IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v43y2006i4p895-916.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Surviving on the Margins of the Economy: Working Relationships in Small, Low‐Wage Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Edwards
  • Monder Ram

Abstract

abstract How do small low‐wage firms continue to survive on the margins of a modern economy? Continuous restructuring provides a set of spaces but what sorts of firm occupy them and how far do these firms exercise active choice? Four research projects, embracing data on 123 firms, have offered empirical analysis. The present paper draws together these projects and derives an analytical framework linking the product and labour market contexts of small firms with their family context. Survival reflects the continued supply of labour through kinship networks and the ability of firms to respond actively to product market opportunities. The value of the framework for small‐firm research generally is illustrated through discussion of further lines of inquiry.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Edwards & Monder Ram, 2006. "Surviving on the Margins of the Economy: Working Relationships in Small, Low‐Wage Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 895-916, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:43:y:2006:i:4:p:895-916
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00615.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00615.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00615.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Fitzsimmons, Stacey R. & Baggs, Jen & Brannen, Mary Yoko, 2020. "Intersectional arithmetic: How gender, race and mother tongue combine to impact immigrants’ work outcomes," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(1).
    2. Todd W. Moss & Jeremy C. Short & G. Tyge Payne & G.T. Lumpkin, 2011. "Dual Identities in Social Ventures: An Exploratory Study," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 35(4), pages 805-830, July.
    3. García-Pérez, Carmelo & Prieto-Alaiz, Mercedes & Simón, Hipólito, 2020. "Multidimensional measurement of precarious employment using hedonic weights: Evidence from Spain," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 348-359.
    4. Paul Sissons, 2021. "The local low skills equilibrium: Moving from concept to policy utility," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(8), pages 1543-1560, June.
    5. Hana Urbancová & Lucie Vnoučková, 2018. "Impact of Employee Development in Agricultural Companies on Commitment, Loyalty and Performance," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 66(3), pages 803-811.
    6. Muhammad Naveed Anwar & Elizabeth M. Daniel, 2017. "Ethnic entrepreneurs and online home-based businesses: an exploratory study," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 7(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Monder Ram & Kassa Woldesenbet & Trevor Jones, 2011. "Raising the ‘table stakes’? Ethnic minority businesses and supply chain relationships," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 25(2), pages 309-326, June.
    8. Benassi, Chiara & Durazzi, Niccolo & Fortwengel, Johann, 2020. "Not all firms are created equal: SMEs and vocational training in the UK, Italy, and Germany," MPIfG Discussion Paper 20/4, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    9. Małgorzata Baran & Barbara Sypniewska, 2020. "The Impact of Management Methods on Employee Engagement," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, January.
    10. Lai, Yanqing & Saridakis, George & Blackburn, Robert & Johnstone, Stewart, 2016. "Are the HR responses of small firms different from large firms in times of recession?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 113-131.
    11. Elsa Underhill & Dimitria Groutsis & Diane Broek & Malcolm Rimmer, 2018. "Migration Intermediaries and Codes of Conduct: Temporary Migrant Workers in Australian Horticulture," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(3), pages 675-689, December.
    12. Stumbitz, Bianca & Lewis, Suzan & Kyei, Abigail A. & Lyon, Fergus, 2018. "Maternity protection in formal and informal economy workplaces: The case of Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 373-384.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:43:y:2006:i:4:p:895-916. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.