Building on previous explorations of grid/group analysis for cross-cultural research (Caulkins 1999), the researchers test for relationships between grid/group variables and measures of social capital among nine North American ethnic groups. The article contributes to a discussion of whether the primary source of economically productive social capital is the general ethnic group ("ethnicity as social capital" hypothesis) or the family unit ("family as social capital" hypothesis), using group, grid, and census data on self-employment as indicators. The authors conclude that their results are consistent with the "family as social capital" hypothesis.