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 |
| id |
okr-10986-20686 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-206862021-04-23T14:03:58Z Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers Cho, Yoonyoung Robalino, David Watson, Samantha employment entrepreneurship public policy WORKERS small and medium enterprises training 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. 2014-12-08T20:14:06Z 2014-12-08T20:14:06Z 2014-10 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 English en_US CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Group, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Working Paper Publications & Research |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
employment entrepreneurship public policy WORKERS small and medium enterprises training |
| spellingShingle |
employment entrepreneurship public policy WORKERS small and medium enterprises training Cho, Yoonyoung Robalino, David Watson, Samantha Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers |
| description |
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. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Working Paper |
| author |
Cho, Yoonyoung Robalino, David Watson, Samantha |
| author_facet |
Cho, Yoonyoung Robalino, David Watson, Samantha |
| author_sort |
Cho, Yoonyoung |
| title |
Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers |
| title_short |
Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers |
| title_full |
Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers |
| title_fullStr |
Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Supporting Self-Employment and Small-Scale Entrepreneurship : Potential Programs to Improve Livelihoods for Vulnerable Workers |
| title_sort |
supporting self-employment and small-scale entrepreneurship : potential programs to improve livelihoods for vulnerable workers |
| publisher |
World Bank Group, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
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 |
| _version_ |
1764446682499514368 |