Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0 
Author-Name: Nagler, Paula
Author-Email: nagler@erbs.eur.nl
Author-workplace-name: UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University, and Erasmus
	 Research & Business Support, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Title: A profile of non-farm household enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract: This paper provides a comprehensive descriptive profile of non-farm 
	 household enterprises in ten Sub-Saharan African countries, 
	 disaggregated by the households' consumption quintiles. Various 
	 enterprise-related aspects are covered, such as the share of households 
	 that operate an enterprise, the motivation to start a business venture, 
	 and various owner and enterprise characteristics. The figures show that 
	 household enterprises are more prevalent among wealthier households, 
	 although push factors overall dominate as entry motive. Enterprises in 
	 lower quintiles are more often operated by owners with less education, 
	 and in most countries female owners are more frequently found among 
	 poorer households. The enterprises themselves are characterised by a 
	 small size, generally solo entrepreneurship, which only marginally 
	 increases along wealth levels. Poorer households operate more seasonal 
	 types of businesses, which employ rarely any external labour, and which 
	 contribute less to total household income compared to wealthier 
	 households. While business profits grow along the welfare quintiles, 
	 profits show a big jump from the fourth to the top quintile. Finally, 
	 poor entrepreneurial households are considerably more often located in 
	 rural than in urban areas. Based on these findings, this paper suggests 
	 a set of policy recommendations that include expanding the access to and 
	 availability of finance, education, and infrastructure, and introducing 
	 gender-sensitive entrepreneurial policies.
Keywords: Consumption Quintiles, Household Enterprises, Informal Sector,
	 Self-Employment, Sub-Saharan Africa 
Classification-JEL: J43, L26, O55, Q12
Series: UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Creation-Date: 20171123
Number: 2017-048
File-URL: https://unu-merit.nl/publications/wppdf/2017/wp2017-048.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 275 kb
Handle: RePEc:unm:unumer:2017048