Invisible businesses : the characteristics of home-based businesses in the United Kingdom

Mason, Colin M. and Carter, Sara and Tagg, Stephen (2011) Invisible businesses : the characteristics of home-based businesses in the United Kingdom. Regional Studies, 45 (5). pp. 625-639. ISSN 0034-3404

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    Abstract

    Home-based businesses comprise a significant proportion of the small business sector. But because they are invisible, their economic significance is assumed to be minor. This paper challenges this view. The majority are full-time businesses. One in ten has achieved significant scale. They create jobs for more than just the owner(s). They are concentrated in computer-related, business, and professional service sectors. They also have a distinctive geography. Rural areas and non-metropolitan parts of Southern England have the highest proportion of home-based businesses. Urban-industrial regions have the lowest proportion. This suggests a need to reconsider the role of home-based businesses in local economic development.

    Author(s):Mason, Colin M., Carter, Sara ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5812-4354 and Tagg, Stephen
    Item type:Article
    ID code:27637
    Keywords:home working, home-based business, small business, rural economy, urban economy, local economic development, development, invisible businesses, Commerce, Environmental Science(all), Social Sciences(all)
    Subjects:Social Sciences > Commerce
    Department:Strathclyde Business School > Hunter Centre For Entrepreneurship
    Strathclyde Business School > Marketing
    Depositing user: Miss Carol Ann Balloch
    Date deposited:07 Oct 2010 08:57
    Last modified:26 Jan 2020 01:37
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/27637
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