Labour Market Segmentation within Ethnic Economies: The Ethnic Penalty for Invisible Kurdish Migrants in the United Kingdom

Despite the extensive literature on the labour market outcomes of migration, little attention has been given to labour market inequalities within ethnic economies containing internal ethnicity. This article, using a field-study, multi-segmented labour market approach and the enclave hypothesis, contributes to the literature by demonstrating the key roles of different migration patterns and ethnic disparities in shaping labour market segmentation. It focuses on how and why Kurdish migrants are located in the lower segments of the labour market in their shared ethnic (migrant) economy in London. It argues that the Kurds’ underprivileged position associated with an ethnic penalty for them in the UK results from their relatively recent migration history, (un)documented asylum status and the ongoing persecution against them in Turkey. The article concludes that different migration histories, particular motivations for migration and ethnic disparities stratify migrants into distinct segments of the labour market in the country of destination.

Gerrard India Bazaar : an atypical ethnic economy in a residential neighbourhood

The purpose of this study is to examine the validity of the thesis that ethnic economies development from a co-ethnic residential context. This paper presents the Gerrard India Bazaar located at Gerrard Street East and Coxwell Ave. in Toronto, Ontario, as a South Asian ethnic economy that has developed into an ethnic commercial district without a corresponding coethnic neighbourhood. This paper explores the process and challenges that have accompanied the development of the Gerrard India Bazaar with the use of newspaper documentation on the area and business information from 1971, 1982, 1991, 1996 and 2009 MIGHTS Business Directory and 1976, 1986, 1996 and 2006 Census Data on the area. Findings from the research demonstrate that ethnic economics can be sustained without a co-ethnic neighborhood as long as there is co-occurring emergence of formal aspects of institutional completeness, accommodation to the residential environment and marketability to the mainstream market.

Gerrard India Bazaar : an atypical ethnic economy in a residential neighbourhood

The purpose of this study is to examine the validity of the thesis that ethnic economies development from a co-ethnic residential context. This paper presents the Gerrard India Bazaar located at Gerrard Street East and Coxwell Ave. in Toronto, Ontario, as a South Asian ethnic economy that has developed into an ethnic commercial district without a corresponding coethnic neighbourhood. This paper explores the process and challenges that have accompanied the development of the Gerrard India Bazaar with the use of newspaper documentation on the area and business information from 1971, 1982, 1991, 1996 and 2009 MIGHTS Business Directory and 1976, 1986, 1996 and 2006 Census Data on the area. Findings from the research demonstrate that ethnic economics can be sustained without a co-ethnic neighborhood as long as there is co-occurring emergence of formal aspects of institutional completeness, accommodation to the residential environment and marketability to the mainstream market.

Gentrification of ethnic businesses in Toronto's Little India: an analysis of ethnic business development

Gentrification of ethnic businesses within ethnic economies is a new phenomenon that is vastly affecting Toronto’s Little India. As a result, research focusing on this issue and analysis on the way in which ethnic businesses have been developed is an important problem to investigate. This research will focus on three main research questions; observing the different looks, practices, styles, and tastes prevalent amongst restaurants in Little India, examining if the styles and tastes projected by restaurants’ ethnic habitus have an impact on how ethnic businesses fare, and assessing if entrepreneurs are able or unable to modify their business practices, and styles. The analysis will be conducted through the lens of the Habitus (Bourdieu, 1987) as a theoretical framework, specifically examining the ways in which self-employed migrants develop their businesses and the role that their ethnic background and culture may have in this process. This research will take an ethnographic methodological approach in conducting the research through two steps, beginning with a naturalistic observation of two restaurants and following up with interviews. The findings determined that slight changes made to the business approach and cultural habitus of ethnic businesses can prove successful in attracting the needs of the surrounding clientele and the gentrifying population. Keywords: gentrification, South Asian, Little India, ethnic economy, self-employed migrants

Gentrification of ethnic businesses in Toronto's Little India: an analysis of ethnic business development

Gentrification of ethnic businesses within ethnic economies is a new phenomenon that is vastly affecting Toronto’s Little India. As a result, research focusing on this issue and analysis on the way in which ethnic businesses have been developed is an important problem to investigate. This research will focus on three main research questions; observing the different looks, practices, styles, and tastes prevalent amongst restaurants in Little India, examining if the styles and tastes projected by restaurants’ ethnic habitus have an impact on how ethnic businesses fare, and assessing if entrepreneurs are able or unable to modify their business practices, and styles. The analysis will be conducted through the lens of the Habitus (Bourdieu, 1987) as a theoretical framework, specifically examining the ways in which self-employed migrants develop their businesses and the role that their ethnic background and culture may have in this process. This research will take an ethnographic methodological approach in conducting the research through two steps, beginning with a naturalistic observation of two restaurants and following up with interviews. The findings determined that slight changes made to the business approach and cultural habitus of ethnic businesses can prove successful in attracting the needs of the surrounding clientele and the gentrifying population. Keywords: gentrification, South Asian, Little India, ethnic economy, self-employed migrants

Changes in Chinese supermarket development in the Toronto CMA : a case study of T & T Supermarket

The Chinese have developed expansive ethnic economies with high levels of institutional completeness throughout the Toronto CMA. While Chinese shopping centre development has been studied extensively in the literature, little research has been done on changes in the Chinese food industry, one of the oldest and largest sectors of the Chinese ethnic economy. Using T & T Supermarket as a case study, this paper investigates changes in Chinese supermarket development in the Toronto CMA. The first most notable change is the evolution of Chinese supermarkets from traditional-concept stores, which sell almost exclusively Chinese goods, to the one-stop supermarket, which offers a wider range of goods and services to a larger customer base. Chinese supermarkets have also experienced shifts in location from Chinese shopping plazas and enclosed malls to mixed-ethnic shopping plazas and enclosed mainstream malls. Finally, this study examines the prevalence of cross-shopping in mixed-ethnic shopping centres, thus illustrating potential benefits and future trends in ethnic shopping centre development.

Changes in Chinese supermarket development in the Toronto CMA : a case study of T & T Supermarket

The Chinese have developed expansive ethnic economies with high levels of institutional completeness throughout the Toronto CMA. While Chinese shopping centre development has been studied extensively in the literature, little research has been done on changes in the Chinese food industry, one of the oldest and largest sectors of the Chinese ethnic economy. Using T & T Supermarket as a case study, this paper investigates changes in Chinese supermarket development in the Toronto CMA. The first most notable change is the evolution of Chinese supermarkets from traditional-concept stores, which sell almost exclusively Chinese goods, to the one-stop supermarket, which offers a wider range of goods and services to a larger customer base. Chinese supermarkets have also experienced shifts in location from Chinese shopping plazas and enclosed malls to mixed-ethnic shopping plazas and enclosed mainstream malls. Finally, this study examines the prevalence of cross-shopping in mixed-ethnic shopping centres, thus illustrating potential benefits and future trends in ethnic shopping centre development.