Mexican-American entrepreneurs and their contribution to the US economy

This chapter examines Mexican-American business formation, ownership and performance. Comparisons are made to other racial and ethnic groups in the United States and to the national average distinctions are made between first, second and third-generation Mexican-Americans. It also explains the potential causes of low rates of business formation among Mexican-Americans and the relative under-performance of their businesses. It examines the contribution of Mexican-American entrepreneurs to the US economy. Specifically, it estimates the percentage of new businesses, business owners and total business income generated by Mexican business owners, who make an important contribution to the US economy. However, there remains much untapped potential among this group of firms because of the substantial barriers they face. Mexican-Americans represent almost 10% of the US population, and if current trends continue will become the largest minority group in the country in a decade. Thus, removing barriers to entry and expansion faced by Mexican-American owned businesses would bring an important contribution to the increase of total US productivity.