The U.S. faces unprecendeted demographic changes, the net result of which will be dramatic changes in the size, and racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. labor force. In the future the U.S. labor force will grow more slowly, and any growth that is realized will be accounted for by minorities. The success or failure of minority-owned businesses will increasingly drive the success or failure of the overall U.S. economy. This study was prepared for MBDA National Minority Enterprise Development Week 2004 Conference.

By Andrew B. Bernard, from Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business, and Mattew J. Slaughter, from Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.