Hispanics account for more than half the population growth in the United States over the last decade. With this surge has come a dramatic spike in the number of Hispanic-owned businesses. Hispanic Entrepreneurs in the 2000s is a pioneering study of this nascent demographic. Drawing on rich quantitative data, authors Alberto Dávila and Marie T. Mora examine key economic issues facing Hispanic entrepreneurs, such as access to financial capital and the adoption and vitality of digital technology. They analyze the varying effects that these factors have on subsets of the Hispanic community, such as Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Salvadorans, while considering gender and immigrant status. This account highlights key policies to drive the success of Hispanic entrepreneurs, while drawing out strategies that entrepreneurs can use in order to cultivate their businesses. Far-reaching and nuanced, Hispanic Entrepreneurs in the 2000s is an important study of a population that is quickly becoming a vital component of American job creation.

Using a large microdata sample from the most recent decennial census, this book documents the economic disparities facing minority-owned business owners relative to non-minorities. The book incorporates a wide range of geographic and industrial categories and demonstrates that these disparities persist even when other important factors such as education, experience, wealth and family structure are held constant. Self-employed business owners comprise an important and growing sector of the U.S. economy. In contrast to wage workers, the issue of discrimination against minority business owners has received little attention from economists. However, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have made the continued constitutionality of affirmative action in public sector purchasing and contracting contingent upon documenting the existence of discrimination against such businesses within relevant geographic or industrial boundaries. The author shows that among prime working age males, being an entrepreneur is a relatively more lucrative form of employment, on average, than working for a wage. Typically, however, non-Hispanic whites become entrepreneurs at much higher rates and receive much higher earnings than their black, Hispanic, and Native American counterparts. The author's findings of racial and ethnic disparities are strongest for black and Native American entrepreneurs. Positive levels of discrimination facing Hispanic and Asian entrepreneurs are also documented. The book also includes discussion of relevant Supreme Court decisions, how economists attempt to measure discrimination and the major sources of data available for studying minority business enterprise.

The Hispanic-Latino community is large, expanding, and an important contributor to the U.S. economy. Numbering over 50 million, Hispanic-Latinos currently represent about 16% of the population. Hispanic-Latinos engage in a diversity of jobs that help keep the American economic engine running. The practice of entrepreneurship has been on the rise with over 2.3 million business in the United States categorized as Hispanic-owned, generating over $345 billion in sales. This book examines the entrepreneurial mindset of Hispanic-Latinos in the United States. With limited literature on the subject, the authors created a pioneering book that captures the viewpoints of real-life Hispanic-Latino entrepreneurs. Using a 15-item questionnaire, the authors obtained information on entrepreneurial intent, goals, and business strategies utilized. This book highlights real world business experiences, inlcuding challenges relating to entrepreneurial pursuits, and the importance of hardwork, discipline, and a positive mindset in the success of an enterprise.