Entrepreneurial ecosystems in the informal economy: a case study of mototaxi drivers in Colombia

In this chapter, we evaluate how the concept of the entrepreneurial ecosystem - a systemic approach to regional economic development that is receiving increased attention from both policymakers and academics - can assist in analysing and understanding the informal economy. We argue that despite the focus of entrepreneurial ecosystems on high-growth entrepreneurship, the ‘systemic’ perspective of this concept - that is, the interactions and networks between the actors that constitute the entrepreneurial ecosystem, as well as its embeddedness within an institutional context - may help in understand informal entrepreneurship in detail. In additional, much of the constitutive elements of entrepreneurial ecosystems focused on high-growth entrepreneurship can be found in entrepreneurial ecosystems in the informal economy. The different nuances in how these elements serve to drive entrepreneurship can thus provide a better understanding of the informal economy. In this chapter, we make an argument for analysing the informal economy using the framework of an entrepreneurial ecosystem. We draw on an in-depth case study in the Colombian transport systems. Based on insights from this case study, we highlight the ‘systemic’ characteristics of entrepreneurship in an informal economy and how the three main attributes of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the informal economy - social, cultural and material - compare to those of an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the formal economy. As such, we not only contribute to the literature on informality and extend the scope of the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept to a thus far underexplored economic sector, but also provide public policymakers with insights on how to view informality and thus derive potential public policies supporting these sectors.