Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate how work and family lives of female e... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate how work and family lives of female entrepreneurs in emerging Sub-Saharan countries including Ghana influence their business performance, with focus on criteria such as income, number of outlets, and number of employees the entrepreneur controls. Design/methodology/approach A phenomenological qualitative approach to research was adopted for this study to help the researcher gain deeper understanding of experiences of Ghanaian female entrepreneurs with respect to their work and family life and its influence on business performance. With a purposive sampling technique, 25 active women entrepreneurs with family responsibilities were sampled for the study. A multiple case study strategy, in-depth face-to-face interviews, and participant observation were used to solicit responses from participants included in the study. Findings The study revealed that a majority of female entrepreneurs involved in the study believe that their r...
Informal entrepreneurship has been for a long time a major lifeline for many living in rural and ... more Informal entrepreneurship has been for a long time a major lifeline for many living in rural and urban economies in developing countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa and more particularly Ghana. Formalising the informal economy has become prominent within development circles but there has been no clear policy direction from the formal institutions in terms of their role in formalising informal entrepreneurship. This chapter seeks to evaluate critically the role of formal institutions in formalising entrepreneurship in the informal economy in Ghana. Formal institutions are seen as strategic leaders in this endeavour but they are also perceived as enemies of formalisation since they profit from the current bureaucratic impediments as informal entrepreneurs try to formalise their operations.
Based on the recognition that enterprises operate at different levels of informality, this paper ... more Based on the recognition that enterprises operate at different levels of informality, this paper evaluates the determinants of their degree of informalization. To do so, a 2016 survey of the varying degrees of informalization of 171 entrepreneurs in Ghana is reported. The finding is that only 21% of enterprises were wholly informal and 16% wholly formal. Nearly two-thirds (63%) were neither wholly informal nor wholly formal. Higher levels of informalization are significantly associated with younger entrepreneurs, those with lower levels of educational attainment, lower household incomes and younger enterprises. It is also significantly associated with the wider institutional compliance environment. Higher levels of informality are present among entrepreneurs unaware of the need for registration, who lack vertical trust (i.e., do not believe the state does anything for them, and perceive there to be public sector corruption), view informality as normal (i.e., a normal practice in the...
The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2014
For years, informal entrepreneurs were largely classified as 'marginalized' and were perceived to... more For years, informal entrepreneurs were largely classified as 'marginalized' and were perceived to be conducting marginalized ventures for survival. However, this perception gradually changed between the middle of the twentieth century and the start of the new millennium. In analysing the motivations of informal entrepreneurs from Ghana, based on face-to-face interviews with 150 respondents, the key findings were that the motivations of the entrepreneurs transcended the marginalization thesis and that informal entrepreneurs were often motivated not by necessity or opportunity, but rather by an amalgamation of the two. Although women constitute the majority of the necessity-driven informal entrepreneurs, in time some of them become opportunity-driven entrepreneurs. The implication is that there is a need for a shift from necessity-opportunity dualism to a unified approach, which depicts the motivations of informal entrepreneurs in more detail, and for broader research in other economic landscapes.
International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 2014
This paper re-evaluates the explanations for informal work in third world cities. Until now, info... more This paper re-evaluates the explanations for informal work in third world cities. Until now, informal work has been theorized either as a residue (modernisation), by-product of contemporary capitalism conducted out of economic necessity (structuralism) or an alternative to formal work chosen due to either an overburdensome state (neo-liberalism) or for social, redistributive, resistance or identity reasons (post-structuralism). Reporting a study of 80 households in Koforidua in Ghana, this paper finds that although its depiction as a residue is not valid, the other representations of the informal economy are each valid in relation to different types of informal work and varying populations in this third world city, and that only by combining them will a finer-grained and more comprehensive understanding of the diverse nature of the informal economy be achieved. The outcome is a call for more nuanced explanations of the informal economy in other contexts.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2012
To evaluate whether entrepreneurs participate in the informal economy due to either their involun... more To evaluate whether entrepreneurs participate in the informal economy due to either their involuntary 'exclusion' from, or voluntary 'exit' from, the formal economy, a 2003 survey of the reasons for engaging in informal sector entrepreneurship in urban Brazil. The finding is that although similar proportions participate in informal sector entrepreneurship for exclusion as exit rationales, women do so more commonly due to their involuntary 'exclusion' from the formal economy and men more due to their decision to voluntary 'exit' the formal economy. The outcome is a call to shift from an either/or to a both/and approach when explaining informal sector entrepreneurship and for wider research on the weightings attached to exit and exclusion in different spatial contexts so as to develop a spatially contingent explanation of how men's and women's reasons for participating in informal sector entrepreneurship differ across the globe.
Recently, it has become increasingly recognised that self-servicing is a growing rather than decl... more Recently, it has become increasingly recognised that self-servicing is a growing rather than declining phenomenon. To explain this, a range of competing theories have emerged which variously portray those engaged in self-servicing either as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. This paper evaluates critically the validity of these rival explanations. To do this, the extent of, and reasons for, self-servicing in the domestic realm is empirically evaluated through an ...
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate how work and family lives of female e... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate how work and family lives of female entrepreneurs in emerging Sub-Saharan countries including Ghana influence their business performance, with focus on criteria such as income, number of outlets, and number of employees the entrepreneur controls. Design/methodology/approach A phenomenological qualitative approach to research was adopted for this study to help the researcher gain deeper understanding of experiences of Ghanaian female entrepreneurs with respect to their work and family life and its influence on business performance. With a purposive sampling technique, 25 active women entrepreneurs with family responsibilities were sampled for the study. A multiple case study strategy, in-depth face-to-face interviews, and participant observation were used to solicit responses from participants included in the study. Findings The study revealed that a majority of female entrepreneurs involved in the study believe that their r...
Informal entrepreneurship has been for a long time a major lifeline for many living in rural and ... more Informal entrepreneurship has been for a long time a major lifeline for many living in rural and urban economies in developing countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa and more particularly Ghana. Formalising the informal economy has become prominent within development circles but there has been no clear policy direction from the formal institutions in terms of their role in formalising informal entrepreneurship. This chapter seeks to evaluate critically the role of formal institutions in formalising entrepreneurship in the informal economy in Ghana. Formal institutions are seen as strategic leaders in this endeavour but they are also perceived as enemies of formalisation since they profit from the current bureaucratic impediments as informal entrepreneurs try to formalise their operations.
Based on the recognition that enterprises operate at different levels of informality, this paper ... more Based on the recognition that enterprises operate at different levels of informality, this paper evaluates the determinants of their degree of informalization. To do so, a 2016 survey of the varying degrees of informalization of 171 entrepreneurs in Ghana is reported. The finding is that only 21% of enterprises were wholly informal and 16% wholly formal. Nearly two-thirds (63%) were neither wholly informal nor wholly formal. Higher levels of informalization are significantly associated with younger entrepreneurs, those with lower levels of educational attainment, lower household incomes and younger enterprises. It is also significantly associated with the wider institutional compliance environment. Higher levels of informality are present among entrepreneurs unaware of the need for registration, who lack vertical trust (i.e., do not believe the state does anything for them, and perceive there to be public sector corruption), view informality as normal (i.e., a normal practice in the...
The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2014
For years, informal entrepreneurs were largely classified as 'marginalized' and were perceived to... more For years, informal entrepreneurs were largely classified as 'marginalized' and were perceived to be conducting marginalized ventures for survival. However, this perception gradually changed between the middle of the twentieth century and the start of the new millennium. In analysing the motivations of informal entrepreneurs from Ghana, based on face-to-face interviews with 150 respondents, the key findings were that the motivations of the entrepreneurs transcended the marginalization thesis and that informal entrepreneurs were often motivated not by necessity or opportunity, but rather by an amalgamation of the two. Although women constitute the majority of the necessity-driven informal entrepreneurs, in time some of them become opportunity-driven entrepreneurs. The implication is that there is a need for a shift from necessity-opportunity dualism to a unified approach, which depicts the motivations of informal entrepreneurs in more detail, and for broader research in other economic landscapes.
International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 2014
This paper re-evaluates the explanations for informal work in third world cities. Until now, info... more This paper re-evaluates the explanations for informal work in third world cities. Until now, informal work has been theorized either as a residue (modernisation), by-product of contemporary capitalism conducted out of economic necessity (structuralism) or an alternative to formal work chosen due to either an overburdensome state (neo-liberalism) or for social, redistributive, resistance or identity reasons (post-structuralism). Reporting a study of 80 households in Koforidua in Ghana, this paper finds that although its depiction as a residue is not valid, the other representations of the informal economy are each valid in relation to different types of informal work and varying populations in this third world city, and that only by combining them will a finer-grained and more comprehensive understanding of the diverse nature of the informal economy be achieved. The outcome is a call for more nuanced explanations of the informal economy in other contexts.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2012
To evaluate whether entrepreneurs participate in the informal economy due to either their involun... more To evaluate whether entrepreneurs participate in the informal economy due to either their involuntary 'exclusion' from, or voluntary 'exit' from, the formal economy, a 2003 survey of the reasons for engaging in informal sector entrepreneurship in urban Brazil. The finding is that although similar proportions participate in informal sector entrepreneurship for exclusion as exit rationales, women do so more commonly due to their involuntary 'exclusion' from the formal economy and men more due to their decision to voluntary 'exit' the formal economy. The outcome is a call to shift from an either/or to a both/and approach when explaining informal sector entrepreneurship and for wider research on the weightings attached to exit and exclusion in different spatial contexts so as to develop a spatially contingent explanation of how men's and women's reasons for participating in informal sector entrepreneurship differ across the globe.
Recently, it has become increasingly recognised that self-servicing is a growing rather than decl... more Recently, it has become increasingly recognised that self-servicing is a growing rather than declining phenomenon. To explain this, a range of competing theories have emerged which variously portray those engaged in self-servicing either as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. This paper evaluates critically the validity of these rival explanations. To do this, the extent of, and reasons for, self-servicing in the domestic realm is empirically evaluated through an ...
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Papers by Kwame Adom