of land, a large influx of immigrants, or a government policy causes these factors to be out of balance, migration occurs. A general model of the factors affecting cross-district migration is proposed, and regression analysis is used to explain the factors influencing the rate of cross-district migration in the two countries. Empirical models are developed that make it possible to determine the preconditions for ‘migration neutrality’ of a region, i.e. the state of equilibrium in which the region does not exhibit either a significant influx of migrants or outflow of its current residents.
Keywords: Migration; Employment; Housing; Israel; Japan
(Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Vol. 26 No. 3: 511-533, © 2000 Taylor and Francis Ltd.)