IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp8273.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

By Choice and by Necessity: Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment in the Developing World

Author

Listed:
  • Margolis, David N.

    (Paris School of Economics)

Abstract

Over half of all workers in the developing world are self-employed. Although some self-employment is chosen by entrepreneurs with well-defined projects and ambitions, roughly two thirds results from individuals having no better alternatives. The importance of self-employment in the overall distribution of jobs is determined by many factors, including social protection systems, labor market frictions, the business environment, and labor market institutions. However, self-employment in the developing world tends to be low productivity employment, and as countries move up the development path, the availability of wage employment grows and the mix of jobs changes.

Suggested Citation

  • Margolis, David N., 2014. "By Choice and by Necessity: Entrepreneurship and Self-Employment in the Developing World," IZA Discussion Papers 8273, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8273
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp8273.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James R. Tybout, 2000. "Manufacturing Firms in Developing Countries: How Well Do They Do, and Why?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 11-44, March.
    2. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "The Regulation of Entry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 1-37.
    3. Meyer, Bruce D, 1990. "Unemployment Insurance and Unemployment Spells," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(4), pages 757-782, July.
    4. Brown, J David & Earle, John S & Lup, Dana, 2005. "What Makes Small Firms Grow? Finance, Human Capital, Technical Assistance, and the Business Environment in Romania," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 33-70, October.
    5. Fields, Gary S., 2012. "Working Hard, Working Poor: A Global Journey," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199794645.
    6. Miriam Bruhn, 2011. "License to Sell: The Effect of Business Registration Reform on Entrepreneurial Activity in Mexico," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(1), pages 382-386, February.
    7. Douglas Gollin & Stephen L. Parente & Richard Rogerson, 2004. "Farm Work, Home Work, and International Productivity Differences," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 7(4), pages 827-850, October.
    8. Campos, Nauro & Saleh, Ahmad & Dimova, Ralitza, 2010. "Whither Corruption? A Quantitative Survey of the Literature on Corruption and Growth," CEPR Discussion Papers 8140, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Gindling, T.H. & Newhouse, David, 2014. "Self-Employment in the Developing World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 313-331.
    10. Dean Karlan, Ryan Knight, and Christopher Udry, 2012. "Hoping to Win, Expected to Lose: Theory and Lessons on Microenterprise Development," Working Papers 312, Center for Global Development.
    11. Bosch, Mariano & Maloney, William F., 2010. "Comparative analysis of labor market dynamics using Markov processes: An application to informality," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 621-631, August.
    12. Djankov, Simeon & McLiesh, Caralee & Shleifer, Andrei, 2007. "Private credit in 129 countries," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 299-329, May.
    13. Antoinette Schoar, 2010. "The Divide between Subsistence and Transformational Entrepreneurship," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 10, pages 57-81, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Grimm, Michael & Knorringa, Peter & Lay, Jann, 2012. "Constrained Gazelles: High Potentials in West Africa’s Informal Economy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1352-1368.
    15. David S. Kaplan & Joyce Sadka & Jorge Luis Silva‐Mendez, 2008. "Litigation and Settlement: New Evidence from Labor Courts in Mexico," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(2), pages 309-350, June.
    16. McKenzie, David J & Woodruff, Christopher, 2006. "Do Entry Costs Provide an Empirical Basis for Poverty Traps? Evidence from Mexican Microenterprises," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(1), pages 3-42, October.
    17. Rita Almeida & Pedro Carneiro, 2012. "Enforcement of Labor Regulation and Informality," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 64-89, July.
    18. Cho, Yoonyoung & Margolis, David N. & Robalino, David A., 2012. "Labor markets in low and middle income countries : trends and implications for social protection and labor policies," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 67613, The World Bank.
    19. Suresh de Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2013. "The Demand for, and Consequences of, Formalization among Informal Firms in Sri Lanka," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 122-150, April.
    20. Nicholas Bloom & Aprajit Mahajan & David McKenzie & John Roberts, 2010. "Why Do Firms in Developing Countries Have Low Productivity?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 619-623, May.
    21. Baliamoune-Lutz, Mina & Brixiova, Zuzana & Ndikumana, Leonce, 2011. "Credit Constraints and Productive Entrepreneurship in Africa," IZA Discussion Papers 6193, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Campos, Nauro F. & Estrin, Saul & Proto, Eugenio, 2010. "Corruption as a Barrier to Entry: Theory and Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 5243, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    23. Simeon Djankov & Tim Ganser & Caralee McLiesh & Rita Ramalho & Andrei Shleifer, 2010. "The Effect of Corporate Taxes on Investment and Entrepreneurship," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 31-64, July.
    24. Thomas Gries & Wim Naudé, 2010. "Entrepreneurship and structural economic transformation," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 13-29, January.
    25. Francisco Alvarez-Cuadrado & Markus Poschke, 2011. "Structural Change Out of Agriculture: Labor Push versus Labor Pull," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 127-158, July.
    26. Margaret S. McMillan & Dani Rodrik, 2011. "Globalization, Structural Change and Productivity Growth," NBER Working Papers 17143, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Bögenhold, Dieter & Heinonen, Jarna & Akola, Elisa, 2013. "Entrepreneurship and Independent Professionals: Why do Professionals not meet with Stereotypes of Entrepreneurship?," MPRA Paper 51529, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    28. Dillon, Andrew & Bardasi, Elena & Beegle, Kathleen & Serneels, Pieter, 2012. "Explaining variation in child labor statistics," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 136-147.
    29. Djankov, Simeon & Ramalho, Rita, 2009. "Employment laws in developing countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 3-13, March.
    30. Justin Sandefur, 2010. "On the Evolution of the Firm Size Distribution in an African Economy," CSAE Working Paper Series 2010-05, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    31. David S. Kaplan & Joyce Sadka, 2011. "The Plaintiff's Role in Enforcing a Court Ruling: Evidence from a Labor Court in Mexico," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 38198, Inter-American Development Bank.
    32. Suresh de Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2009. "Returns to Capital in Microenterprises: Evidence from a Field Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(1), pages 423-423.
    33. Carl Magnus Bjuggren & Dan Johansson & Mikael Stenkula, 2012. "Using self-employment as proxy for entrepreneurship: some empirical caveats," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 17(3), pages 290-303.
    34. David N. Margolis, 2014. "Introducing a statutory minimum wage in middle and low income countries," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-52, May.
    35. Kaplan, David S. & Sadka, Joyce, 2011. "The Plaintiff's Role in Enforcing a Court Ruling: Evidence from a Labor Court in Mexico," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 3193, Inter-American Development Bank.
    36. Douglas Gollin & Stephen Parente & Richard Rogerson, 2002. "The Role of Agriculture in Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 160-164, May.
    37. T. H. Gindling, 2018. "Does increasing the minimum wage reduce poverty in developing countries?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-10, November.
    38. Sameeksha Desai, 2009. "Measuring Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-10, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    39. World Bank, 2012. "World Development Report 2013 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2013]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 11843.
    40. Jacques Charmes, 2012. "The Informal Economy Worldwide: Trends and Characteristics," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 6(2), pages 103-132, May.
    41. Guillermo E. Perry & William F. Maloney & Omar S. Arias & Pablo Fajnzylber & Andrew D. Mason & Jaime Saavedra-Chanduvi, 2007. "Informality : Exit and Exclusion," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6730.
    42. Djankov, Simeon, 2008. "The Regulation of Entry: A Survey," CEPR Discussion Papers 7080, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    43. Betcherman, Gordon & Olivas, Karina & Dar, Amit, 2004. "Impacts of active labor market programs : new evidence from evaluations with particular attention to developing and transition countries," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 29142, The World Bank.
    44. World Bank, 2012. "World Development Report 2012 [Rapport sur le développement dans le monde 2012]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 4391.
    45. Victor E. Tokman, 2007. "Modernizing the informal sector," Working Papers 42, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    46. Mr. Michael Weber & Ms. Michaela Denk, 2011. "Avoid Filling Swiss Cheese with Whipped Cream: Imputation Techniques and Evaluation Procedures for Cross-Country Time Series," IMF Working Papers 2011/151, International Monetary Fund.
    47. J. David Brown & John S. Earle & Dana Lup, 2004. "Finance, Human Capital, Technical Assistance, and the Business Environment in Romania," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2004-639, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Reeg, Caroline, 2015. "Micro and small enterprises as drivers for job creation and decent work," IDOS Discussion Papers 10/2015, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    2. Salinas, Aldo & Ortiz, Cristian & Changoluisa, Javier & Muffatto, Moreno, 2023. "Testing three views about the determinants of informal economy: New evidence at global level and by country groups using the CS-ARDL approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 438-455.
    3. Jean-Philippe Berrou & Damien Girollet, 2019. "A la recherche des « gazelles » du secteur informel urbain africain. Entreprises et entrepreneurs à fort potentiel dans leur environnement socioéconomique et numérique," Working Papers hal-02507441, HAL.
    4. Grimm, Michael & Paffhausen, Anna Luisa, 2015. "Do interventions targeted at micro-entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized firms create jobs? A systematic review of the evidence for low and middle income countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 67-85.
    5. Duman, Anil, 2024. "The Diversity of Informal Employment: a survey of drivers, outcomes, and policies," OSF Preprints yg3t7, Center for Open Science.
    6. D'Erasmo, Pablo N. & Moscoso Boedo, Hernan J., 2012. "Financial structure, informality and development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 286-302.
    7. Grabrucker, Katharina & Grimm, Michael, 2018. "Does crime deter South Africans from self-employment?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 413-435.
    8. David McKenzie & Anna Luisa Paffhausen, 2019. "Small Firm Death in Developing Countries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(4), pages 645-657, October.
    9. Matteo Bobba & Luca Flabbi & Santiago Levy, 2022. "Labor Market Search, Informality, And Schooling Investments," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(1), pages 211-259, February.
    10. de Mel, Suresh & McKenzie, David & Woodruff, Christopher, 2008. "Who Are the Microenterprise Owners? Evidence from Sri Lanka on Tokman v. de Soto," IZA Discussion Papers 3511, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Tilman Altenburg & Aimée Hampel-Milagrosa & Markus Loewe, 2017. "A Decade On: How Relevant is the Regulatory Environment for Micro and Small Enterprise Upgrading After All?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(2), pages 457-475, April.
    12. Suresh de Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2010. "Who are the Microenterprise Owners? Evidence from Sri Lanka on Tokman versus De Soto," NBER Chapters, in: International Differences in Entrepreneurship, pages 63-87, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Suresh de Mel & David McKenzie & Christopher Woodruff, 2013. "The Demand for, and Consequences of, Formalization among Informal Firms in Sri Lanka," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 122-150, April.
    14. Bossavie, Laurent & Görlach, Joseph-Simon & Özden, Çağlar & Wang, He, 2024. "Capital Markets, Temporary Migration and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    15. Eric W. Bond & James Tybout & Hale Utar, 2015. "Credit Rationing, Risk Aversion, And Industrial Evolution In Developing Countries," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56(3), pages 695-722, August.
    16. Unjung Whang, 2017. "Structural Transformation and Comparative Advantage: Implications for Small Open Economies," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(4), pages 743-763, April.
    17. Gindling, T.H. & Newhouse, David, 2014. "Self-Employment in the Developing World," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 313-331.
    18. Gutiérrez-Romero, Roxana, 2021. "Inequality, persistence of the informal economy, and club convergence," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    19. Colin C. Williams & Abbi M. Kedir, 2017. "Starting-up unregistered and firm performance in Turkey," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 797-817, September.
    20. Vilas J. Gobin & Paulo Santos & Russell Toth, 2016. "Poverty graduation with cash transfers: a randomized evaluation," Monash Economics Working Papers 23-16, Monash University, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    self-employment; entrepreneurship; development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iza:izadps:dp8273. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.