Towards a Greater Understanding of the Prevalence of Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the Informal Economy of Ghana: An Institutional Theory Perspective

Kwame Adom and Benjamin Ackom

Journal of African Business, 2024, vol. 25, issue 2, 264-286

Abstract: This study aims to explore the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana's informal economy through institutional theory. Specifically, the study sought to understand how the elements of the institutional theory (norms, culture, and regulations, which form formal and informal institutions) support or discourage immigrant entrepreneurship in the Sub-Saharan African context, with insights from Ghana. It is qualitative research that adopts an in-depth face-to-face interview with 30 respondents. Analyzing the data from the interviews, the key findings are immigrants' inability to find paid jobs, failure to gather sufficient funds to operate in the formal sector, and the willingness to use innate ability. The Ghanaian culture of hospitality and the government's inability to implement trade regulations have been an enabler to the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana. The legal frameworks that prohibit immigrants from participating in retailing, especially in the informal economy of Ghana, are well known by immigrant entrepreneurs, albeit it has yet to adhere. Therefore, there is a call for policy measures to address the weak institutional framework, which encourages disregard for the country's laws. Immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to remain in doing business in Ghana must obey the rules or suffer the punishment thereof.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/15228916.2023.2170860 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

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:taf:wjabxx:v:25:y:2024:i:2:p:264-286

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/wjab20

DOI: 10.1080/15228916.2023.2170860

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of African Business is currently edited by Samuel Bonsu

More articles in Journal of African Business from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().