Toward a Research Agenda for the Informal Economy: A Survey of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal's Editorial Board

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/sej.1175
• Date: 01 March 2014
• Author: R. Duane Ireland,Justin W. Webb,David J. Ketchen
• Published date: 01 March 2014

TOWARD A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR THE

INFORMAL ECONOMY: A SURVEY OF THE

STRATEGIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP JOURNAL’S

EDITORIAL BOARD

DAVID J. KETCHEN, JR.1*, R. DUANE IRELAND2, and JUSTIN W. WEBB3

1Harbert College of Business, Department of Management, Auburn University,

Auburn, Alabama, U.S.A.

2Mays Business School, Department of Management, Texas A&M University,

College Station, Texas, U.S.A.

3Spears School of Business, Department of Entrepreneurship, Oklahoma State

University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, U.S.A.

Scholarly attention to strategy and entrepreneurship within the informal economy appears to

be on the rise, but a large gap remains between the importance of the informal economy and

the amount of research that is devoted to it. The survey reported herein is an effort to offer

insights to researchers who wish to help build the knowledge base about strategy and entre-

preneurship within the informal economy. Specifically, we surveyed members of the Strategic

Entrepreneurship Journal’s editorial board regarding what they view as the most promising

theories, research questions, and methods to leverage in order to develop greater understand-

ing of the informal economy. Board members’ views vary, but in general institutional theory

and network theory are seen as the best perspectives to fuel major contributions at this time.

The research questions that attracted the strongest support centered on the boundaries of and

interchanges between the formal and informal economies. Finally, field interviews, case

studies, and ethnography were ranked as the most promising investigative methods. Taken

together, these findings offer a possible agenda for research into the informal economy.

Copyright © 2014 Strategic Management Society.

INTRODUCTION

Each of the articles within the special issue offers

important contributions to understanding strategy

and entrepreneurship within the informal economy.

Because investigation of the informal economy is

in an early stage, however, many important potential

contributions remain to be made. Our hope in this

brief commentary is to provide guidance to scholars

who wish to make such contributions.

Because editorial board members are charged

with commenting on submissions to the Strategic

Entrepreneurship Journal (SEJ), we saw value in

asking these scholars to help us identify the most

promising ways to build knowledge about the infor-

mal economy. Our survey of the board received

responses from 27 members; we would like to

express our sincere gratitude to all of the board

members who provided their anonymous insights.

Given that the board has 71 members, the survey’s

response rate was 38 percent. Taking the insights

gleaned from the articles in the special issue along-

side the responses from the editorial board, we

attempt to provide a foundation from which scholars

can theoretically and methodologically advance the

understanding of the informal economy.

Keywords: informal economy; special issue; theory; methodo-

logy; research questions

*Correspondence to: David J. Ketchen, Jr., Harbert College

of Business, Department of Management, Auburn University,

405 W. Magnolia Ave., Auburn, AL 36849, U.S.A. E-mail:

ketchda@auburn.edu

bs_bs_banner

Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal

Strat. Entrepreneurship J., 8: 95–100 (2014)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/sej.1175

Copyright © 2014 Strategic Management Society