“LITTLE ODESSA”—BRIGHTON BEACH, BROOKLYN: AN EXAMINATION OF THE FORMER SOVIET REFUGEE ECONOMY IN NEW YORK CITY

Abstract

Since the mid-1970s, the United States has resettled over 400,000 refugees and immigrants from former Soviet Republics, a quarter of whom have settled in New York City. The focal point and economic center of the former Soviet community has become Brighton Beach, a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn where a growing number of Russian and Ukrainian small businesses have emerged. This study examines ethnic entrepreneurship among the former Soviets in light of three models: human capital model, disadvantage theory, and culture theory. These models are applicable to the former Soviet population only when understood in light of federal refugee assistance programs.