Entrepreneurial Competencies and Performance of Informal Micro-Enterprises in Malaysia

Abstract

Literature on informal economic activities has identified the significant role of informal micro-enterprises in national development and the role of entrepreneurial competencies in micro-enterprise performance. This study, therefore, examined the role of entrepreneurial competencies, i.e., risk-taking propensity, need for achievement, self-efficacy, and experience in informal micro-enterprise performance in Kelantan, Malaysia. This study used a cross-sectional design and collected quantitative data from 197 informal micro-entrepreneurs. Findings of the path analysis using variance-based structural equation modeling (SEM-PLS) revealed that informal micro-entrepreneurs' risk-taking propensity and self-efficacy have a significant positive effect on micro-enterprise performance. Development programs and policies should, therefore, focus on increasing low-income informal micro-entrepreneurs' self-efficacy and ability to take risks in order to take advantage of all the incomegenerating opportunities available to them, which would ultimately lead to the improvement of the socio-economic condition of low income households in Malaysia.

Willingness to Pay for Environmentally Friendly Products among Low-Income Households along Coastal Peninsular Malaysia

“…The findings further display that attitudes among the respondents towards environmentally friendly products have a significantly positive effect on their willingness to pay for green products. This finding thus conforms to the TPB [15] and the existing literature [1,2,12,30], which signifies that the degree of individuals' perceptions of the performance of green purchase behavior determines their willingness to pay for environmentally friendly products.…”

Entrepreneurial Leadership, Performance, and Sustainability of Micro-Enterprises in Malaysia

“…Micro or small enterprises differ vastly from the larger conglomerates, as MEs are characterized by one-person-operated, poorly managed, prone to be impermanent, frequently less productive, often informal, and undercapitalized [8] business ventures that have economic activities outside formal institutional limitations, but within informal institutional borders. In addition, micro-enterprises fulfil the demand of the large communal groups by engaging low-paid employees as waged workers, which seems to be extensively popular among low-income and underprivileged communities, thus emerging as a powerful instrument to combat poverty as well as to empower the poor economically [6,9].…”

“…Small and micro-enterprises, which serve as drivers of indigenous entrepreneurship and national development, have an essential role at all levels of the global economy by energizing technological capability building, diffusion of innovations, and capital mobilization [5]. As for Malaysia, which reflects an emerging economy, micro-enterprises that account for 75% of the total number of SMEs employ approximately 1.3 million individuals throughout the nation, hence signifying its essential function in national development [6,7]. Micro or small enterprises differ vastly from the larger conglomerates, as MEs are characterized by one-person-operated, poorly managed, prone to be impermanent, frequently less productive, often informal, and undercapitalized [8] business ventures that have economic activities outside formal institutional limitations, but within informal institutional borders.…”

Generation Y Female Students Perceived Barriers Towards Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Study

“…Female participation in entrepreneurial venture creation in both developed and emerging economies are seen as a key contributor to economic growth. However, female entrepreneurs in emerging economies, such as South Africa face greater constraints in becoming entrepreneurs than their counterparts in developed economies, various possible reasons for this are underlined in the literature, such as a lack of entrepreneurial competencies (Schneider, 2017), education and training (Agholor et al, 2015 ), access to capital (Mamun et al, 2016) and gender inequality, however, the South African government gave attention to these constraints (GEM, 2016). Moreover, evidence from the literature indicates that female entrepreneurs in developed countries are further ahead than their counterparts in emerging economies (Nsengimana, 2017).…”