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

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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 (https://doi.org/10.1080/00343401003614241)

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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.

ORCID iDs

Mason, Colin M., Carter, Sara ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5812-4354 and Tagg, Stephen;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)