A Study on the Organization, Activities and Changes of the Ethnic Enclave Economy in Korea: Focusing on Foreign Self-Employed Workers

Key Points

• The aim is to explore the characteristics and changes of ethnic enclave economies run by foreign self-employed workers in Korea.
• Conducted interviews with 27 foreign self-employed workers across 12 ethnic enclave areas in Korea.
• Examined the mobilization of four types of capital: economic, human, cultural, and social.
• Analyzed differences in consumption based on the number of foreigners and economic scale of the enclaves.
• The study found that immigrant self-employment reflects individual economic adaptation.
• Variations in consumption were noted based on regional factors, but no differences were found by ethnicity in terms of capital mobilization.
• Highlights the need for policy interventions in startup support and language assistance for foreign workers.