Disadvantaged Minorities in Business

This book features contributions by international scholars who have worked to establish a theory- and empirics-based discussion on disadvantaged minorities and long-term economic development. Depending on their socio-demographic characteristics, minorities have long lived under the shadow of the groups, categories, or communities they presumably belong to. Despite the obstacles they have to face, they manage to demonstrate that, above all, they are entrepreneurs capable to start, run, and successfully complete their venture. Their motivations are often assimilated by the research community into “necessity entrepreneurship.” In addition to the external barriers they face, they have to overcome endogenous cognitive factors that hinder their entrepreneurial intention: anxiety before the future, the anguish of death, generativity, health condition as perceived by others, subjective age, and the cultural gap as viewed by natives, among others. 

The book integrates a diversity of challenges and disadvantages faced by entrepreneurs, allowing the reader to have a renewed understanding of entrepreneurial behavior. On the theoretical level, the chapters emphasize the need for integrating entrepreneurship theory with multidisciplinary approaches, such as the Theory of Cumulative Disadvantage/Advantage (CDA), cultural and geographical theories, and psychological theories. On the practical level, this book would raise the awareness of policy makers, mainly governmental and nongovernmental organizations concerning the disadvantages, and helping them adjust their actions either for local or international programs.

Chapter "Intersectionality and Minority Entrepreneurship: At the Crossroad of Vulnerability and Power" is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.