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Ethnic Entrepreneurship: Structure and Process is the fourth volume in the series International Research in the Business Disciplines. As such, it represents a significant transition from the more traditional volumes that preceded it to a more thematic format addressing specific topics currently being debated. Professors Stiles and Galbraith, the editors of the volume, have done an outstanding job of staking out an area of importance and providing a series of articles that are both illuminating and challenging. Over time, I believe that this volume will be viewed as a critical contribution to the overall study of entrepreneurship.

Developmental Entrepreneurship: Adversity, Risk, and Isolation is the fifth volume in the series International Research in the Business Disciplines. It is the second volume in our series that has followed a thematic format. Professors Galbraith and Stiles, the editors of the volume, have once again done a superb job of identifying an important area for study and providing an array of interesting viewpoints for readers to consider. Over time, I believe this volume will be viewed as another critical contribution to the overall study of entrepreneurship and business.

The first paper by Hernando de Soto is titled, “Trust, Institutions and Entrepreneurship.” Hernando de Soto certainly needs no introduction. As the author of two best-selling books, The Other Path and The Mystery of Capital, and the founder of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy in Peru, Hernando de Soto has made his mark on examining critical issues related to economic development among poor people. In 1999, Time magazine chose Hernando de Soto as one of the five leading Latin American innovators of the century. Forbes magazine highlighted him as one of 15 innovators “who will re-invent your future.” The Economist magazine identified his Institute for Liberty and Democracy as one of the top two think tanks in the world. The essay in this volume, based upon a speech given at the University of North Carolina on October 26, 2004, examines the important relationships between institutions, trust, property rights, and the ability of entrepreneurs to participate in economic growth and development. This stimulating essay sets a foundation for much of what is discussed in this volume.

Leading off the book, and the first paper in this section, is, “The Ethnic Ownership Economy” by Ivan Light. This survey paper hardly needs an introduction, because the author is one of the foremost scholars in the field of ethnic economics and entrepreneurship. Ivan Light can be argued to be one of the founders of fields concerned with ethnicity on the strength of his groundbreaking early study Ethnic Enterprise in America (1972). Over the subsequent years he has remained on the cutting edge of research, and the survey paper included here clearly reflects that fact. In this paper, the author reviews and summarizes a significant body of sociological research concerning ethnic economies. He offers three challenges for future research: the first is to examine how the ethnic or immigrant entrepreneurs differ from non-immigrant entrepreneurs, the second is to investigate how immigrants tend to differ in the bundle of resources when compared to their indigenous counterparts, and the third is to study how in multi-ethnic societies non-immigrant entrepreneurs and immigrant/ethnic minority entrepreneurs operate out of social networks with minimal overlap.

Enclave development is a common theme underlying much of the current thought regarding ethnic entrepreneurism, and particularly entrepreneurial behavior among recent immigrants. Historically, ethnic enclaves are described as having certain necessary characteristics (Portes, 1998; Portes & Bach, 1985; Waldinger et al., 1990), such as co-ethnic spatial concentration or agglomeration, a co-ethnic social and support network, a co-ethnic capital market, an intra-ethnic market trading structure (e.g. Dyer & Ross, 2000), and uniqueness of co-ethnic customer preferences and personalized services (e.g. Peterson & Roquebert, 1993). Current theory suggests that aspiring immigrant entrepreneurs and existing ethnic businesses alike can take advantage of the market and social cohesiveness offered by an established enclave, ultimately reducing the various transactions costs associated with doing intra-enclave business (Knack & Keefer, 1997). As Light (1998) argues, the key connection between social capital and ethnic entrepreneurship is the efficient use of ethnic resources to support the creation and survival of businesses in the community. While some characteristics of ethnic enclaves, such as co-ethnic agglomeration and social networks, have been extensively investigated by sociologists, regional economists, population ecologists, and entrepreneurship researchers, other enclave characteristics, such as the inter and intra-enclave market trading behaviors have been recognized, but less researched (Dyer & Ross, 2000; Galbraith et al., 2003).

It is well recognized that disasters, whether naturally occurring or the result of human invention, affect a region on many levels. Not only are disasters felt within the painful context of human tragedy, loss of life, and physical suffering, but disasters can also destroy the immediate socio-economic fabric of the affected population as well as the ability of a region to sustain itself during the slow process of recovery and reconstruction. As Newton (1997) notes, “disasters are not isolated from the social structure within which they occur; rather, they are social phenomena” (p. 219).

Early on it was recognized that this broad concept of entrepreneurship could be used to understand and improve the condition of particular disadvantaged populations; the so-called “under-developed” communities and regions (e.g. Danson, 1995). Only recently, however, has the notion been applied by scholars of entrepreneurship to a particular sector within this category, to the indigenous populations of the world.