Calls for papers

 

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

 

Special Issue on: "Tackling Enterprise in the Informal Economy"

Guest Editors:
Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers and Abel Polese, University of Sheffield, UK

In recent years, it has been widely recognised that many enterprises conduct some or all of their transactions in the informal economy (i.e. they are not declared to the authorities for tax, social security and/or labour law purposes).

This special issue seeks to move beyond current deterrence approaches to tackling the informal economy. Instead, it seeks contributions grounded in institutional theory that view the informal economy as arising when there is an asymmetry between the codified laws and regulations of formal institutions and the norms, values and beliefs that constitute the informal institutions in societies, which result, for example, in a lack of trust in government. Based on this, the emergent view is that there is a need to change both the formal institutions and the informal institutions. How this can be achieved is a key issue that this special issue will address.

Although this special issue therefore has a focus upon papers based on an institutional theory approach towards the informal economy, it nevertheless warmly welcomes papers on any aspect of the informal economy and how it can be tackled.

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Empirical studies of the informal economy
• Informal sector entrepreneurship
• The impact of formal and informal institutions on the informal economy
• The role of weak institutions and corruption
• Tax morale
• Vulnerable groups and entrepreneurship/bottom of the pyramid studies
• Necessity- versus opportunity-driven entrepreneurship
• Public policy perspectives on the informal economy
• Case studies of policy initiatives to tackle the informal economy
• Risk of detection and informality

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper has been completely re-written and if appropriate written permissions have been obtained from any copyright holders of the original paper).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process.

All papers must be submitted online. To submit a paper, please read our Submitting articles page.

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 1 June, 2015