Mutualising cash-in-hand? Social enterprise, informal economic activity and deprived neighbourhoods

Abstract

Since the Grabiner Report in 2000 there has been growing concern on the part of government over the scale of the informal economy. Most of the proposals to address this growth have focused on ways to deter such activity. But there have also been efforts to assist those who wish to legitimise their activities. This paper argues that a social enterprise approach to formalisation would be of benefit to tackling joblessness and social exclusion as well as generating further social economic activity in deprived neighbourhoods. The paper draws upon review research and original research work currently being conducted into formalisation strategies.

Notes

1 The distinction of social capital into sub-types of bonding and bridging, where the former refers to exclusive and inward-looking within group ties and the latter to inclusive outward-looking between group ties, has become an increasingly important dimension of the notion with particular implications for employing social capital in policy and strategic interventions (see Gittell & Vidal, 1998; Halpern, 2005; Putnam, 2000).