Indigenous Ethnicity and Entrepreneurial Success in Africa : Some Evidence from Ethiopia

Mengistae, Taye

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ANNUAL GROWTH RATE;    ATTENTION;    AVERAGE GROWTH;    AVERAGE GROWTH RATE;    AVERAGE LEVEL;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2534
RP-ID  :  WPS2534

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Researchers have recently been askingwhy Asian and European minorities in Africa seem to be moresuccessful in business than are people of indigenousethnicity. The author draws attention to the significantdisparity in business ownership and performance that seemsto exist among African ethnic groups as well. Afteranalyzing a random selection of small to medium-sizemanufacturers in Ethiopia, he finds that establishmentsowned by an indigenous minority ethnic group, the Gurage,typically perform better than those owned by other (major orminority) groups. Other things being equal, Gurage-ownedbusinesses are normally large, partly because they arebigger as start-ups and partly because they grow faster. Andyet Gurage business owners are the least educated ethnicgroup in the sample. Because the size and growth rate of abusiness also increases with the entrepreneur'seducation, the performance of other businesses would havebeen even worse if their owners hadn't been bettereducated than the Gurage. Indeed, dropping educationvariables from the size determination equation drasticallyreduces the estimated advantage of Gurage-run businesses.This suggests that the observed effect of ethnicity could beindicative of intergroup differences in unmeasured ability.More important, it means that whether or not the effect willpersist in the long run will depend on the trend ininterethnic differences in investment in education.