CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2011
| Author | Stokanic, Dragana |
|---|---|
| Title | Entrepreneurship on the margin between informality and formality: The textile industry in South-West Serbia |
| Summary | In this thesis I present a qualitative insight into the development of the textile industry in South Western part of Serbia in the last two decades. I explore the importance of social networks and informal activities on entrepreneurial strategies in the two phases of Serbian post-socialist transformation. Additionally, I use embeddendess as an overarching theoretical concept to explain informal social networks and informal activities, taking into account various social identities as well as norms and values which affect market behavior. I show that, despite an economic crisis, the 1990s was a “Golden age” of the textile industry in Sandžak. I present how, during the blocked post-socialist transformation, the informal sector was the central arena on which textile entrepreneurs performed. In this period informal networks were embedded in other social ties; they facilitated organization of informal activities being alternative sources of trust, resources and moral justification. I also show how changes in macro environment influenced the changed in informal sector and networking as well. Now, entrepreneurs are aware that they cannot base their business strategies only on the informal sector, but they can use it as an auxiliary mechanism creating diversified strategies on the margin and border between formal and informal sectors. Furthermore, the association established in 2000s is a medium between individual producers and local, national and international institutions. The association became a partner with formal institutions, cooperating with them and trying to take advantage of cooperation. |
| Supervisor | Zentai, Voletta and Vedres, Balazs |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2011/stokanic_dragana.pdf |
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