Informal Entrepreneurship: An Integrative Review and Future Research Agenda

Esther Salvi, Frank-Martin Belz and Sophie Bacq

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2023, vol. 47, issue 2, 265-303

Abstract: Informal entrepreneurship (IE) has received increased recognition because of its theoretical distinctiveness and practical relevance. However, the burgeoning literature on IE is difficult to navigate, due to its rapid growth across different disciplines. Through an integrative review, we introduce a novel typology of informal entrepreneurs that captures their heterogeneity across various contexts. We point out a dynamic perspective of IE, consisting of three pathways—the reactive formalizing , the proactive formalizing , and the informalizing pathways —along which informal entrepreneurs move, acquiring or foregoing regulative legitimacy. Our review extends the theory on IE, outlines promising research avenues, and suggests relevant practical implications.

Keywords: informal entrepreneurship; informal entrepreneur; formalizing; informalizing; integrative review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10422587221115365 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:entthe:v:47:y:2023:i:2:p:265-303

DOI: 10.1177/10422587221115365

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().