The impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in Zimbabwe

The informal sector in Zimbabwe plays a fundamental role in the supply of intermediate agricultural technologies. The seemingly never-ending economic crisis has arguably contributed to the collapse of the formal industrial sector resulting in a shortage of farming technologies especially amongst sma...

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Autores principales: Clifton Makate, Marshall Makate, Shephard Siziba, Zvakanyorwa Sadomba
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Group 2019
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/127c81493fa8444196183ea93ca3bc3d
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:127c81493fa8444196183ea93ca3bc3d2021-12-02T16:09:30ZThe impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in Zimbabwe2331-197510.1080/23311975.2019.1625095https://doaj.org/article/127c81493fa8444196183ea93ca3bc3d2019-01-01T00:00:00Zhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2019.1625095https://doaj.org/toc/2331-1975The informal sector in Zimbabwe plays a fundamental role in the supply of intermediate agricultural technologies. The seemingly never-ending economic crisis has arguably contributed to the collapse of the formal industrial sector resulting in a shortage of farming technologies especially amongst small-scale farmers whose numbers increased exponentially post the agrarian reform in 2000. However, innovation capabilities by informal entrepreneurs and overall firm performance are critical elements for eventual impact of the sector to the farming community. This study scrutinises the effect of informal entrepreneurial innovations on firm performance using data from 602 randomly selected informal metal industry entrepreneurs clustered across 15 districts from eight provinces in Zimbabwe. An instrumental variable regression method is employed to control for potential endogeneity bias associated with the voluntary nature of the decision to innovate. Results show that firm and firm owner characteristics and policy are important correlates of innovation while entrepreneurial innovations promote firm performance. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of entrepreneurial innovations on firm performance and the need for ensuring continuity of the informal metal businesses. Also, policies that promote acquisition of cheap entrepreneurial skills and a favourable business climate that supports innovation might help to steer Zimbabwe’s economy out of trouble.Clifton MakateMarshall MakateShephard SizibaZvakanyorwa SadombaTaylor & Francis Grouparticleentrepreneurial innovationfirm performanceagricultural technologiesinformal economyzimbabweBusinessHF5001-6182Management. Industrial managementHD28-70ENCogent Business & Management, Vol 6, Iss 1 (2019)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic entrepreneurial innovation
firm performance
agricultural technologies
informal economy
zimbabwe
Business
HF5001-6182
Management. Industrial management
HD28-70
spellingShingle entrepreneurial innovation
firm performance
agricultural technologies
informal economy
zimbabwe
Business
HF5001-6182
Management. Industrial management
HD28-70
Clifton Makate
Marshall Makate
Shephard Siziba
Zvakanyorwa Sadomba
The impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in Zimbabwe
description The informal sector in Zimbabwe plays a fundamental role in the supply of intermediate agricultural technologies. The seemingly never-ending economic crisis has arguably contributed to the collapse of the formal industrial sector resulting in a shortage of farming technologies especially amongst small-scale farmers whose numbers increased exponentially post the agrarian reform in 2000. However, innovation capabilities by informal entrepreneurs and overall firm performance are critical elements for eventual impact of the sector to the farming community. This study scrutinises the effect of informal entrepreneurial innovations on firm performance using data from 602 randomly selected informal metal industry entrepreneurs clustered across 15 districts from eight provinces in Zimbabwe. An instrumental variable regression method is employed to control for potential endogeneity bias associated with the voluntary nature of the decision to innovate. Results show that firm and firm owner characteristics and policy are important correlates of innovation while entrepreneurial innovations promote firm performance. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of entrepreneurial innovations on firm performance and the need for ensuring continuity of the informal metal businesses. Also, policies that promote acquisition of cheap entrepreneurial skills and a favourable business climate that supports innovation might help to steer Zimbabwe’s economy out of trouble.
format article
author Clifton Makate
Marshall Makate
Shephard Siziba
Zvakanyorwa Sadomba
author_facet Clifton Makate
Marshall Makate
Shephard Siziba
Zvakanyorwa Sadomba
author_sort Clifton Makate
title The impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in Zimbabwe
title_short The impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in Zimbabwe
title_full The impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in Zimbabwe
title_fullStr The impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in Zimbabwe
title_full_unstemmed The impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in Zimbabwe
title_sort impact of innovation on the performance of small-to-medium informal metal-trade enterprises in zimbabwe
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
publishDate 2019
url https://doaj.org/article/127c81493fa8444196183ea93ca3bc3d
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