Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Religion and Ethnicity in Business Networking

SES-0902354艾萨克马丁凯瑟琳马克加州圣地亚哥大学宗教在民族经济中扮演什么角色？ 根据对民族经济的研究，民族团结可以通过帮助企业主降低成本和加快寻找商品、服务和员工来促进创业。 许多民族经济研究者忽视了宗教在商业中的作用，并认为民族团结是有益的网络关系的最重要的决定因素。 同时，宗教也可能对民族经济产生影响。 宗教文本包括商业道德的讨论，宗教机构通过礼拜仪式、小组会议和社会活动促进团结。 研究还表明，一些宗教信条与创业成功相关。 通过这项研究，共同研究者将通过回答以下问题将宗教置于民族经济研究的中心舞台：宗教如何影响民族企业家精神？ 宗教身份如何塑造移民经济中的网络形成？ 当移民有交叉的宗教和种族联系时，他们被什么类型的网络所吸引？ 例如，伊拉克穆斯林是否倾向于与其他穆斯林（无论其原籍国如何）或其他伊拉克人（无论其宗教信仰如何）建立网络？ 调查人员将对在底特律大都市拥有企业的穆斯林和基督教信仰的伊拉克、巴勒斯坦和黎巴嫩企业家进行120次采访。 半结构化访谈将用于收集每个企业主的数据？的网络成员和宗教和种族在企业主生活中的作用。通过论证宗教在网络形成中的重要作用，本研究有可能对民族经济理论进行改革。 宗教的多样性和宗教的突出性正在增加，这使得这些关于宗教对商业的影响的研究结果对美国和国外的未来研究都很有价值。 最后，这项研究意义重大，不仅因为它关注的是阿拉伯裔美国人，一个代表性不足的群体，而且还因为它突出了一个通常被视为单一的群体中丰富的种族和宗教多样性。

SES-0902354Isaac MartinKathleen MarkerUniversity of California San DiegoWhat role does religion play in the ethnic economy? According to research on ethnic economies, ethnic solidarity can facilitate entrepreneurship by helping business owners cut costs and expedite the search for goods, services, and employees. Many researchers of ethnic economies have overlooked the role of religion in business and assumed that ethnic solidarity is the most significant determinant of beneficial network ties. Meanwhile it is likely that religion also plays an influential role in the ethnic economy. Religious texts include discussions of business ethics, and religious institutions facilitate solidarity through worship services, group meetings, and social events. Research also suggests that some religious tenets correlate with entrepreneurial success. With this study, the co-investigator will place religion at center stage in the research of ethnic economies by answering the following questions: How does religion influence ethnic entrepreneurship? How does religious identity shape network formation in the immigrant economy? When immigrants have crosscutting religious and ethnic ties, what types of networks are they drawn to? For example, do Iraqi Muslims tend to develop networks with other Muslims regardless of country of origin, or with other Iraqis regardless of religion? The investigator will conduct 120 interviews with Iraqi, Palestinian, and Lebanese entrepreneurs of Muslim and Christian faiths, who own businesses in Metropolitan Detroit. Semi-structured interviews will be used to collect data on each business owner?s network members and on the role of religion and ethnicity in the life of the business owner. This research has the potential to reform theories of ethnic economies by demonstrating the important role of religion in network formation. Religious diversity and the saliency of religion are increasing, which makes these findings on the influence of religion in business valuable to future studies both in the U.S. and abroad. Finally, this research is significant not only because it focuses on Arab Americans, an underrepresented group, but also because it highlights the rich ethnic and religious diversity within a group that is commonly presented as monolithic.