Enabling Enterprise: Tackling The Barriers To Formalisation, Colin C. Williams
Dec 2011
Enabling Enterprise: Tackling The Barriers To Formalisation, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
No abstract provided.
Jde 2012 Ghana Motives.Pdf, Colin C. Williams
Dec 2011
Jde 2012 Ghana Motives.Pdf, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
In recent years, there has been growing recognition in the entrepreneurship literature that many
entrepreneurs operate in the informal economy and that not all these informal entrepreneurs are doing
so out of economic necessity and because of a lack of choice. Instead, it has been asserted that some of
these informal entrepreneurs choose to exit the formal economy and trade on an off-the-books basis
more as a matter of choice. However, until now most research displaying this has been conducted in
advanced western and post-socialist economies. Little has been written on whether this is also the case
in third (majority) …
Evaluating Competing Theories Of Informal Entrepreneurship: Some Lessons From Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Peter Rodgers
Dec 2011
Evaluating Competing Theories Of Informal Entrepreneurship: Some Lessons From Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Peter Rodgers
Colin C Williams
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate critically the competing theories of informal
entrepreneurship that variously represent such endeavour as a residue from a previous mode of
accumulation (modernisation theory), a direct by-product of contemporary capitalism and survival
strategy for those marginalised from the circuits of the modern economy (structuralism), an endeavour
voluntarily pursued due to over-regulation in the formal economy (neo-liberalism) or a practice chosen
for social, redistributive, political or identity reasons (post-structuralism).
Design/methodology/approach – To evaluate these competing theories, a 2005/2006 survey
involving face-to-face interviews with 298 informal entrepreneurs in Ukraine is analysed.
Findings – …
Entrepreneurship In The Informal Economy: Commercial Or Social Entrepreneurs?, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Dec 2011
Entrepreneurship In The Informal Economy: Commercial Or Social Entrepreneurs?, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Colin C Williams
Recent research has revealed that a large proportion of entrepreneurs startup
their ventures operating on a wholly or partially off-the-books basis. Until now, it
has been commonly assumed that those who operate in the informal economy are
exclusively commercial entrepreneurs. They are assumed to be rational economic
actors who weigh up the benefits of operating off-the-books against the costs of
being caught and decide to operate in this manner. The aim of this paper is to
evaluate critically this a priori assumption. Reporting evidence from a 2005/6 survey
involving face-to-face interviews with 102 informal entrepreneurs in Moscow in
Russia, the …
Re-Thinking Informal Entrepreneurship: Commercial Or Social Entrepreneurs?, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Dec 2011
Re-Thinking Informal Entrepreneurship: Commercial Or Social Entrepreneurs?, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Colin C Williams
This paper evaluates critically the assumption that entrepreneurs
who start-up their business ventures operating wholly or partially
off-the-books are engaged in commercial entrepreneurship. Reporting evidence
from a 2005–2006 survey involving face-to-face interviews with
298 informal entrepreneurs in Ukraine, the finding is that they are not all
commercially-driven. Instead, these informal entrepreneurs range from purely
rational economic actors who pursue for-profit logics through to purely social
entrepreneurs who pursue solely social logics, with the majority somewhere
in the middle of this spectrum combining both for-profit and social rationales.
The result is a call for a more nuanced understanding of the heterogeneous …
