Workers in small business: the forgotten people

Abstract

Introduction:The present-day concentration by government, private sector organizations and academics on the small and informal business sectors is undoubtedly a sign of the times. Until some 20 years ago small business attracted little attention, the term 'informal sector' had hardly been heard of. The limits to growth experienced in the industrialized countries from the mid-1970's onwards, however, and the deepening malaise of what had previously been regarded as the 'developing' world, brought about a sea-change in attitudes. It became obvious that corporate investment, local or foreign, was providing jobs for only a minute fraction of the destitute workseekers flooding third world cities. Even in the developed countries full employment was a thing of the past. In this climate policy-makers came to pin their hope on growth of the informal sector as a means of absorbing the millions of people whom the formal sector could not accommodate