Determinants of Business Success: An Examination of Asian-Owned Businesses in the United States

Using confidential microdata from the U.S. Census Bureau, we investigate the performance of Asian-owned businesses. Using regression estimates and a special nonlinear decomposition technique, we explore the role that class resources, such as financial capital and human capital, play in contributing to the relative success of Asian businesses. We find that Asian-owned businesses are more successful than white-owned businesses for two main reasons – Asian owners have high levels of human capital and their businesses have substantial startup capital. Using detailed information on both the owner and the firm, we estimate the explanatory power of several additional factors. This research was partially funded by the Russell Sage Foundation and Kauffman Foundation. The research in this paper was conducted while the authors were Special Sworn Status researchers of the U.S. Census Bureau at the Center for Economic Studies and California Research Data Center at U.C. Berkeley. This paper has been screened to insure that no confidential data are revealed. The data can be obtained at a Census Research Data Center or at the Center for Economic Studies (CES) only after approval by the CES and IRS. See www.ces.census.gov for details on the application and approval process. The views expressed here are solely the responsibility of the authors and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of the Russell Sage Foundation, the Kauffman Foundation, the U.S. Census Bureau, or the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.