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The Hidden Enterprise Culture Of Moscow: Entrepreneurship And Off-The-Books Working Practices

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  • COLIN C. WILLIAMS

    (School of Management, University of Sheffield, 9 Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 9DT, United Kingdom)

  • JOHN ROUND

    (School of Geographical Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Even though entrepreneurs are commonly depicted as risk takers, little evaluation has occurred on whether they weigh the costs of being caught and the level of punishments, and engage in off-the-books working practices. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the degree to which entrepreneurs engage in such off-the-books work. Reporting a survey conducted in Moscow during late 2005 and early 2006 of 81 entrepreneurs (defined here as individuals starting-up an enterprise in the past three years), just 3.7 percent are found to operate on a wholly legitimate basis. The remaining 96.3 percent have not registered their business, have no license to trade and conduct all of their trade on an off-the-books basis. The outcome is a call to move beyond the wholesome and virtuous ideal-type of legitimate super heroes that pervade textbook depictions of entrepreneurs and toward a fuller understanding of the lived realities of entrepreneurship.

Suggested Citation

  • Colin C. Williams & John Round, 2008. "The Hidden Enterprise Culture Of Moscow: Entrepreneurship And Off-The-Books Working Practices," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 13(04), pages 445-462.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:jdexxx:v:13:y:2008:i:04:n:s1084946708001071
    DOI: 10.1142/S1084946708001071
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Colin C. Williams, 2023. "A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18668.
    2. Janis N. Kluge & Alexander Libman, 2018. "Sticks or Carrots? Comparing Effectiveness of Government Informal Economy Policies in Russia," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 60(4), pages 605-637, December.
    3. Eijaz Ahmed Khan, 2018. "The Voice Of Informal Entrepreneurs: Resources And Capabilities Perspective," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(03), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Eijaz Ahmed Khan & Lynne Harris & Mohammed Quaddus, 2021. "The mediating role of personality traits on the entrepreneurial orientation–firm performance relationship: informal entrepreneurship context," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 11(1), pages 41-52, December.

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