Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1756369
Does informality help entrepreneurs achieve firm growth? evidence from a post-conflict economy
Besnik A. Krasniqi
orcid.org/0000-0003-2440-3974
Colin C. Williams
orcid.org/0000-0002-3610-1933
Sažetak
This article evaluates the impact of starting-up unregistered and
operating informally on small firm growth in Kosovo, the country
with the highest levels of informality in Western Balkans. The
study uses mixed research methods as an inquiry to combining
both qualitative and quantitative forms. Reporting data from 487
business owners extracted from a 2017 nationally representative
survey of 8,533 households in Kosovo, 47.7 percent had startedup
unregistered and were operating informally at the time of the
survey. Using an instrumental variable (IV) estimation with a binary
endogenous regressor to estimate the impact of informality (a
treatment group) on small firm growth (control group), while controlling
for other entrepreneur and firm determinants, a strong
positive effect of the informality on firm growth is identified.
Entrepreneurs operating informally had an 11.6 percentage points
higher probability of achieving their firm growth objectives compared
with entrepreneurs operating formally. Yet, the qualitative
interviews revealed that growth objectives of small firms were
limited, so the unregistered firms outperformed registered firms
only under the modest growth objectives. Taking into account
the limitations of the study, the implications for theory and policy
are proposed to tackle the informality such as incentives of government
small business support programs.
Ključne riječi
Competition; small firms; informal sector; firm performance; treatment effect model; qualitative interviews; mixed research methods
Hrčak ID:
254480
URI
Datum izdavanja:
9.2.2021.
Posjeta: 578 *