Title: Tackling informal entrepreneurship in Ghana: a critical analysis of the dualist/modernist policy approach, some evidence from Accra

Authors: Kwame Adom

Addresses: University of Ghana Business School, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG78, Accra, Ghana

Abstract: The principal aim of this study is to provide a critical analytical overview of the nature and extent of informal entrepreneurship in Ghana, and to evaluate how it is being tackled through government policies under the spectacle of the dualist/modernist. Despite the widespread recognition of its magnitude and even growth, the informal economy in Ghana has not received the attention it deserves in the employment policies of the government until now. Little is known until now to evaluate how informal entrepreneurship could be tackled to make it more relevant to the economy. This study seeks to bridge this gap. Reporting data from a 2014 qualitative in-depth interview of government officials and other policy think-tanks, the key finding is that government policy towards tackling informal entrepreneurship has been at best ad hoc with no clear-cut policy to deal with informal entrepreneurship but somewhat adopting deterrent approach (mainly force eviction - aggressive, combative and impulsive). As a consequence, this paper calls for humane approach that will make informal entrepreneurship significant part of the overall economy such as deregulation, facilitating formalisation of informal entrepreneurship amongst others.

Keywords: informal entrepreneurship; government policy; entrepreneurs; Ghana; informal economy; shadow economy; dualist policy; modernist policy; deterrence; forced eviction.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2016.076640

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2016 Vol.28 No.2/3, pp.216 - 233

Received: 04 May 2015
Accepted: 01 Jun 2015
Published online: 18 May 2016 *

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