Business bridging ethnicity : how business transactions in Trinidad build trust and friendship but don't reduce prejudice

Do business transactions between individuals of different ethnicities lead to social spillovers, in terms of building trust, friendship, and reducing prejudice? In this dissertation I interrogate that research question through a study of business transactions in four industries in Trinidad-print & packaging, food & beverages, construction, and consumer retail. I employ a mixed methods research design, which places emphasis on qualitative analysis of interview data, supplemented with quantitative analysis of that data-obtained from approximately 200 interviews plus 180 surveys. I find that business transactions do build trust and friendship between individuals, but tend not to lead to changes in individuals' wider social attitudes, particularly in terms of ethnic prejudices and opposition to intermarriage.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Kilroy, Austin

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alice Amsden.

• Urban Studies and Planning.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68883

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/68883