Informal Entrepreneurship and Poverty Alleviation
Type
dissertation project
Start Date
March 2022
End Date
February 2026
Status
ongoing
Keywords
Slums
Remote sensing data
Entrepreneurship
NGOs
Informal Entrepreneurship
Institutional Theory
Poverty Alleviation
Adversity
Informal Economy
Necessity-based entrepreneurship
Description
Informal entrepreneurship (illegal yet legitimate actions for economic opportunity exploitation) is an important contributing factor to poverty alleviation in adverse contexts, such as developing countries. Although the importance of informal entrepreneurial activities in resource-poor regions, such as slums, has been widely acknowledged, the scientific understanding of it is limited due to difficulties reliably measuring and verifying informal entrepreneurial activities, as well as a simplified scholarly view of informal institutions as mere compensatory mechanisms. This research project consists of two work packages: 1) Analyzing of the extent of informal entrepreneurship in India by utilizing remote sensing data from satellites to create a reliable measure informal economic activity; 2) Utilizing the developed measure, examine how informal entrepreneurship influences and interacts with formal institutions in the context of slums. By understanding how different formal institutions support or hinder informal entrepreneurship, this project contributes to the understanding on how to improve the context for entrepreneurship in developing countries. The results will serve as the basis for improved public policy strategies geared towards the alleviation of extreme poverty and will provide insight into formal institutions and institutional voids within the informal economy in slums.
Leader contributor(s)
Funder
Division(s)
Eprints ID
247976
Funding code
207279