Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
lines and, where necessary, trans-Pacific product sourcing, could also ease the
conduct of business. But these gains came at a heavy price, for while reducing
business uncertainty these merchants exposed themselves to considerable
economic risk. The enclave became saturated with too many Chinese restau-
rants and Taiwanese travel agents. When entrepreneurs complained about the
small size of the regional economy it was the highly competitive ethnic enclave
economy they primarily had in mind. Recall Mrs. Chuang's bitter experience
with her health-food store, located within the Chinese ethnic enclave: 'Here
people have to 'steal' customers from each other. We are not able to make a
reasonable profit'. Vancouver and suburban Richmond, the municipalities
with the highest concentration of Chinese-Canadians, recorded also the weak-
est business performances in the metropolitan region.
Evidently participation in the ethnic enclave economy exerts a serious pen-
alty on its members, in line with a sceptical European literature that, rather
than celebrating the opportunities of the enclave, sees it instead as offering
only 'sectoral imprisonment' (Barrett et al. 2003), with 'appallingly high indi-
vidual failure rates' (Jones et al. 2000). The Korean entrepreneurs also seem
to confirm a European sentiment that only through 'breaking out' from the
enclave is there a higher probability of economic success (Engelen 2001).
A lower achievement orientation also occurred among some ethnic
Chinese entrepreneurs whose primary economic interests were elsewhere.
This reduced level of motivation is also emphasized in two other studies
with small samples of business immigrants. In Calgary, Josephine Smart
(1994) noted the existence of 'many business proposals that are created
more to please and appease immigration officials than to reflect realistically
the expertise and commitment of the applicant'. In Vancouver, Edward Woo
(1998) also noted the conditional motivation of members of the ethnic
Chinese business class. Obligated to set up a business, 'It is not a secret that
some of them do so merely to fulfil this requirement. Many of these busi-
nesses are set up in haste and are not profitable… Once the immigration
condition is removed, these entrepreneurs would either move into some
other business or return to Hong Kong'.
To animate these conclusions I end this section with two case studies that
reveal how immigrants struggled with the constraints and possibilities they
encountered, vignettes that underscore the emotionally charged process of
entrepreneurship.
Mr. Park was one of the five most successful entrepreneurs we inter-
viewed. He had been the Accounts Manager for a large construction com-
pany in Korea, and brought significant human capital, including a university
education, some limited on the job English proficiency, and 17 years of
business knowledge. In addition he held $700,000 to start a new life with
his family in Canada. But they approached immigration tentatively, and
when they landed seeking better education for their children and an
