The formal-informal dilemma for women micro-entrepreneurs: evidence from Brazil

Carla Marques (Department of Economics, Sociology and Management and CETRAD Research Unit, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Douro, PT, Douro, Portugal)
Carmem Leal (Department of Economics, Sociology and Management and CETRAD Research Unit, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Douro, PT, Douro, Portugal)
João Ferreira (Department of Business and Economics and NECE Research Unit, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal)
Vanessa Ratten (La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia)

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

ISSN: 1750-6204

Publication date: 2 August 2018

Abstract

Purpose

The present study aims to identify women microentrepreneurs’ motivations that may influence the legalisation of their businesses and their capacity to reconcile the demands of family and work in a developing country (i.e. Brazil).

Design/methodology/approach

Semi-structured interviews were used to gather data on women’s microentrepreneurial initiatives in three northern Brazil cities: Salvador da Bahia (Bahia), Fortaleza (Cear) and Belm (Par). Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse textual data from the 30 interviews. The content was standardised and subsequently analysed using NVivo and IBM’s Many Eyes data visualisation software.

Findings

The results suggest that these women opt for legalised individual entrepreneurship to access the benefits of formalising their businesses and to search for mechanisms that encourage a work–family balance. However, in the more rural city studied, women show greater resistance to, and more distrust of, the benefits of legalising their business, as opposed to women from the two more urban cities.

Practical implications

The results contribute to a better understanding of women’s motivations to legalise their microbusiness. In Brazil, the writing and passing of a law geared towards this type of entrepreneur (e.g. individual microentrepreneurs) has had a quite positive effect on the legalisation of businesses, in particular for women. However, this law has had a more positive effect in urban areas, which suggests that further dissemination is needed of the benefits of formalising microbusinesses in rural areas.

Originality/value

This study contributes to research that seeks to understand better entrepreneurial preferences (i.e. formal vs informal) and the role played by gender and legal, financial and family contexts.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the FEDER component of the European Structural and Investment Funds, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalisation Programme’s (COMPETE 2020) Project No. 006971 (UID/SOC/04011), as well as the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology’s (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) UID/SOC/04011/2013 Project.

Citation

Marques, C., Leal, C., Ferreira, J. and Ratten, V. (2018), "The formal-informal dilemma for women micro-entrepreneurs: evidence from Brazil", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-03-2016-0008

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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