Japanese American Ethnicity: The Persistence of Community

7. Economic Acitivities and Networks

118 SEVEN Economic Activities and Networks As noted in Chapter 3. historically the most distinctive economic characteristic ofJapanese Americans has been their disproportionate involvement in petit bourgeois activities which have been supported by the ethnic community. Not only did the ethnic community provide customers but the businesses themselves were organized and rationalized through ethnic guilds, cooperatives, associations, and other mechanisms allowing them, collectively, to develop some of the advantages of the "center" economy, hence a competitive advantage in relation to other small producers (e.g.• Light. 1972, 1979; Wilson and Portes, 1980). This adaptation, however, was dramatically altered by World War II. The evacuation and relocation not only disrupted the petit bourgeois economic accommodation but it also changed the social and demographic characteristics of the ethnic community (e.g., Woodrum et aI., 1980). WhenJapanese Americans began to leave the internment camps in significant numbers toward the end of the war, the War Relocation Authority discouraged them from concentrating in ethnic enclaves similar to the ones they had left (Albert. 1980:II4-I1S; Myer, 1971). This made it difficult for them to reestablish the economic networks they had developed during the prewar era. Moreover, many ofthe Issei were too old to Economic Activities and Networks 119 TABLE 7:1. Self-Employed Persons, by Generation and Area (N =617). AIlEA GardeIUI Sacramento Fresno Totals Generation 0/0 N 0/0 N 0/0 N % N Nisei 31.7 104 23·8 101 59·8 102 38·4 307 Sansei 14·9 101 13·5 104 30.) lOS 19·7 310 Totals 23·4 205 18.5 205 44·9 207 29·0 617 By generation: X· (I. N =617) '" 25.45. P Employment Status Generation Self-Employed Not Self-Employed Totals Nisei 7·67 Sansei 6·S1 Totals 7·21. Generational effect: F (I, N = H2) = 20.731, P < .0Cll. Employment status effect: F (I, N = 32) = 14.562, P < .001. Interaction effect: F (I, N'" 599) ;;; .329, p = n.s. 6.63 6.96 S·74 S·88 6.12 -The specific businesses and services Include: oriental food store, grocery store, restaurant. medical doctor. dentist, optometrist, garage, lawyer. drugstore. Insurance agent. other retail store, other professional. employed Sansei. compared with 30.0 and 34.6 percent for their nonselfemployed counterparts. Here we see little indication ofintergenerational erosion ofthe ethnic business and social network for those who remain in the small business niche. Indeed. the percentage ofbusiness dealings with fellow ethnics is higher for the Sansei than for the Nisei. A third set ofindicators ofan ethnic economic network is patronage of ethnic businesses and services. As shown in Table 7:3. the overall frequency of dealing with fellow ethnics is quite high, with respondents regularly patronizing an average of six or seven ethnic businesses. Although there is a slight drop-otTin ethnic patronage from the Nisei to the Sansei generations. the self-employed in both generations utilizeJapanese American establishments more than the nonself-employed do. These results strongly suggest that the ethnic economy persists. INVOLVEMENT Of THE PETITE BOURGEOISIE IN THE ETHNIC COMMUNITY One ofthe crucial features ofthe traditional petit bourgeois accommodation amongJapanese Americans was the involvement ofsmall-scale entrepreneurs in the institutional life of the ethnic community. To be sure. small businessmen of any ethnic background find utilitarian reasons for community involvement and building good will. However. theJapanese ethnic economy. because ofdiscrimination on the part of both nonethnic 122 Economic Activities and Networks TABLE 7:4-. Mean Number of Memberships in Japanese Voluntary Associations, by Generation and Employment Status (N = 599). Employment Status Generation Self-Employed Not Self-Employed Nisei 2.03 I.3S Sansei 1. 2 3 .90 Totals 1.75 1.09 Generational effect: F (1, N '" 599) = .P.104, P < .OOT. Employment status effect: F (I, N'" 599) = 33.275, p < .001. Interaction effect: F (I, N = 599) = 3.po, p '" n.S. Totals Z.6I·96 management and labor, was of crucial importance to the economic wellbeing of the ethnic group as a whole. Since the most vigorous and talented individuals became successful small businessmen, and because the ethnic economy was built with many elements of the community dependent on one another (e.g., in agriculture a vertically and horizontally integrated ethnic economy was created), small businessmen became involved in all spheres of community life (Bonacich, 1975). They did so not only for the good will they built but because they realized the importance of making collective responses to various exigencies. The reader will recall the rather dramatic example of this in the EI Monte berry strike described in Chapter 3. In addition, the more successful entrepreneurs felt responsible to support those whose efforts had been crucial to their own success. Now that the Japanese have many employment opportunities in the center sector of the mainstream economy, an intriguing question is whether the pattern of participation and leadership exhibited earlier by the Issei petite bourgeoisie continues or whether persons in this class have become the classic loners described in the general small business literature (e.g., Bertaux and Bertaux-Wiame, 1981). The figures in Table 7:4- show that although there is a reduction in ethnic voluntary association membership among both self-employed and nonself-employed Sansei, the former still have substantially higher rates of involvement than the lauer. Indeed, the mean level ofparticipation among the self-employed Sansei is almost as great as that ofthe nonself-employed Economic Activities and Networks 123 TABLE 7:5. Persons Who ReadJapanese Vernacular Newspapers, by Generation and Employment Status (N =615). Employment Status Self-Employed Not Self-Employed Generation ('Y,,) ('Yo) Nisei 69·4 42.9 Sansei 28·3 18·5 Totals 52.2 29·1 (N;: 178) (N = 437) By generatIon and employment status: X· (I,. N = 615) =.654. p = n.s. By generation: X" (I, N .. 6r5) .. 6r.43. p < .oor. By employment status: X" (I, N" 61 S) .. 28.592. P < .001. Totals ('Yo) 51.1 20·5 TABLE 7:6. Persons Who AttendJapanese Community Picnics, by Generation and Employment Status (N = 609). Employment Status Self-Employed Not Self-Employed Totals Generation ('Yo) ('Yo) ('Yo) Nisei 57·3 40.6 47·1 Sansei 53·3 44. 1 45·9 Totals 55·9 42.6 (N =177) (N"" 432) By generation: X' (I, N == 609) .. .065, p .. n.s. By employment status: X" (I, N" 609) "" 8.453. P < .01. By generation and employment status: X" (I, N =609) ...639. P .. n.s. N 307 308 N 30 4 305 Nisei. A similar pattern of involvement is found with regard to reading Japanese vernacular newspapers (which commonly have bothJapanese and English sections) and attendance atJapanese community picnics. As shown in Table 7:5, Nisei are much more likely than Sansei to read Japanese newspapers, but the self-employed in both generations are more likely than the nonself-employed to read them. Table 7:6 shows a high overall level ofattendance at ethnic community picnics. Again, however. self-employed Nisei and Sansei are more likely to attend than are their nonself-employed counterparts. I2.4 Economic Activities and Networks TABLE 7:7. Mean Number ofJapanese Best Friends, by Generation and Employment Status (Maximum Value =4t). Employment Status Generation Self-Employed Not Self-Employed Nisei 1.58 Sansei 1.13 Totals 1.42 Generational effect: F (I. N ... 617) .. 4o.I2.h p < .001. Employment status effect: F (I. N = 617) = l. 105. P =n.s. Interaction effect: F (I, N = 617) = .145. p '" n.s. 1...8 1.10 1.26 Totals 1.51 1.11 It is somewhat surprising that there is no intergenerational reduction in attendance at Japanese picnics within the occupational subgroups or in the sample as a whole. The most plausible interpretation is that since these picnics are very family-oriented affairs, when one cohort does not attend it discourages attendance by the others. Normally, extended families sit and eat together. Since friends use this occasion to catch up on the fortunes and whereabouts of acquaintances and relatives, individuals feel some pressure to look their best. Having the entire family present adds credibility to the perception that the family is close and thus "successful." It is interesting to observe in Table 7:7 that although self-employment is associated with many dimensions ofinvolvement in the ethnic community , it is not associated with the extent to which one's best friends are fellow ethnics. The findings in Chapter 6, it will be recalled, suggested that the extent to whichJapanese Americans have exclusively ethnic best friends is more a function of ethnic density than a desire to be involved with otherJapanese. In fact. as shown in the earlier presentation (Chapter 6), some ofthe highest levels ofinvolvement in ethnic community voluntary associations occurred in the communities that also possessed the least ethnically exclusive friendship patterns. These results, along with the finding ofa lack ofrelationship between self-employment and friendship, reinforce the view that the Japanese American community rests on a social organizational base emphasizing not strong-tie friendships but quasi-kin ties, which are most likely to be found in ethnic voluntary associations. Economic Activities and Networks 125 TABLE 7:8. Mean Educational Attainment, by Generation and Employment Status (N "'" 599).' Generation Nisei Sansei Totals Employment Status Self-Employed Not Self-Employed 3·27 4·54 4·00 Generational effect: F(I, N"" 599) = 108.824. P < .001. Employment status effect: F (I, N = 599) = 14.082, P < .001. Interaction effect: F (I. N = 599) = 8 700. P < .01. Totals 3·35 4·78 • Scale values: some hIgh school (I). high school graduate (2). some technical or college (3). associate degree (4). bachelor's degree (5). some graduate or professlooal training (6), master's degree (7), law. medical, or dental degree, Ph.D. (8). HUMAN CAPITAL, THE ETHNIC COMMUNITY, AND THE PETIT BOURGEOIS ACCOMMODATION Historically, ethnic small businessmen who have had access to the resources oftheir ethnic community have been portrayed as having a competitive advantage in relation to other producers (e.g., Bonacich and Modell, 1980; Wilson and Portes, 1980). In the contemporary world, however, with its more open opportunity structure, an argument might be made that embedding oneself in ethnic economic relationships is not only limiting but something one does when he or she cannot seize opportunities elsewhere. Attempting to make a living in a contemporary ethnic enclave thus may be a. classic example ofan ethnic mobility trap. Therefore , one might predict that the contemporary petite bourgeoisie would be among the least economically successful persons in an ethnic community . Our data, which are shown in Table 7:8, however, present quite a different picture. In both generations, the self-employed are better educated than the nonself-employed. The difference among Nisei, however, is quite small, with both subgroups averaging some college attendance. Among the Sansei, the difference between the self-employed and nonself-employed is much greater. The nonself-employed Sansei average somewhat less than a bachelor's degree, the self-employed more than a bachelor's. The difference among the Sansei is partly a function of the greater age of the 126 Economic Activities and Networks TABLE 7:9. Regression of Income on Age, Educational Attainment, and Employment Status (N= 597). (Unstandardized coefficients are the top figures; standardized coefficients are in parentheses.) Variables Generation Age Education Employment status Constant R' 'p < .05. up < .01. ."p < .00t. EQI -.001 (-.001) .073*** (.357) .408*** (·357)·739 .16] .100 (.or8) .063*** (.308)·366*** (.320) [.40 5*** (.226)·920 .2II self-employed, approximately half of whom are professionals or technical persons. Given the higher educational attainment of the selfemployed , it is not surprising that they have higher incomes than those who work for others. In 1979-80 (the time of the survey) the nonselfemployed Sansei had an average income of$15,000 to $20,000, while the self-employed Sansei had an average income of $30,000 to $35,000. Among the Nisei, the nonself-employed average was $20,000 to $25,000 and the self-employed average was $30,000 to $)5,000. The Nisei have a greater overall income partly because they are older and thus more senior in their respective businesses and careers. To examine the amount ofunique variance in income accounted for by being self-employed, we regressed income on self-employment, controlling for age, generation, and educational attainment. As can be seen in Table 7:9, even after educational attainment is controlled, the seJfemployed enjoy higher earnings. In order to obtain a clearer picture of the types of occupations Nisei and Sansei have entered, particularly with regard to the self-employment category, we aggregated the census occupational codes into seven broad categories. This is shown in Table 7: 10. As previously noted, there is a substantial drop in the percentage of Economic Activities and Networks TABLE 7:10. Percentage of Respondents in Various Occupational Categories, by Generation and Employment Status (N = 615).Nisei Sansei Not Self- Self- Not Self- SelfOccupational Category Employed Employed Employed Employed Professional and technical 72·S 27·5 77,3 39·4 23,7 46,8 (74)b (28) (II6) Managerial 63,3 36,7 92, I 10, I 9·3 14, I (19) (II) (35) Clerical and sales 73.2 26,8 87. 1 16,0 9,3 2I.8 (30) (II) (54) Service 88,2 II,8 90,9 8,0 1.7 4,0 (I S) (2) (10) Agriculture, fishing, forestry, 15,6 84,4 46,2 and related fields )·3 45·8 4·8 (10) (54) (12) Trades 77. J 22·9 95·5 19·7 9·3 8·5 (37) (II) (21) Miscellaneous 75.0 25·0 1.6 .8 0 (3) (1) 61.4 38.6 80·3 (188) (rr8) (248) ._-- , First number is the row percentage; second number is the column percentage. b Number ofrespondents is shown In parentheses. 22,7 55,2 (34) 7,9 4,9 (3) J2·9 13, I (8) 9, I 1.6 (I) 53.8 23·0 (J4) 4·5 1.6 (I) 0 19·7 (61) self-employed as one moves from the Nisei to the Sansei. This is consistent with the reduction in the number of self-employed in the United States at large that has taken place over the period covered by the two generations (Goldscheider and Kobrin, 1980; Ray, 1975), Also, not surprisingly , there is a shift in type of self-employment. Among the Nisei, the largest percentage (45.8 percent) of the self-employed are in agriculture , fishing, forestry, and related occupations. Among the Sansei, the percentage in these categories falls to 23.0 percent. For the latter genera127 128 Economic Activities and Networks tion. the majority of self-employed persons (SS.7 percent) are in the professional-technical category. Taken together, the preceding analyses lead to several conclusions. The size ofthe petit bourgeois niche is becoming smaller, and the occupations in the niche are shifting from farming and gardening to professional and technical categories. Nevertheless, the percentage of Sansei who remain in the traditional petit bourgeois occupational categories (almost onefifth ofthe sample) is quite high even if we allow for the bias introduced by sampling from the Fresno area, which contains a larger number of farmers. Moreover. the mechanisms that supported the pre-World War II ethnic economy still support Japanese American entrepreneurial activity. Not only do the self-employed work with moreJapanese. patronize more Japanese businesses and services, belong to moreJapanese organizations, read more vernacular newspapers, and attend more Japanese picnics, but they also earn more money. This is in sharp contrast to Ray's (I97S) finding that. overall, the self-employed and nonself-employed in the United States are similar in earnings. Our data argue quite strongly that the self-employed who remain embedded in an ethnic economy, although in different occupations than their predecessors. still enjoy some unique advantages. CONCLUSION In this chapter we examined the extent to which the ethnic economy still exists and the degree to which its traditional form has changed. As one might expect, with the removal ofthe discriminatory employment barriers after World War II. Japanese Americans have moved into mainstream corporate and governmental careers in significant numbers. We also found. however. that they, like American Jews (Goldscheider and Kobrin. 1980). continue to be overrepresented in the small business sector. [n one sense, the ethnic economy has significantly changed in that the small businesses involved are no longer principally farming and shopkeeping but professional and technical in nature. Thus, not only are individual Japanese Americans currently able to utilize their generally high levels ofeducation in this economic form but also. on average, they earn higher incomes. Continuing advantages of the ethnic economy include the ability to use ethnic community networks for contacts and to employ ethnic labor. which is likely to be more loyal. Therefore, at the individual level ofanalysis. our results dearly demonstrate that the ethnic Economic Activities and Networks 129 economy is not a mobility trap. In fact, it still offers a number of unique advantages compared with mainstream salaried positions. From a more macrosocial perspective, our data show that although smaller in size and less tightly bounded, the petit bourgeois accommodation has been able to adapt to new circumstances and continues to perpetuate ethnicity among Japanese Americans. Because small businessmen remain active in ethnic organizations and tend to hire fellow ethnics, they also have more opportunities for face-to-face interaction with fellow group members. The petite bourgeoisie are more likely than other Japanese Americans to patronize other Japanese businesses, read vernacular papers, and attend community picnics (see also Bonacich, 1975). Thus, in many ways, the classic community supports for the small business accommodation continue to operate. These results are quite consistent with structural explanations ofethnicity, such as middleman minority theory (e.g.• Bonacich, I973; Bonacich and Modell, 1980). What the purely structural arguments have greater difficulty explaining, however, is that the relatively high level ofethnic solidarity is combined with a high level ofstructural assimilation. Although they do not directly address this point, their approach appears to suggest essentially a zero-sum relationship between ethnic solidarity and structural assimilation. Yet our findings demonstrate that this is clearly not the case with contemporaryJapanese Americans. In addition to our findings on the compatibility of involvement in ethnic and nonethnic voluntary associations, reported in the last chapter, the data presented in this chapter show that even though the petite bourgeoisie are more involved than those who work for others in ethnic community life, they are no less likely to be structurally assimilated into mainstream society through friendships with Caucasians. ...