Examining the influence of business environment on socio-economic performance of informal microenterprises: Content analysis and partial least square approach

Abstract

This study realize that the relationships between business environment and firm performance in context of small and medium-sized enterprises and large organizations is well understood and focused, but less research has been done on microenterprises, especially in informal sector. The purpose of this paper is to examine these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method research design was used. In the field study, data were obtained from 14 participants via one-to-one personal interview. Content analysis was applied to extract, classify, and cross-examine of the data. In the quantitative approach, questionnaire was developed and data were collected from 438 informal microenterprises (IMs) owners. The data were analysed using the partial least square structural equation modelling. Findings – Results from this field study and survey recognized these relationships and vibrates well with the existing literature and establish the hypothesis. Practical implications – In order to create more favourable environment and ensure the performance, the policy makers, professional bodies could formulate decent requirements for IMs tohave a code of business practices and socio-economic performance. Originality/value – This study provides a first step towards business environment and firm performance in context IMs and makes several contributions to the literature.