|
Abstract:
|
This study has focused on the conditions of indigenous entrepreneurs of production in the urban informal sector . In that sense , it is a first of its kind . Eleven Maya entrepreneurs in the city of Quetzaltenango , Guatemala , in five different productive activities , were interviewed . In addition a control group of three Ladino entrepreneurs was established and some large formal enterprises were visited . Besides analyzing the general working situation of the Maya entrepreneurs , the study tested two hypotheses on ethnicity . The first put forward the assumption that Maya entrepreneurs use their ethnic network to promote their enterprises , the other that Maya entrepreneurs are active in certain activities of the informal sector and not in others , due to , for example , structural conditions in the ethnically stratified and segregated society of Guatemala . Neither of these hypotheses were substantiated by the data . However , while ethnic segregation was not observed among Ladino and Maya entrepreneurs of production , there is circumstantial evidence of a structural discrimination that forces many Mayans who do not succeed in establishing a productive enterprise , to try their luck in the less economically promising sector of commerce . Besides the ethnic aspects , the study gave conclusive evidence for answers to some of the questions directed towards the informal sector in general , among them , the question whether or not capital accumulation takes place and , eventually , to which extent . The annual capital accumulation among productive enterprises in the informal sector of the city of Quetzaltenango was modeled . The results indicate an accumulation per year of roughly $1 .5 million . Recalculations with a sensible variation of some of the crucial assumptions , gave results within a band of $1 .35 million - $1 .65 million . The capital is accumulated by 258 enterprises , with four or more workers (including the owner ) , with a total work force of 1 ,320 workers , out of a total of 1879 enterprises of production . To this author's knowledge , no similar attempt of such an estimation has been reported in the literature before . The study offers calculations on the economic take -home earnings of some of the Maya entrepreneurs and identifies the mechanisms behind the entrepreneurial successes and failures . It concludes that it is necessary to distinguish between enterprises of production and enterprises of commerce due to their different natures . It presents data on the labor wages in the informal sector . It shows that the salaries are , first , closely related to the productivity of the individual worker , and , second , that , probably more often than not , they are tied to fluctuations in the demand of the market for the products of the enterprise . This means that the salary bracket within one economic activity may vary widely throughout the year . Other topics where the study offers new insight on entrepreneurial practice in the informal sector , are on lending conditions and the use of formal loans , on taxation , on the use of different management schemes and the potential of these , and on productivity and profitability within different economic activities . A list of the findings of the study is given at the end . |