Individual and Contextual Factors Explaining Latino Entrepreneurship in Rural Communities in the Midwest

This study examines the likelihood of Latino immigrants becoming entrepreneurs in three rural communities in the Midwest. The sustainable livelihoods strategies framework and the human ecology model frame the analysis of entrepreneurship, where both the Latino immigrant strategy depends on capitals as well as the context and opportunities created by settling in a new community. The effect of migration patterns and length of stay, perceptions and experience in the context of the settling community (context of reception indexes) and the agency of individuals in acculturating, and the capitals (social, human, cultural and economic) of Latinos are factors analyze in becoming entrepreneurs. The data was collected through a household questionnaire, applied to a sample of 460 Latino households, located in three Midwestern communities selected to represent a diversity of economic pull factors, and analyzed to determine the likelihood of becoming an entrepreneur as a function of the different capitals, the context of reception or community climate, and the strategies used by Latinos