שיזור היזמות הערבית במשק הישראלי

This paper analyzes the embeddedness of Israeli Arab entrepreneurs in the national economy, by looking primarily at the socio-spatial structural aspects, concerning tangible networks that are directly associated with the operation of their firms, and by considering the awareness of opportunities in the market in the context of their accessibility to support by elites and governmental entities. The analysis focuses on defining the barriers to economic growth and on understanding their underlying causes. The study of three structural dimensions — regional scale, ethnicity and marginality — showed that while entrepreneurs struggle to embed themselves in the national economy, ethnicity and marginality impede the expansion of business networks beyond the local regional sphere. Nevertheles, marginality rather than ethnicity, stood out as the dominant factor that holds back the development capacity of the Arab economy in Israel. The possible causes for this peripheral status may include selective state policies that privilege Jewish new towns over neighbouring Arab localities; the power exercised by larger-scale Jewish businesses; and the vicious circle of low profitability created by multiple small competitors.