Technical Note
FORMALISING INFORMAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: MAPPING THE POLICY LANDSCAPE OF PAKISTAN
INDUSTRY :-
AREA :ENTREPRENEURSHIP
ORGANIZATION :-
LENGTH :53
LUMS No :23-075-2021-2
PUBLICATION YEAR : 2021
ABSTRACT:
Despite the pervasive incidence of informality in Pakistan, tackling informal economy has always remained a daunting challenge. Absence of any formal attempt to consolidate and analyze the effectiveness of different policy actions targeted towards tackling the informal economy stands out as one of the major reasons for the latter. Though practitioners and researchers in Pakistan have published analyses of individual policy measures implemented in the country, to date, no attempt has been made to consolidate a comprehensive repository of measures into an organized framework. This note, therefore, intends to bridge this existing knowledge gap by mapping the policy landscape of Pakistan concerning the formalisation of informal enterprises in the backdrop of an international policy framework. To accomplish this, an extensive study of various policy measures undertaken by three different governments over the last 12 years (2008-2020) was conducted, and gaps in the overall policy approach of Pakistan concerning tackling of informal economy in general, and informal entrepreneurship, in particular, have been identified. Throughout the note, brief descriptions of numerous policy measures have been included, as befitted to the theoretical framework used. However, further details and complete mappings of all measures have been included in a supplementary annexure (Annexure A), which comes along with the note. Depending on instructor’s teaching objectives, Annexure A may or may not be shared with the students. Ideally, it should be shared with the students after the class discussion in case they show the intent to delve deeper into the details of various policy initiatives. (approved 10-Sept-2021, please contact CRU for support file)