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Inside Informality: The Links Between Poverty, Microenterprises, and Living Conditions in Nairobi's Slums

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  • Gulyani, Sumila
  • Talukdar, Debabrata

Abstract

Summary Using households rather than enterprises as the analytical unit, this study of 1,755 households in Nairobi's slums reveals that informal household microenterprises are indeed helping offset poverty. Microenterprises are helping households that are, a priori, more likely to be poor. Better microenterprise performance is associated with certain "business-related" factors, such as sales area, time in, and sector of operation. But "living conditions"--residential tenure and infrastructure access--also strongly influence both creation and success of microenterprises. Interventions that improve infrastructure and reduce tenure insecurity and rent-induced pressures to move may be crucial for incubating microenterprises and reinforcing their contribution to poverty alleviation in Nairobi's slums.

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  • Gulyani, Sumila & Talukdar, Debabrata, 2010. "Inside Informality: The Links Between Poverty, Microenterprises, and Living Conditions in Nairobi's Slums," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(12), pages 1710-1726, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:38:y:2010:i:12:p:1710-1726
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    3. Blocker, Christopher P. & Ruth, Julie A. & Sridharan, Srinivas & Beckwith, Colin & Ekici, Ahmet & Goudie-Hutton, Martina & Rosa, José Antonio & Saatcioglu, Bige & Talukdar, Debabrata & Trujillo, Carlo, 2013. "Understanding poverty and promoting poverty alleviation through transformative consumer research," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1195-1202.
    4. Courtney Gallaher & John Kerr & Mary Njenga & Nancy Karanja & Antoinette WinklerPrins, 2013. "Urban agriculture, social capital, and food security in the Kibera slums of Nairobi, Kenya," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 30(3), pages 389-404, September.
    5. Sam Jones & Finn Tarp, 2013. "Jobs and Welfare in Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-045, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Sugata Bag & Suman Seth, 2018. "Does It Matter How We Assess Standard of Living? Evidence from Indian Slums Comparing Monetary and Multidimensional Approaches," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 715-754, November.
    7. Azunre, Gideon Abagna & Amponsah, Owusu & Takyi, Stephen Appiah & Mensah, Henry & Braimah, Imoro, 2022. "Urban informalities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): A solution for or barrier against sustainable city development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    8. Miguel Rivera-Santos & Diane Holt & David Littlewood & Ans Kolk, 2015. "Social Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa," Post-Print hal-02276715, HAL.
    9. Kovacic, Zora & Musango, Josephine Kaviti & Ambole, Lorraine Amollo & Buyana, Kareem & Smit, Suzanne & Anditi, Christer & Mwau, Baraka & Ogot, Madara & Lwasa, Shuaib & Brent, Alan C. & Nsangi, Gloria , 2019. "Interrogating differences: A comparative analysis of Africa’s informal settlements," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 614-627.
    10. Ceyhun Elgin & Colin C. Williams & Gamze Oz‐Yalaman & Abdullan Yalaman, 2022. "Fiscal stimulus packages to COVID‐19: The role of informality," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 861-879, May.
    11. Zhang, Dongli & Wang, Wenxiong & Zhou, Wei & Zhang, Xiaoling & Zuo, Jian, 2020. "The effect on poverty alleviation and income increase of rural land consolidation in different models: A China study," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    12. Webb, Justin W. & Bruton, Garry D. & Tihanyi, Laszlo & Ireland, R. Duane, 2013. "Research on entrepreneurship in the informal economy: Framing a research agenda," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 598-614.
    13. Kate Roll & Catherine Dolan & Dinah Rajak, 2021. "Remote (Dis)engagement: Shifting Corporate Risk to the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(4), pages 878-901, July.
    14. Lahiri, Bidisha & Daramola, Richard, 2023. "Effects of credit and labor constraints on microenterprises and the unintended impact of changes in household endowments: Use of threshold estimation to detect heterogeneity," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 21-38.
    15. Bennett, John & Levy, Stephanie, 2018. "Family Ceremonies as a Constraint on Informal Sector Investment: The Case of Sénégal," IZA Discussion Papers 11529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Miller, Paige & Brux, Jacqueline Murray & Neema, Clementia Murembe, 2016. "Microcredit in Uganda: Fundamental Reform or Just another Neoliberal Policy?," African Journal of Economic Review, African Journal of Economic Review, vol. 4(2), July.
    17. Chiara, De Gasperin & Valentina, Rotondi & Luca, Stanca, 2019. "Mobile Money and the Labor Market: Evidence from Developing Countries," Working Papers 403, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2019.
    18. Jonathan Crush & Ndeyapo Nickanor & Lawrence Kazembe, 2018. "Informal Food Deserts and Household Food Insecurity in Windhoek, Namibia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    19. Fox, Sean, 2014. "The Political Economy of Slums: Theory and Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 191-203.
    20. Zhang, Huiming & Huang, Jiying & Wu, Kai & Wang, Shouyang & Nygaard, Christian & Qiu, Yueming, 2022. "Do political connections affect corporate poverty alleviation decisions? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    21. Emma E. W. Termeer & Katrine Soma & Nina Motovska & Oscar Ingasia Ayuya & Marvin Kunz & Tinka Koster, 2022. "Sustainable Development Ensued by Social Capital Impacts on Food Insecurity: The Case of Kibera, Nairobi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-16, May.
    22. Salinas, Aldo & Ortiz, Cristian & Changoluisa, Javier & Muffatto, Moreno, 2023. "Testing three views about the determinants of informal economy: New evidence at global level and by country groups using the CS-ARDL approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 438-455.
    23. Michele Pedrotti & Daniele Fattibene & Marta Antonelli & Bob Castelein, 2023. "Approaching Urban Food Waste in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Framework and Evidence from Case Studies in Kibera (Nairobi) and Dhaka," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    24. Archambault, Caroline S. & de Laat, Joost & Zulu, Eliya Msiyaphazi, 2012. "Urban Services and Child Migration to the Slums of Nairobi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1854-1869.

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