In recent decades, the field of entrepreneurship studies has become increasingly interested in the relationship between entrepreneurship and the informal economy. This paper reviews this burgeoning sub-field of entrepreneurship studies that recognizes how entrepreneurs do not always conduct...

Until now, few studies have evaluated whether there are geographical variations in the extent and character of off-the-books entrepreneurship. The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether and how the prevalence and nature of off-the-books entrepreneurship varies across deprived and affluent...

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the varying level of employment in informal sector enterprises across the globe and to undertake an exploratory analysis of the wider economic and social conditions associated with greater levels of informalization. Examining International Labor Organization...

When seeking to harness entrepreneurship and enterprise culture, governments often seek to transfer policy measures successful in another country to their own. Until now however, governments have often lacked a practical evaluation framework for selecting policy measures and then appraising the...

In recent years, there has been growing recognition in the entrepreneurship literature that many entrepreneurs operate in the informal economy and that not all these informal entrepreneurs are doing so out of economic necessity and because of a lack of choice. Instead, it has been asserted that...

Despite a widespread recognition in the mainstream entrepreneurship literature that many legitimate entrepreneurs do not pursue purely profit-driven commercial goals, the small but burgeoning literature on entrepreneurship in the informal economy has assumed entrepreneurs operating wholly or...

The aim of this paper is to review the various policy options, approaches and measures that can be used to address informal entrepreneurship. To do this, it first reviews four possible policy options, namely taking no action, eradicating informal entrepreneurship, moving formal entrepreneurship...

Even though entrepreneurs are commonly depicted as risk takers, little evaluation has occurred on whether they weigh the costs of being caught and the level of punishments, and engage in off-the-books working practices. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the degree to which entrepreneurs...

To understand entrepreneurs' motivations, it has become increasingly common to distinguish between those driven by necessity (or pushed) and those driven by opportunity (or pulled) into entrepreneurship. Until now, entrepreneurs operating wholly or partially in the informal economy have been...

How many entrepreneurs start-up their business ventures conducting some or all of their trade in the informal economy? The aim of this paper is to answer this key question that has been seldom addressed using data from 600 face-to-face structured interviews conducted in Ukraine in late 2005 and...