Abstract:

This paper examines how a collective entrepreneurial identity, rooted in ritual practice, enables and constrains collective entrepreneurial action in traditional informal markets. Drawing on an ethnographic observation of the Samarkand's Siyob market (Uzbekistan) in the former Silk Road, and seventeen semi-structured interviews with bazaar entrepreneurs and administrators we explored identity work in the context of collective action. We find that shared identity social and religious rituals enable collective action related to the enforcement of traditions and the collective entrepreneurial continuity. At the same time, a shared collective identity constrains collective action through invocations of tawakkul (entrusting outcomes to God) that can reduce collective planning expectations, and through the preservation of inefficient governance mechanisms. By looking at these tensions, we contribute a boundary-condition account of identity work related to collective entrepreneurial action. Implications for informal and transitional economy entrepreneurship research are discussed.

Please choose your submission type: Full Paper

Primary Track: Entrepreneurship

Keywords: Entrepreneurship Theories;International Entrepreneurship;International entrepreneurship;Entrepreneurship in emerging markets;Informal Economy & the "Dark Side" of Entrepreneurship

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Mr. Mukhammad Aziz Akhmadjonov

Biography