Micro and Small Business Entrepreneurship

Problem Statement: The universities need good funding and financing in order to have sustainable development and growth for their internal as well as external systems. Hence, they need well-rounded ecosystems.
Research Questions: In this study,which activities of the universities have more return and impact is critically studied since most of the universities have changed and transformed from teaching to research universities.
Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this study is to understand how universities can have the sustainable growth, success, and quality assurance in these global competitive economies by improving the return and the impacts of the research, development, and innovation while decreasing their costs and expenses in their budgets and investments.
Research Methods: The perceptions and the experiences of the managers (38), who were responsible about research, development, and innovation at two state and two private universities, were analyzed in the phenomenological analysis where twenty research questions were answered through the semi-structured interactive interviews. The collected data of this study, which were analyzed in data analysis software-program NVivo 10.
Findings: The results showed clearly that a few number of the participants (18%), who were active in research, development, and innovation had significantly much better results in the return of these activities. However, those (82%), who could not be so successful in research, development, and innovation, had troubles in making long-term strategic investments since they did not see financial security. Conclusions: As a result, the universities,which have made the research, development, and innovation have more benefits, returns, and impacts comparing those who are doing less or teaching rather than research.The universities, which have significantly more innovation opportunities, like technology parks, and technology transfer and licensing offices,can make right investments and improvements that have synergic effects on returns and impacts.

Today's world is changing at an astonishing pace. Women are an economic force to be reckoned with. The Objective of the study is to conduct a relative study of AWAKE, SISI, MDTC, RVTI and KASSIA that imparts Entrepreneurship Training and Development Programs for women in Karnataka, and its impact among Women Entrepreneurs. A Descriptive study is employed as fact-finding investigation with acceptable interpretation to narrow down the research topic and to have better understanding of the same. Both primary and secondary data is considered and the survey is done through administering the questionnaire to the potential and existing women entrepreneurs. 5 units were taken judiciously. Out of 1000 trained women entrepreneurs in each institute, and 100 samples are selected in which 50 will be potential and 50 will be existing women entrepreneurs. Women have been taking increasing interest in recent years in income generating activities, self-employment and entrepreneurship. Seeking employment alone is not sufficient but employment has to be created. The ultimate goal is not just to provide an effective entrepreneurship development programmes but to cultivate perfect human being to the society in the form of a competent and SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR.

In this empirical paper we trace the emergence, construction, design, composition and functioning of a specific marketplace for e-commerce business services (EBS) in the South of England in 2007 and 2008. This marketplace served as one of the mechanisms for the spread of the innovation of online retailing among start-ups and micro-enterprises in the region. The marketplace occasions in question were provided by two series of semi-public assessment events, the e-Tailers' Den contests, which were developed by a market making micro-enterprise, and were partly fashioned after a popular BBC Two's television series, Dragons' Den.

Drawing on actor-network theory, we used ethnographic methods for data collection and analysis, including participant observation, interviews, and documentary evidence. We describe how these Dragons' Den style events operated as socio-technical devices for the performance of a set of market functions. They facilitated encounters between buyers and sellers of EBS, and offered mechanisms for running experimental assessment processes. These qualification trials enabled the articulation of the qualities of buyers (e-tail micro-enterprises), the sellers (EBS providers), and the market goods (the EBS as prospective long-term service relationships). The e-Tailers' Dens thus functioned as market devices, but also as devices for entrepreneurial reflection and judgement.

While the goings-on at these events could be characterised as manifestations of a 'knowledge-based economy,' the prominent role of contests, aided by the popularisation of their format by mass media, offer an alternative interpretation. They were occasions of a 'test society', an economy and a culture based on the promotion of qualification trials.

Abstract: The promotion of enterprise in deprived areas is a key element of the UK government's policy to improve economic performance and social inclusion. This paper focuses on a key aspect of the agenda – the formation of new businesses (including self-employment) – and ...

Il volume nasce dalla convinzione che la genesi e la gestione dei rischi nelle imprese minori richieda un approccio differente da quello delle imprese di maggiori dimensioni. La genesi del rischio è analizzata negli studi di imprenditorialità, proponendo un’integrazione dei diversi approcci offerti, ma privilegiando quello cognitivo. La gestione dei rischi è indagata in un’ottica critica delle reali possibilità applicative alle imprese minori. Infine, nell’accostare gli studi di entrepreneurship a quelli sul risk management, il volume propone un’analisi per matrici delle relazioni rischio–protezione e alcuni orientamenti per un governo consapevole della percezione e protezione del rischio.

The Internet and technology power a new breed of entrepreneurs: small, yet truly international businesses with the potential of forming the backbone of a prospering EU economy and society. These entrepreneurs thrive much thanks to the innovation that takes place throughout the digital economy ecosystem. Supporting these entrepreneurs - and thereby growth and job creation in Europe - is therefore intrinsically linked to promoting the digital economy. This is something that will require reform of the EU regulatory approach.

In Cameroon, the 1980s were marked by the economic crisis (falling export revenues) with the direct consequences of unemployment. Thus many were retrenched from the public service, private companies and graduated students engaged in small- income generating activities which later became small businesses. It is in this context that the village palm grove started to bloom as an economic branch and contributes remarkably to the development of business activities in rural areas in Cameroon. Despite, the poorly organized activities small-scale producers deserve a framework that will allow a diffusion of entrepreneurial spirit that will promote the development of rural areas and economic development as well. This article shows how villagers in Cameroon deal with entrepreneurship activities in agricultural business, especially in the business of palm oil. The article aims at introducing the palm grove activity branch as an elevator of entrepreneurship in rural areas; it stresses the characteristics of entrepreneurial actors in this branch of activity, the motivations of small-scale producers towards the production of palm oil and the challenges of the palm grove activity branch. This study show how the business of palm oil is source of main income and contributes to the social welfare of small-scale producers.
Keywords: village palm grove, small-scale producers, economic development, entrepreneurship, rural areas

Abstract
This study aims to determine the role of social capital in a growing community interaction ( as a customer ) with a managed LKMS on performance , which is to determine the ability of social capital in improving the performance LKMS activity that is based on the principles of : Siddiq , tabligh, amanah dan fatonah, determine the ability of social capital in improving the performance of the economic impact of the source of financing . This study also aims to determine the development efforts in the sphere of social capital LKMS -run boarding pesantren and how the influence of charisma kiai as a leader in the development of socialcapital.
Social capital in this study include the capacity of members of the social capital that exist around schools by function , namely : cognitive aspects ( norms , trust, solidarity , and integrity ) and structural aspects ( network and groups ) . The output of these two aspects in the form of ideas or expectations that leads to collective behavior in order to generate collective profits . The one aspect that affects why the community is willing to do in order to produce the collective behavior collective profit anyway (mutually beneficial collective action,MBCA) and others serve to facilitate the MBCA, Research sites in Pamekasan , considering there are a number of boarding pondok pesantrenin Pamekasan who manage LKMS. By using purposive sampling to sampling techniques and research using SEM analysistools.
Research results show that social capital is built in community interaction with Pondok Pesantren Darul Ulum Cooperatives play a role in improving the performance of LKMS . Growing social capital LKMS then increased performance , better performance of economic activity as well as its economic impact performance. Growth social capital impact to the increasing performance of institutions based on the principles shiddig , sermons , trustworthy , and fatonah ( performance of economic activity ) . Growth of social capital to the growing impact welfare and increasing the accessibility of financing sources ( economic impact performance ) . The impact of social capital influence on the performance of economic activity rather than on the performance of the economic impact.
Keywords : cognitive aspects of social capital, structural aspek of social capitals, charisma kiai, the performance of economic activity, the economic impact of the performance.

What's hot in entrepreneurship research 2013 is an international expert survey aimed at the identification of relevant topics and methods. According to the survey, the entrepreneurial process, social entrepreneurship as well as entrepreneurial thinking and behavior are currently the most relevant topics within the field of entrepreneurship research. Methods are still dominated by quantitative approaches, respondents perceive them, however, as being associated with less potential to generate new insights when compared to other analytical approaches. In particular qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) is identified as a new or underappreciated method going along with the potential for new and interesting findings.

Over the last decades the number of journal publications in entrepreneurship research has increased dramatically. To analyze the perception of these studies, the present paper suggests a relative measure – the so-called resonance factor (RF) –, which puts a paper’s citations in relation to the number of expected citations of the average paper of the same age. We apply this resonance factor to 257 entrepreneurship studies published between 1997 and 2007 and the respective Google Scholar citations they achieved until 2010. All studies included in the sample were authored by researchers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The study identifies trends in publications and discusses – based on the resonance factor – the most important contributions over the inspected time period in four areas of entrepreneurship research, i.e. entrepreneurial opportunities, the entrepreneurial personality, organization and management as well as environmental influences on entrepreneurship.

Recent agenda-setting exercises in the national innovation systems and industrial dynamics literatures have highlighted the unresolved methodological challenges faced by those seeking to explore the innovation process in a co-evolutionary perspective. The paper seeks to contribute to this debate by drawing upon the research methods and presentational conventions of business historians. The empirical study concerns the emergence of radical innovations in the design and manufacture of sailing dinghies in mid-20th century Britain. This period saw the displacement of small, highly localised firms engaged in traditional craft practices by a new generation of designers, manufacturers and promoters in pursuit of volume production. The findings are presented in the form of a historical narrative, contrasting the configurations and dynamics of two competing innovation networks in this sector. It shows how actors in each network drew differently on newly-available platform technologies, probes their distinctive approaches to design, manufacturing and marketing, and assesses their longer-term impact on the sector. The concluding section relates the findings to the previously-discussed theoretical constructs and reflects on the potential contribution of historically-informed methodologies.

The study aims at identifying aspects that could help us in assessing to what extent entrepreneurship is strong enough to overcome restrictions usually set by the business
environment, in order to reveal its absolute power. In other words, to understand how intensively the socio-political economic environment imposes barriers to entrepreneurial
action. The study is based on a research with forty-four small businesses, performing a relatively balanced sample distributed among the classical sectors of the economy: industry, commerce, and services. Data was collected by a questionnaire answered by businessmen, searching for information that could allow the identification of traces of entrepreneurial drive, as well as of difficulties faced in the business development. Results emphasised the central
role of public policies for small businesses’ lifespan and for entrepreneurship.

Imagine that you are starting a new business. What would it be? Why did you choose it? Why would you choose a personal enterprise over working for somebody else (or why wouldn’t you)? What rewards would you be looking for? What personal costs would you be prepared to tolerate? Would you attempt it alone, or would you look for partner(s)? What are the ways you could fund such a startup? Would it be local, or seek a wider market?

In an attempt to explore whether the surrounding environment plays a critical role in affecting the entrepreneurial motivations, or does it have a neutral effect. This paper seeks to identify whether the literature of the entrepreneurship motivation theory conducted by and upon western figures, can be applied to an eastern context especially in terms of the variant cultural, economic and political contextual backgrounds between most of the western and the eastern nations.
Based in Egypt, this research will compare and contrast the areas of commonalities and differences between theory and practice by conducting a totality of 20 in-depth interviews, divided between 10 Egyptian employees in relative to 10 Egyptian entrepreneurs to identify the reasons making self-employment as a career path, seen attractive by a certain sector of the society; the entrepreneurs, while rejected by the other; those who prefer to be corporate-employed instead, from the trait, the cognitive, as well as, the sociology motivational theories perspectives.
There proved to be variances between the western literature suggestions and the eastern researcher's  findings in three main areas; the Parental-role modeling concept regarding the Sociology theory, the Social norm as an impetus for engaging in the entrepreneurial behavior regarding the Cognitive theory; a finding which violates the literature's social norm category in Azjen's theory of planned behavior, and finally, the need for achievement (nAch) which was proven not to clearly distinguish entrepreneurs from employees as an entrepreneurial motivator per se.
On the other hand, entrepreneurs globally proved to be innovators, exhibiting an entrepreneurial-tied tendency to tolerate ambiguity, fueled by an overwhelming self-confidence in their managerial and innovative capabilities, to overcome any business obstacles.

Keywords—Employees, Entrepreneurs, Motivators, Egypt.

Research Purpose- Entrepreneurial competencies are regarded as vital to the survival of SMEs. Previous studies have shown that behaviours delineate competencies, and culture informs behaviour. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to undertake a cross-cultural study of female entrepreneurs operating in the context of SMEs with a view to identifying the set of behaviours that delineates competencies among female entrepreneurs in Africa, and to develop a competencies model that is gender- and culture-specific, which can be incorporated in the intervention programs for the development of female entrepreneurship more broadly in Africa.
Research Design/Methodology/Approach- This study begins with a review of literature on female entrepreneurship in Africa and the role of culture in the development of women entrepreneurs, with particular references to the impact of culture on the entrepreneurial behaviour of women. It then attempts to draw together various views on female business performance, before exploring the link between entrepreneurial competencies, culture and business performance/growth in female-owned and managed businesses in Africa. Samples will be drawn from female SMEs operators in different cultures by means of focus group discussions, interviews and questionnaires. The data will be analysed quantitatively by regression/ factor analysis, while thematic analysis will be conducted for the qualitative data.
Originality/Benefit- This study integrates existing models of entrepreneurial competencies that have been developed from studies undertaken with Western (USA, Europe) and Asian samples, towards the development of a female entrepreneurial competencies model that can be incorporated into the intervention programs aimed at developing women entrepreneurship in Africa.
Keywords Entrepreneurial competencies, Female entrepreneurial competencies, Culture, Businesses success, Entrepreneurial success
Type of Paper Working paper

La creación de empresa es un fenómeno que atrae una creciente atención ya que la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa juega un rol fundamental en la creación de empleo, la innovación económica, la formación de emprendedores y el desarrollo económico a largo plazo. De hecho, en muchas regiones supone la única fuente de empleo y renovación económica, y de su desempeño depende el nivel de vida de las personas. Sin embargo, para que se produzcan estos efectos positivos es necesario que éstas además sean capaces de actuar eficientemente en el mercado para que puedan crecer, crear empleo, internacionalizarse, etc. En este sentido, este trabajo se centra en la creación de empresas con mayor potencial de éxito y los factores que pueden impulsar o bloquear su desempeño. Así, se aborda el análisis de empresas Spin-off de origen Universitario y se presentan los resultados empíricos de un estudio de casos realizado en cinco empresas de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona. Éstos reflejan la importancia de los recursos que transfiere la universidad a la empresa, tanto los de carácter tecnológico, en que se basa el potencial de innovación y la ventaja competitiva de la empresa, como los soportados en los recursos humanos y su capacidad para equilibrar habilidades tecnológicas y de gestión. 1. INTRODUCCIÓN La creación de empresa es un fenómeno que atrae una creciente atención, en especial en tiempos de crisis económica, debido a que la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa (PyME) juega un rol fundamental en la creación de empleo, en la innovación económica, en la formación de emprendedores y en el desarrollo económico a largo plazo (Storey 1994, Burns 1996). De hecho, en muchas regiones, la PyME es la única fuente de empleo y de renovación económica (Julien 1998), motivo por el cual, de su desempeño depende el nivel de vida de las personas. Sin embargo, analizar la Pequeña y Mediana Empresa (PyME) suele ser una tarea compleja, debido a la enorme heterogeneidad de las empresas que conforman esta tipología empresarial. Esta situación ha conducido a que la mayor parte de los trabajos que abordan su estudio deban limitarse a aquellos aspectos de la PyME que resultan comunes a todas las empresas incluidas dentro del conjunto y suelen estar asociados a problemas: dificultades en el acceso a la financiación, retrasos tecnológicos y baja innovación debido a la incapacidad de invertir en I+D, dificultades para acceder a los mercados internacionales, baja capacidad de crecimiento, etc.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether new and young firms are different from older firms. This analysis is undertaken to explore general characteristics, use of external
resources and growth orientation.
Design/methodology/approach – Data from the 2008 UK Federation of Small Businesses survey provided 8,000 responses. Quantitative analysis identified significantly different characteristics of firms from 0-4, 4-9, 9-19 and 20 þ years. Factor analysis was utilised to identify the advice sets, finance and public procurement customers of greatest interest, with ANOVA used to statistically compare firms in the identified age groups with different growth aspirations.
Findings – The findings reveal key differences between new, young and older firms in terms of characteristics including business sector, owner/manager age, education/business experience, legal status, intellectual property and trading performance. New and young firms were more able to access
beneficial resources in terms of finance and advice from several sources. New and young firms were also able to more easily access government and external finance, as well as government advice, but less able to access public procurement.
Research limitations/implications – New and young firms are utilising external networks to access several resources for development purposes, and this differs for older firms. This suggests that a more explicit age-differentiated focus is required for government policies aimed at supporting firm growth.
Originality/value – The study provides important baseline data for future quantitative and qualitative studies focused on the impact of firm age and government policy.

Various researchers have indicated that in general, entrepreneurial competencies are positively related to entrepreneurial success (Baron & Markman, 2003; Baum & Locke, 2004; Baum et al, 2001; Chandler & Jansen, 1992; Ucbasaran et al, 2008). Also in case of developing countries, it is indicated that improved entrepreneurial behaviour, based on entrepreneurship training, will have a positive effect on the performance of microcredit clients (Edgcom, 2002; Cook et al, 2001; Dumas, 2001; Gray et al, 2011; Karlan et al, 2006; Ekpe et al, 2010). Yet entrepreneurial training is not given much attention in Micro Finance Institutions (MFI’s) in developing countries. This is not only because most MFI’s do not consider entrepreneurial training as their core activity. More important, it is not clear from the literature which particular entrepreneurial competencies will have a positive impact on business performance of micro credit clients on the one hand, and their loan repayment on the other. This research therefore intends to find out which competencies are relevant for  MFI clients’ business development and loan repayments in developing countries. The research question of this paper is: What are the  main competencies that drives the performance of MFI clients and ultimately the performance of the MFI’s. In order to identify these entrepreneurial competencies, we developed a three step approach.
First, we identified a set of entrepreneurial competencies MFI clients in developing countries require for higher performance, based on an extensive literature review  (Smith and Perks (2006); Smart Force (2002); Van Dyke et al. (2001); Mano et al. (2011); Edgcomb (2002); Karlan and Valdivia (2011) and others. Secondly, a preliminary survey is conducted with 50 clients of uniCredit, a micro finance institution in Ghana. For this preliminary survey, 25 clients with good loan repayment and business performance and 25 clients with poor business performance and loan repayment are selected. The results provide information about the set of competencies MFI clients require in order to be successful. Thirdly focus group discussions with 20 clients will be done in order to describe and analyse the required set of competencies, which enables us to operationalize and establish the identified competencies in entrepreneurship training programs.

Mirroring the representation of informal workers in a third world context as displaying entrepreneurial qualities, recent years have witnessed the emergence of a similar view of the informal sector in western nations as a hidden enterprise culture. Until now, however, few attempts have been made to analyze the nature and motives of informal entrepreneurs in western economies.

The contribution of MSMEs to Indonesia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 61.41%, but only about 8% of MSME players have used e-commerce. One of the government policies to encourage MSMEs going online is to facilitate access to have microcredit (KUR) which has tailored to the e-commerce business model. This study aimed to look at the relationship of demography and characteristics of online business with the intention of to apply microcredit since the location and type of business of MSMEs are mostly not fixed. The data were obtained by online survey to the respondents selected by convenience sampling. This study used descriptive analysis and cross tabulation analysis of 235 respondents who are registered as members of the Indonesian Online Sellers Association. The results of the study showed that only the types of online business and other sources of income were significantly related to the intention in to apply for microcredit. Credit lending through media e-marketplaces co...

Purpose of this study is to highlight some of entrepreneur’s and sme’s characteristics that are sources of competitive advantage. Further, the sources of competitive advantage drive to it. Thus, via the obtainment and maintenance of a diachronically long-term competitive advantage, a small business can achieve the principal objective of a firm which is maximization of its wealth and continuous stay on profit areas. Plethora of resources and competences were proposed as sources of competitive advantage in resource-based view and add continually new ones. It appears to suffer hierarchy of sources of competitive advantage regarding sustainability of these. Literature about sme and entrepreneur emphasizes the significant role of certain factors such as business size, management, ownership, data relating to the survival and competitiveness of sme, sales, profitability, liquidity, lack of skilled personnel, distribution channels data and market information, potential fundraising, use of i...

Undoubtedly, stimulating the European entrepreneurship is one of the most important prerequisites both for strengthening the EU member-state financial position and for maintaining their share in international production as a reply to the trends of the national economy and the growth rates of the fast emerging Asian economies. At the same time, there is an obvious insufficiency to fully utilise their business potential, since they offer neither an attractive location for their business activities nor the required conditions for shaping and developing a business mentality. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the financial, cultural or social factors related to encouraging or discouraging the decision made by young businessmen to establish businesses in the Greek Territory, with the Region of Peloponnese serving as a case study. More particularly, the paper aims at analysing the special characteristics of youth entrepreneurship in the Greek Territory, the problems faced by...

This study aims to determine the relationship betweenentrepreneurial marketing dimensions and businessgrowth among small and medium agro-processing enterprisesin Zimbabwe. The methodology involved a quantitative approachto collecting and analyzing research data. The fieldstudy was conducted in Bindura, Zimbabwe to collect researchdata from 260 managers of agro-processing SMEs. Usingthe SPSS 24 and AMOS 24 software, the Structural EquationModeling (SEM) procedure was performed to analyze theresearch data. The study’s findings validate the assertion thatdimensions such as product innovation, entrepreneurial orientation,risk-taking and resource leveraging are instrumental instimulating business growth among agro-processing SMEsin Zimbabwe. A robust relationship was also found betweenresource leveraging and business growth. Moreover, managerialimplications of the findings were discussed and limitationsand future research directions were indicated

This study came to check the factors affecting the credit facilities with banks' branches in Aqaba, through the following variables: customer borrowers, credit policies, central administration of the loans and the environmental conditions of the local economy. The study showed that all the factors were important for credit facilities through the replied of study sample.                                The most important recommendation of the study that the management should consider the following as important factor of issuing the loan: the primary and detailed feasibility studies, incentives for everyone who contributes in the collection of loans, Customer's financial reputation and Design different studies in the future with different variables. Key words : Credit facilities, Commercial banks, Bank client, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority.

Small-scale fisheries in the Mediterranean represent a significant part of the fisheries industry and their substantial social, economic and place attachment related role has always been acknowledged in the region. Despite the fact that this usually family-based endeavor has a vast economic impact on coastal and island communities of the sea-basin, data and insights on the Mediterranean artisanal fisheries continue to be inadequately developed and poorly integrated in the local development strategies. Thus, the aim of this research is two-fold. Firstly, it presents some data and facts on the fisheries sector in the region and secondly it explores the options of their survival, prosperity and sustainability, approaching the combination of fisheries and tourism as a small-scale and soft “multi-use” in the marine space. Greece, with a huge potential in both the fisheries and the tourism sector, was used as focus area where a co-development process was designed aiming to identify advant...

In Latin America, the most unequal region in the world, informality is the way of life for many Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) and for workers who hold informal employment arrangements within these businesses. In order to reduce informality and increase revenue, most countries in the region have implemented simplified tax regimes for MSEs in recent decades. Given that there is a difference between formalizing business and formalizing employment arrangements, this research investigate whether simplified tax schemes for MSEs affect formalization of employment arrangements within MSEs. By analysing the Uruguayan case from 2006 to 2016, the study shows that many MSE workers may remain informal despite working within formal MSEs. Therefore, this investigation points out that simplified tax regimes might not have the envisioned impact on formalization of employment arrangements, hampering the access of these workers to social insurance schemes.

Monetary policy is implemented with the main objective of economic stability and banks are the primary channel through which this policy influences economic variables. It is argued that the extent to which monetary policy goals are attained is predicated on the responsiveness of banks to it. The study therefore investigates the implications of monetary policy for Nigerian banks. To ascertain the influence pattern of monetary policy on banks, the study uses monetary policy rate and lending rates as monetary policy proxies. While banks asset is represented in the model by aggregate bank lending. Correlation and regression analyses were used to analyze data. The correlation result showed a negative relationship between aggregate bank lending (AGL), monetary policy rate (MPR), lending rate (LDR) and inflation rate (IFR). The regression analysis result confirms this, as monetary policy rate (MPR) relates negatively with loans in Nigeria. This means that the raising of the MPR and the att...

The aim of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of the entrepreneurship process in Africa by evaluating the link between starting up unregistered and future firm performance. The widespread assumption has been that firms starting up unregistered in the informal economy suffer from poor performance compared to those starting up registered and in the formal economy. To test this poorer performance thesis, World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data is evaluated from across 41 African countries covering the period from 2006 to 2013. Controlling for a comprehensive set of other determinants of firm performance, the finding is that formal enterprises with five or more employees that started up unregistered have significantly higher annual sales, employment and productivity growth rates compared with those firms that registered their operations at startup. The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and policy implications of this finding.