Dynamics of Social Networks of Urban Informal Entrepreneurs in an African Economy

Jean-Philippe Berrou and Claire Gondard-Delcroix

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Abstract: This paper carries out an analysis of the formation and transformation of social relations and networks of access to resources in the professional trajectory of micro-entrepreneurs operating in an urban informal African economy. The analysis of social networks is rooted in Granovetter's structural embeddedness framework combined with the dynamic and discursive conception of social relations of Harisson White (embeddedness and decoupling). Life stories of micro and small entrepreneurs in Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina-Faso) are analyzed by mixing qualitative and quantitative methods. Results suggest that the construction of social networks and interpersonal relations of access to resources is a long-term process. A co-construction of social networks and economic activity is observed; it challenges the argument that social capital is a substitute for a lack of personal resources. The growth of small and micro activities is linked to the professionalization and stabilization of a social network, and even to the institutionalization of access to resources.

Keywords: Embeddedness; Social Networks; Informal economy; Entrepreneurial stories; Mixed methods JEL Classification (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-01-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme, nep-iue, nep-soc and nep-ure
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02280415v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Review of Social Economy, 2018, 76 (2), pp.167-197. ⟨10.1080/00346764.2017.1349330⟩

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Journal Article: Dynamics of social networks of urban informal entrepreneurs in an African economy (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02280415

DOI: 10.1080/00346764.2017.1349330

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