Title: Beyond the marginalisation thesis: evaluating participation in informal sector entrepreneurship

Authors: Colin C. Williams; Ioana Alexandra Horodnic

Addresses: Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 1FL, UK ' Department of Management, Marketing and Business Administration Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania

Abstract: This paper evaluates which entrepreneurs participate in the informal sector. Until now, the dominant view has been that entrepreneurs from marginalised groups benefiting least from the formal sector are more likely to do so. To evaluate this marginalisation thesis, we report a 2013 survey of 11 central and east European countries involving 707 face-to-face interviews with entrepreneurs about their participation in the informal sector. Using logistic regression analysis, the finding is that the marginalisation thesis applies when examining characteristics such as the household financial circumstances and age of entrepreneurs engaged in the informal sector. However, when gender variations are analysed, the thesis is negatively confirmed. Meanwhile, no association is found when analysing characteristics such as the educational level, social class and area inhabited. The outcome is a call to move beyond the marginalisation thesis and towards a more nuanced understanding of which entrepreneurs participate in the informal sector.

Keywords: informal economy; entrepreneurship; marginalisation; undeclared work; self-employment; central and eastern Europe; CEE; marginalised groups; household finance; age; entrepreneurs; gender; education level; social class; area inhabited; shadow economy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2016.076635

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2016 Vol.28 No.2/3, pp.234 - 254

Received: 14 Apr 2015
Accepted: 26 May 2015
Published online: 18 May 2016 *

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