To Formalize or Not to Formalize: Women Entrepreneurs’ Sensemaking of Business Registration in the Context of Nepal

TY - JOUR

T1 - To Formalize or Not to Formalize

T2 - Women Entrepreneurs’ Sensemaking of Business Registration in the Context of Nepal

AU - Thapa Karki, Shova

AU - Xheneti, Mirela

AU - Madden, Adrian

N1 - Funding Information: This project was funded by the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the Department for International Development, UK within their Private Sector Development Scheme, Exploratory Research Grant No 2533. Acknowledgements Publisher Copyright: © 2020, The Author(s).

PY - 2021/11

Y1 - 2021/11

N2 - Despite the depiction of decisions to formalize informal firms as rational and ethical, many entrepreneurs in developing countries continue to operate informally regardless of its perceived illicit status. While existing research on why entrepreneurs choose informality emphasizes the economic costs and benefits of such decisions, this often overlooks the realities of the informal economy and the constraints which marginal populations—particularly women—face. In this paper, we use institutional theory and sensemaking to understand the experiences of women in the informal economy and what formalization means to them. We use a qualitative approach to collect data from 90 women entrepreneurs in three different cities in Nepal. In our findings we identify three groups of women with distinctive understandings of formalization—business sustainability, livelihood sufficiency and strategic alignment. Their interpretation of formalization reveals the complex, dynamic, and cyclical nature of formalization decisions. Decisions are also guided by the optimization of social and emotional logics, whereby formalization is conceived differently depending on different life stages, experiences within the informal economy and wider socio-cultural contexts. Our findings highlight the ethical implications of formalization where being a ‘good citizen’, rather than complying with formal rules and regulations, is about attuning to and fitting in with socially prescribed roles. Our research provides a nuanced view of formalization decisions, challenging idealized and ethical notions of formalization as a desired end state.

AB - Despite the depiction of decisions to formalize informal firms as rational and ethical, many entrepreneurs in developing countries continue to operate informally regardless of its perceived illicit status. While existing research on why entrepreneurs choose informality emphasizes the economic costs and benefits of such decisions, this often overlooks the realities of the informal economy and the constraints which marginal populations—particularly women—face. In this paper, we use institutional theory and sensemaking to understand the experiences of women in the informal economy and what formalization means to them. We use a qualitative approach to collect data from 90 women entrepreneurs in three different cities in Nepal. In our findings we identify three groups of women with distinctive understandings of formalization—business sustainability, livelihood sufficiency and strategic alignment. Their interpretation of formalization reveals the complex, dynamic, and cyclical nature of formalization decisions. Decisions are also guided by the optimization of social and emotional logics, whereby formalization is conceived differently depending on different life stages, experiences within the informal economy and wider socio-cultural contexts. Our findings highlight the ethical implications of formalization where being a ‘good citizen’, rather than complying with formal rules and regulations, is about attuning to and fitting in with socially prescribed roles. Our research provides a nuanced view of formalization decisions, challenging idealized and ethical notions of formalization as a desired end state.

KW - Context

KW - Formalization

KW - Informal economy

KW - Sensemaking

KW - Women entrepreneurship

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085341272&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10551-020-04541-1

DO - 10.1007/s10551-020-04541-1

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85085341272

SN - 0167-4544

VL - 173

SP - 687

EP - 708

JO - Journal of Business Ethics

JF - Journal of Business Ethics

IS - 4

ER -