CULTURE, POVERTY, AND NECESSITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP: THE ACADEMY FOR CREATING ENTERPRISE MEXICO AND THE PHILIPPINES A Dissertation by JEREMI BRAD BREWER Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY May 2012 Major Subject: Hispanic Studies Culture, Poverty, and Necessity Entrepreneurship: The Academy for Creating Enterprise Mexico and the Philippines Copyright 2012 Jeremi Brad Brewer CULTURE, POVERTY, AND NECESSITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP: THE ACADEMY FOR CREATING ENTERPRISE MEXICO AND THE PHILIPPINES A Dissertation by JEREMI BRAD BREWER Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Hilaire Kallendorf Committee Members, Stephen Miller Alain Lawo-Sukam Verónica Loureiro-Rodríguez Jamis Perrett David Leatham Head of Department, Albertor Moreiras May 2012 Major Subject: Hispanic Studies iii ABSTRACT Culture, Poverty, and Necessity Entrepreneurship: The Academy for Creating Enterprise Mexico and the Philippines. (May 2012) Jeremi Brad Brewer, B.A., Brigham Young University—Hawaii Chair of Advisory Committee: Dr. Hilaire Kallendorf This dissertation demonstrates how ACE has successfully equipped thousands of poor Filipinos with the tools necessary for them to raise themselves out of poverty by offering them a culture-specific curriculum that they can implement in their businesses. Furthermore, it will be argued that ACE’s culture-specific curriculum could theoretically be applied in Mexico, where the “culture of poverty” exists in abundance. iv DEDICATION To my wife, Rebecca, you have always been my greatest cheerleader and world- traveling companion. I love you more than anything I know. TIP. To my friends and mentors, Stephen and Bette Gibson, the founders of the Academy for Creating Enterprise—thank you for helping my dreams become reality. To my parents, Louis and Darci Brewer—thanks for breaking the culture of poverty from which you came. To that fourteen-year-old boy that I see in the mirror every morning I wake up: keep believing, voz propia. To everyone who said this dissertation would be impossible to achieve before my 30th birthday—it’s 2012 and I just turned 27: nací para romper paradigmas... To my children: I love you. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I must thank my committee chair, Dr. Hilaire Kallendorf, for her guidance and support throughout the course of this research. Had it not been for your support, confidence, and constant care, this dissertation would have been mediocre. Thank you, Dr. Kallendorf, for being the professor that made all the difference. You are certainly the crème de la crème. I also must thank my entire committee. Each of you played an incredibly important part in making this dissertation happen. Thank you for your constant support and mentorship. I wish to thank Lawrence Harrison and his voz propia. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page I INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Introduction to the Study ...................................................................... 1 Definition of Terms .............................................................................. 4 Structure of Dissertation ....................................................................... 9 II A REVIEW OF OSCAR LEWIS AND THE “CULTURE OF POVERTY” .............................................................................................. 11 Introduction ........................................................................................ 11 Oscar Lewis: An Overview ................................................................ 11 Defending the “Culture of Poverty”: The Roots of the Theory ......... 17 Review of the Literature: Impact, Reaction, and Reach..................... 18 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 54 III LAWRENCE HARRISON: THE “CULTURE MATTERS” CHAMPION ............................................................................................. 58 Introduction ........................................................................................ 58 The “Culture Matters” Thesis and Lawrence Harrison ...................... 59 Alexis de Tocqueville, Max Weber, and George Foster: The Roots of the “Culture Matters” Thesis...................................................... 63 The Culture Matters Research Project ............................................... 81 Literature Review ............................................................................. 104 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 124 IV ERADICATING POVERTY: A CULTURAL MODEL ....................... 126 Introduction ...................................................................................... 126 Oscar Lewis and Lawrence Harrision: A Comparative Analysis..... 126 Factor Discrepancy Evaluation ........................................................ 135 Necessity Entrepreneurship .............................................................. 145 Categorization of Necessity Entrepreneurs ...................................... 168 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 171 vii CHAPTER Page V THE ACADEMY FOR CREATING ENTERPRISE: A CULTURAL SOLUTION TO POVERTY .................................................................. 175 Introduction ...................................................................................... 175 Poverty from Culture ........................................................................ 176 Social Entrepreneurship: The Academy for Creating Enterprise ..... 179 The Academy for Creating Enterprise: Cebu, the Philippines ......... 195 The 25 Rules of Thumb .................................................................... 217 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 262 VI RESULTS OF THE ACADEMY FOR CREATING ENTERPRISE .... 264 The Cebu Project .............................................................................. 265 Cebu Project 5 Survey Factors ......................................................... 278 Social Return on Investment ............................................................ 302 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 304 VII CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 307 The Four Objectives ......................................................................... 307 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 322 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 324 viii LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. The Academy for Creating Enterprise staff. ................................................... 190 Figure 2. Location of The Academy for Creating Enterprise: Cebu, the Philippines .... 196 Figure 3. The building used by ACE .............................................................................. 197 Figure 4. Three ACE female students pause to show their living quarters. ................... 197 Figure 5. Students at ACE sit in class while being taught a Rule of Thumb. ................ 198 Figure 6. ACE students take a break in the library in between seminars. ...................... 199 Figure 7. Map of the Philippines .................................................................................... 268 Figure 8. Subjects per geographic area .......................................................................... 269 Figure 9. Rural and urban participants in region A ........................................................ 269 Figure 10. Rural and urban participants in region B ...................................................... 270 Figure 11. Rural and urban participants in region C ...................................................... 270 Figure 12. Town vs. city living of groups ...................................................................... 271 Figure 13. Ethnicity of participants ................................................................................ 271 Figure 14. Gender of participants ................................................................................... 272 Figure 15. Age of participants ........................................................................................ 273 Figure 16. Marital status of participants ......................................................................... 274 Figure 17. Number of children of participants ............................................................... 274 Figure 18. Yearly attendance of ACE sample ................................................................ 275 Figure 19. Level of education of participants ................................................................ 276 Figure 20. Version of ACE training program attended .................................................. 276 ix Figure 21. ACE alumni survey factors ........................................................................... 279 Figure 22. Annual income comparison of participants .................................................. 281 Figure 23. Comparison of personal savings of participants ..........................................