INTERNAL ETHNICITY IN THE ETHNIC ECONOMY

Internal ethnicity refers to ethnic subgroups within an immigrant grou p. An 'ethnic economy' includes the self-employed and their co-ethnic workers. Although most research treats the boundaries of 'ethnic econo my' and its variant, the 'ethnic enclave economy', as though they were coterminous with those of national-origin immigrant groups, this assu mption is unreliable. Ethnic boundaries need not coincide with those o f nationality origin when internal ethnicity exists. To test this hypo thesis, we utilize survey data collected from a sample of Iranians in Los Angeles. Because this national-origin immigrant group contains fou r ethno-religious subgroups (Armenians, Bahais, Jews and Muslims), the Iranians in Los Angeles operated four distinctive ethnic economies, n ot one. Each ethno-religious subgroup had its own ethnic economy, and these separate economies were only weakly tied to an encompassing Iran ian ethnic economy.