Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers
Worldwide, around 55 percent of workers are self-employed, and about three-quarters of these are likely to be subsistence entrepreneurs. These self-employed workers include farmers and own-account workers, many of whom work in small household enter...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank Group, Washington, DC
2014
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/01/20378014/supporting-self-employment-small-scale-entrepreneurship-potential-programs-improve-livelihoods-vulnerable-workers http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20686 |
| Summary: | Worldwide, around 55 percent of workers
are self-employed, and about three-quarters of these are
likely to be subsistence entrepreneurs. These self-employed
workers include farmers and own-account workers, many of
whom work in small household enterprises without pay. A
large proportion of these workers live in poor or vulnerable
households. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, close to 80
percent of the self-employed are poor. While numerous
countries have adopted programs that aim to promote
self-employment and small-scale entrepreneurship (SSE), the
design of such programs seems ill suited to respond to the
needs of those who engage in entrepreneurial activities not
by choice, but by necessity. This note discusses the
potential public policy role of programs aimed at improving
the livelihoods of subsistence entrepreneurs . It begins by
looking at the characteristics of self-employed workers, the
different types of entrepreneurs, and the constraints they
face. It then analyzes the potential role of public policy
in improving the earning opportunities of subsistence
entrepreneurs, the types of programs that could be used, and
general issues to be considered when designing and
implementing pilot interventions. The note has four main
messages: identify interventions to support subsistence
entrepreneurs, the evidence of what works is limited,
interventions that complement safety net programs, adopt a
more systematic approach to designing, implementing, and
evaluating new programs. |
|---|