The majority of firms in most developing countries are informal. We conducted a field experiment in Sri Lanka which provided incentives for informal firms to formalize. Offering only information about the registration process and reimbursement for direct registration costs had no impact on...

Many governments have spent much of the past decade trying to extend a helping hand to informal businesses by making it easier and cheaper for them to formalize. Much less effort has been devoted to raising the costs of remaining informal, through increasing enforcement of existing regulations....

Since mid-2000s, Ethiopia has been one of the fastest growing countries in the world. However, productive entrepreneurship in high-value added activities has made limited contributions to this growth, in part because of a weak business environment. Moreover, the low-productive firms in the...

This paper presents an exploratory analysis of the potential impacts of the Lei do Empreendedor Individual (Individual Entrepreneur Law). We intend to present evidence that helps clarify, albeit only partially, whether the policy was successful in promoting: i) micro-entrepreneurship in Brazil;...

The majority of firms in most developing countries are informal. We conducted a field experiment in Sri Lanka which provided incentives for informal firms to formalize. Offering only information about the registration process and reimbursement for direct registration costs had no impact on...

Many governments have spent much of the past decade trying to extend a helping hand to informal businesses by making it easier and cheaper for them to formalize. Much less effort has been devoted to raising the costs of remaining informal, through increasing enforcement of existing regulations....

Women entrepreneurs have proved to be equi-potential with their men counterparts in business expertise and are emerging as smart and dynamic entrepreneurs. A strong desire to do something positive is an inbuilt quality of entrepreneurial women, who is capable of contributing values in both...

Few empirical studies have focused on the interrelationship among ethnicity, religion, caste and female entrepreneurship in India. The latest nationwide census of small enterprises allows us to examine how the socio-cultural status of the female entrepreneurs affects firm performance at...

The expansion of female intensive sectors due to globalization and trade liberalization engenders ample employment and income opportunities for female and thus female entrepreneurship. Despite an increase in the female entrepreneurship in recent decade, females are still outnumbered in...

We study the role of formal institutions of contract enforcement in facilitating investments in small and medium firms(MSME). In a framework where established entrepreneurs can enforce contracts informally using their network ties and hierarchical advantage, we argue that an efficient formal...