Small Business and Microenterprise as an Opportunity- and Asset-Building Strategy

Brief #3 in the series Opportunity and Ownership Project

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.

—James Truslow Adams
in Epic of America, 1931

To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance—preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society.

—President George W. Bush,
Second Inaugural Address,
January 20, 2005

Expanding opportunity through asset building can help less-advantaged families by raising living standards and generating precautionary savings. Public and nonprofit communities that encourage opportunity should pursue policies that help low- and moderate-income families build up their human, physical, and financial assets. However, not all asset-building policies can or should be pursued. It is imperative that the government and philanthropic communities, with their limited means, find programs and policies that increase the welfare of low-income families, but are cost-effective. In this light, Urban Institute researchers have initiated the Opportunity and Ownership Project.

Small business and microenterprise are especially important, but challenging, components of the Opportunity and Ownership Project's agenda. This brief highlights the authors' findings from research and an expert roundtable discussion to explain the difficulties with small business and microenterprise, examines strategies and programs used to promote them, and offers recommendations for priority research and policy.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

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