Title: Interrogating cluster entrepreneurship - the Nigerian artisanal experience

Authors: Funmilayo Juliana Afolabi; Sanya Ojo

Addresses: Institute for Entrepreneurship and Development Studies (IFEDS), Obafemi Awolowo University, P.M.B. 13, Ile-Ife, Nigeria; Amsterdam Institute for Social Sciences Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV, Postbus 15718, 1001 NE, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies and Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (AIAS-HSI), University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV, Amsterdam, Netherlands ' Faculty of Management Science, Department of Management Studies, NDA, Kaduna, PMB 2109, Nigeria

Abstract: The artisanal entrepreneurial clusters are bounded enterprise spaces that facilitate the convergence of proximate businesses in the informal sector. These bounded spaces are governed by their own ethics and practices, which are underscored by the local tradition and customary ethos. Through a qualitative interview methodology, respondents' rational and non-rational perspectives are found to dictate entrepreneurial clusters' rituals and praxes. The rational and non-rational explanations include the cultural view of the entrepreneurs, which offer in-depth understanding of how people in particular setting interpret events such as the causes of accident in the workplace, competition pressure, sexual harassment, etc.

Keywords: cluster entrepreneurship; artisans; occupational health and safety; attribution; Nigeria.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2023.130831

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2023 Vol.48 No.4, pp.454 - 474

Received: 07 Feb 2019
Accepted: 09 Feb 2020
Published online: 12 May 2023 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article