Disadvantaged? Informal Female Entrepreneurs Operating 'Tienditas' in Nicaragua
| Autor | Michael J.Pisani |
| Cargo | Professor of International Business at Central Michigan University |
| Páginas | 195-223 |
Ensayos Revista de Economía- Volumen XXXV, núm.2, noviembre 2016, pp. 195-223
Disadvantaged? Informal Female Entrepreneurs Operating
“Tienditas” in Nicaragua
¿Desaventajadas? Mujeres empresarias i nformales operando
tienditas en Nicaragua
Michael J. Pisani*
Fecha de recepción: 23 II 2016 Fecha de aceptación: 22 IX 2016
Abstract
I explore the business and (household) income out comes of base of the
pyramid (BoP) in-home convenience store entrepreneurs through a census-
like business survey in Nicaragua. Throughout Latin America and in
Nicaragua, tienditas are typically operated by female entrepreneurs in an
informal regulatory environment out of the home and at the periphery of
developing economies. Some aut hors have c haracterized this sector as
disadvantaged because of its inherent reliance on female ownership, on a
home-based location, and on operating within an informal context (Nichter
and Goldmark, 2009 ). Others have argued that such enterprises may serve as
a link toward poverty reduction at the BoP (Pisani and Yoskowitz, 2 012).
Utilizing a 2012 cross-sectional and nationally representative business
focused survey, 400 Nicarag uan tenderas are examined. Findings indicate
heterogeneity exists across the tiendita retail sector; where failing, ailing,
stable and healthy tienditas are segmented, analyzed, and discussed.
JEL Classification: L26, O17, D22, O54.
Keywords: Informality. Female Entrepreneurship. Tienditas. Nicaragua.
Resumen
En este trabajo, se estudia el negocio y los ingresos (del hogar) en la base de
la pirámide (B oP, por sus siglas en inglés) de tiendas de conveniencia
ubicadas dentro del hogar en Nicaragua, a través de una encuesta empresarial
tipo censo. En toda América Latina y en Nicaragua, las tienditas son
* Professor of International Business at Central Michigan University. Address: 204C Smith
Hall, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan 48859 USA. Email: m.pisani@cmich.edu. Telephone: 989-
774-3450. Fax: 989-774-1353
Ensayos Revista de Economía
196
típicamente operadas por mujeres microempresarias en un entorno informal y
en la periferia de las economías en desarrollo. Algunos autores han
caracterizado a este sector como en desventaja debido a su dependencia
inherente a la p ropiedad femenina, su ubicación dentro del hogar, y a su
operación informal (Nichter y Goldmark, 2009). Otros han argumentado que
tales empresas pueden servir para reducir la pobreza en la BoP (Pisani y
Yoskowitz, 2012). Utilizando una encuesta del 2012 de corte transversal y
representativa en el nivel nacional, se examinan 400 tenderas nicaragüenses.
Los resultados indican que existe hetero geneidad en el sector minorista de las
tienditas; las cuales se clasifican como saludables, estables, enfermas y
fracasadas, para su análisis y discusión.
Clasificación JEL: L26, O17, D22, O54.
Palabras Clave: Informalidad. Microempresarias. Tienditas. Nicaragua.
Introduction
Nichter and Goldmark (2 009) rec ently conducted a thoro ugh and
comprehensive literature revi ew linking MSE (micro and small enterprise)
characteristics and other associated factors to firm growth. From this review,
they d eveloped a model that may help distinguish between MSEs mired in
survival mode (“survivalists”) versus t hose MSEs poised for rapid growth
(“latent gazelles”). They found that the most disadvantaged survivalist firms
happen to be those MSEs that are female-owned, informal, and home-based
within developing country economic contexts. Acknowledging these
structural barriers to MSE growth, I seek to disaggregate this market segment
through the a nalysis of a single retail sub-sector: the tiendita in Nicaragua.
The tiendita uniquely e xhibits the structural disadvantages argued b y Nichter
and Goldmark (2009), but at the microenterprise scale.
In Latin America and Nicaragua, the tiendita, while seemin gly everywhere, is
often overlooked as a subject of study because the tiendita is so familiar and
ordinary to most consumers. The ordinary nature of the tiendita does not
dismiss its importance as an object of study; rather because the tiendita is so
commonplace, increasing our understanding about this microenterprise, if
only incrementally, may help sharpen our focus concerning pr imarily female
micro-entrepreneurship. The tiendita, or barrio-based convenience store,
more closely resembles a microenterprise than a small business because very
few tienditas employ more than a single employee, though most util ize one to
two unpaid family members (Pisani and Yoskowtiz, 2012).
Academic researchers have classified microenterprises as business entities
with typically five or fewer e mployees, engaged in non-primary activities,
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