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The Network Entrepreneur in Small Businesses: The Bulgarian Case

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Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies

Part of the book series: Societies and Political Orders in Transition ((SOCPOT))

Abstract

This chapter discusses the applicability of the theoretical distinction between market and network entrepreneurs on the basis of data from various sociological studies. Strategic networking is examined in relation to the example of intra-organisational ties (nepotism, dual agreements with employees) and the ties among informally self-employed workers. It is argued that unlike market players, network entrepreneurs build markets from networks. Their practices have gained social legitimacy and are well-established informal market institutions, as they successfully serve as a labour market adjustment mechanism in Bulgaria.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term small-scale entrepreneurship is used here for owners of formal and informal micro- and small-sized enterprises as defined by EU criteria (EC 2009).

  2. 2.

    The sample consists of 206 firms of sole traders in Sofia and 113 firms in Skopje. The method of the standardised interview was applied. The fieldwork was carried out in 2002.

  3. 3.

    In 2002, 181 small businessmen located in Sofia were interviewed by means of a standardised interview. Six-branch quota sampling was applied (construction; small industries and handicrafts; catering; transport; trade; highly qualified services). Out of this, 30 small entrepreneurs were interviewed by means of semi-structured interviews in 2003.

  4. 4.

    Twenty four in-depth interviews with informally self-employed persons—mostly young, highly educated, single and living in Sofia—were conducted in 2008. About one-third of them had also had previous informal work experience. Convenience sampling was applied.

  5. 5.

    This qualitative study that examined envelope wage techniques was conducted in 2012. The dataset consists of 12 semi-structured interviews with young (aged 23–31) male and female workers on fake employment contracts with companies operating in Sofia in trade, services and tourism/victualling. Most of them are employed on permanent contract and are highly qualified. A mix of criterion and maximum variation sampling was applied.

  6. 6.

    ‘The entrepreneur is a maker of history, but his guide in making it is his judgment of possibilities and not a calculation of certainties’ (Shackle 1982).

  7. 7.

    For a more detailed description of the debate, see Chavdarova (2014b, 2016).

  8. 8.

    Here I make use of the title of White’s book ‘Markets from networks’ (2002).

  9. 9.

    Among them, those registered as self-employed represented 8% of all employed persons in 2014 (NSI 2015).

  10. 10.

    For an overview, see, e.g. Drakopoulou Dodd (2012).

  11. 11.

    For small entrepreneurs, the role of the family is of crucial importance. Family business makes up 42.1% of the total number of enterprises and accounts for 28.3% of total employment (NSI and AFB 2011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Tanya Chavdarova

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  1. Tanya Chavdarova
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Correspondence to Tanya Chavdarova .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm School of Economics in Riga , Riga, Latvia

    Arnis Sauka

  2. National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

    Alexander Chepurenko

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Chavdarova, T. (2017). The Network Entrepreneur in Small Businesses: The Bulgarian Case. In: Sauka, A., Chepurenko, A. (eds) Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies. Societies and Political Orders in Transition. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57342-7_14

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