It serves simultaneously as a way to bind some people together while keeping others apart. By bringing similar people together, ethnicity, race and religion can mobilize human and physical resources towards some common goal. As a consequence of their common mores, Native Americans of various bloodlines formed resistance groups with ease throughout the Amazon to fight for their common interests. Strong kinship ties encourage loans or grants for business ventures and provide inexpensive labor. For immigrant groups, ethnicity serves as a source of adaptive advantage when they first arrive to their new country.
Immigrants rely on social capital for guidance and multidimensional support.
May Hinder Prosperity Kinship networks may place heavy obligations on entrepreneurs that divert resources away from current and potential investments. Ethnic networks can be too insular with solidarity so bounded that members miss out on innovations and other resources and networks.