Anjula Gurtoo

Entrepreneurship and the Informal Sector: Some Lessons from India

This paper critically evaluates the popular structuralist representation of informal workers as marginalized populations who work as dependent employees out of economic necessity and as a last resort. Reporting on an empirical survey of 1,518 informal workers in India, it reveals not only that a large proportion work on their own account as informal entrepreneurs, but also that not all do such work purely out of economic necessity and in the absence of alternative means of livelihood. The paper concludes by calling for a wider recognition of the opportunity-driven entrepreneurial endeavour of many working in the informal sector.

Women Entrepreneurs in the Indian Informal Sector: Marginalisation Dynamics or Institutional Rational Choice?

Purpose -- Studies on women entrepreneurs either read women through a structuralist lens as marginalised populations engaged in low quality work or through a neo-liberal lens as engaged in relatively higher quality endeavour more as a rational choice. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically these various explanations in relation to the informal sector women entrepreneurs in India.Design/methodology/approach -- To evaluate the contrasting explanations of structuralist and new liberal approaches, questionnaire surveys were conducted in two phases, namely 2007 and 2010, over a period of several months. The sample design was stratified random and the sample was taken from a range of cities in different parts of India. Findings -- Survey of 457 women entrepreneurs of the informal sector show that although the structuralist representation is largely appropriate for women working as waged informal employees, it is not so valid for women informal entrepreneurs working on a self-employed basis. The results challenge the traditional understanding of the informal sector, and women self employed in particular, and are discussed in the light of the institutional rational choice framework. Research limitations/implications -- The analysis highlights how the decision of entrepreneurship does not stand in isolation from other decisions and choices, is in line with normative considerations, and is a collective rational choice for the informal sector women entrepreneurs. This analysis is a first of its kind and calls for additional surveys to be undertaken of women (and men) informal entrepreneurs in other countries to establish this thought. Originality/value -- The analysis critically evaluates established explanations in relation to the informal sector women entrepreneurs through an empirical survey and establishes new explanations on women entrepreneurship.

EVALUATING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR: SOME EVIDENCE FROM INDIA

Studies on women entrepreneurs in the informal economy no longer view them merely as a residue from some pre-modern mode of production that is disappearing. Instead, they are either read through a structuralist lens as marginalized populations engaged in low quality work conducted under poor conditions for low pay out of necessity in the absence of alternative means of livelihood, or through a neo-liberal lens as engaged in relatively higher quality endeavours more as a rational choice. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically these contrasting explanations. To do this, the results of face-to-face interviews with 323 women entrepreneurs operating in the Indian informal economy are analyzed. The finding is that although the structuralist representation is largely appropriate for women engaged in informal waged work, it is not as valid for women informal entrepreneurs working on a self-employed basis where incomes are higher, they receive more credit from informal institutions, union membership is higher, and such work is more likely to be a rational choice. The outcome is a call to recognize the diversity of womens experiences in the informal sector and that not all informal entrepreneurship by women in developing nations is a low-paid, necessity-oriented endeavour carried out as a last resort.

POLICY SUPPORT FOR INFORMAL SECTOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP: MICRO-ENTERPRISES IN INDIA

This paper highlights the presence of a hidden enterprise culture in the Indian informal economy (versus a necessity driven view) and draws a developmental framework to harness micro-enterprise owners. Policy research has typically taken a welfare approach toward studying the informal sector in the developing countries. Therefore, the agenda has been to create a favorable environment for survival instead of cultivating entrepreneurship and facilitating their growth. Conversely, this paper explores a strategic orientation for the informal sector. The proposed framework balances entrepreneurial spirit of the individuals, market dynamics of the economy, and socio-economic imperatives of a developing nation. Implications for research and policy are also drawn.

Environmental regulations: Indirect and unintended consequences on economy and business

Purpose n n n n– The purpose in this paper has been to draw from literature to understand the not‐so‐direct or non‐implicit impacts of environmental regulations and propose some consequences on economic and business activity. In more general terms this research facilitates understanding on the broad concerns about the consequences of environment legislations, that is, the nature and magnitude of their capacity to produce significant change in industry and business structures in the long run, through indirect and not‐so‐obvious routes. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n– The discussion of the indirect and unintended consequences is based on systematic review of literature that includes studies in the area of international trade, technology, interactions at the national and regional level, industrial processes and dynamics, psychology, communication and organisational systems. n n n n nFindings n n n n– Review evidence reveals indirect and unintended impacts at the levels of economy and industry such as unintended negative effects on the environment itself, discrimination and additional international trade barriers, evolution of new commercial structures like secondary and used goods markets and recycling and refurbishment as a new industry, need for secondary level legislative support, decreased entrepreneurship and small firm activity, and emergence of circular supply chain models and strategic‐collaborative inter firm competition models. n n n n nPractical implications n n n n– The paper suggests possible future business and economic scenarios. Some of the possible models include emergence of a new industry in recycling and waste management, growth of secondary goods market for domestic consumption and trade, and emergence of a circular supply chain model where consumers and competitors play an interactive and collaborative role for survival and productivity. However it is imperative to empirically test these finds before generalisations. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n– The paper is a comprehensive review of an inadequately studied theme of indirect and unintended effects of environmental regulations. As environment issues become increasingly important it becomes more and more critical for both researchers and practitioners to understand what are these indirect impacts and the directions these indirect environment impacts will compel business and economies to move towards. It sets an agenda for future research.

Adaptation of Indian public sector to market‐based economic reforms

Purpose – Economic policy reforms, characterised by a market‐driven, privatised policy regime, are being adopted as a strategy by India to promote economic development. As markets become liberalised, public sector organisations face extreme vulnerability unless they can identify and develop the competencies necessary to thrive in these competitive markets. This paper, drawing on the resource‐based view, aims to identify the pre‐reform capabilities of public sector organisations in India and similar developing country contexts that would be relevant even in the post‐reform context.Design/methodology/approach – An interpretative and theoretical approach is used to put forth the arguments and a framework is proposed to explain the possibility of deriving competitive advantages from pre‐reform capabilities in the post‐reform context.Findings – Several unique capabilities of Indian public sector organisations can be identified using the resource based perspective which can be leveraged in the post‐reform conte...

Working of Decentralized Governance in Rural India: Social Dynamics or Institutional Rational Choice?:

This paper critically evaluates the popular representation of rural decision making in India as guided by socio-cultural dynamics and as a resort from various social alignments. It investigates how decisions get taken about a decentralized governance scheme in rural India, what variables impact these decisions – namely, social, political, administrative or economic – and how these variables impact the scheme performance. Case studies and empirical analysis of performance of a decentralized welfare scheme in India, the Andhra Pradesh Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (APREGS), demonstrates significant influence of agriculture-based economic dynamics and administrative efficiency factors. Local social hierarchies and cultural complexities do not come as the main concerns. These results challenge the traditional understanding of rural dynamics as totally controlled by caste hierarchies and authority of the large land owners and are discussed in the light of the institutional rational choice framework proposed by Elinor Ostrom. The results also call for a fresh and wider debate of whether India is witnessing a longer term indirect developmental outcome of empowerment which actively started in 1993 with the recognition of local governance systems (Panchayati Raj) as a formal democratic body.

North Electricity Board: A Case of Restructuring in the Indian Power Industry

The State Government of one of the largest states of India restructured its financially unviable electric utility - North Electricity Board (NEB) - into three independent corporations and announced its plans for subsequent privatization of NEB. The State Government argued for initiation of restructuring and privatization as a move to attract capital investments for meeting the growing demand and make the entire operations financially viable. An 11-day strike by the employees, which occurred as a response to the initiation of this radical organizational change, was the largest ever in the last 25 years of Indian labor history. The employees united under one umbrella employees association and negotiated with the government. Despite nation-wide support for the employees and the wholehearted unification of the employees, the strike ended with the acceptance of trifurcation by their union leaders. The dynamics involved in the process of restructuring and the employees strike highlight the political and economic motivations of the various stakeholders in this organizational change process. In view of this, the issue facing the organization, post-strike, is how to get out of this current unpleasant situation and move forward.

Beyond entrepreneurs as heroic icons of capitalist society: a case study of street entrepreneurs in India

The starting point of this paper is the recognition that the entrepreneurship literature is dominated by a normative ideologically-driven depiction of the entrepreneur as a heroic icon and symbolic figurehead of capitalist culture. The aim of this paper is to directly and intentionally challenge this dominant depiction by reporting the findings of a 2010 survey of 871 street entrepreneurs in the Indian city of Bangalore to reveal not only how street hawkers are as much engaged in entrepreneurial endeavour as the revered heroic figures normally associated with entrepreneurship, but also how this is not a weak, necessity-driven, transient and disappearing form of entrepreneurship, but resilient, opportunity-driven and persistent. The outcome is a call to transcend the ideal-type depiction of entrepreneurs as heroic iconic figures and for a more lived practice approach that recognises and values the prevalence of other (and ‘othered’) forms of entrepreneurship across the globe.

Explaining the do-it-yourself (DIY) retail market in a developing country: preliminary lessons from India

Until now, studies of the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) market have been confined to advanced market economies, with developing countries ignored. This article begins to bridge this gap. Analysing a survey of 500 households in India, a developing country characterized by cheap and surplus labour, and a different cultural milieu, this article investigates whether it is possible to distinguish DIY consumers in the same manner as in Western nations as ‘reluctant’ or ‘willing’ DIYers. The analysis finds that in India, DIY consumers can be concurrently both willing DIYers doing so for pleasure (the choice model) or seeking self-identity from the end-product (post-modern theory) and at the same time reluctant DIYers doing so out of economic necessity reasons (economic determinism model) or due to the lack of appropriately skilled labour (a market failure model). Results also reflected cultural connotations to the respondent perceptions. The multiplicity of reasons, in consequence, shows that no one theorisation of DIY consumers motives is universally relevant but all theories are sometimes valid. As such, a new typology of DIY consumers motives has been inductively generated which is theoretically integrative. The results conclude on the need to move beyond using one theory and treating the others as rival competing theories, for a comprehensive explanation of DIY.