Reuschke, D. and Mason, C. (2022) The engagement of home-based businesses in the digital economy. Futures, 135, 102542. (doi: 10.1016/j.futures.2020.102542)
![[img]](https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text
211726.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. 575kB |
Abstract
This paper explores the engagement of home-based businesses in digital trading, measured as proportion of their sales from buying and selling services and products online of all their sales. Findings are drawn from a sample of 994 Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses that are members of the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland. Multivariate findings show that home-based businesses are associated with high proportions of online sales supporting the view of home-based businesses as ‘online’ businesses. However, quantitatively, the overall transformational effects of digital technologies on the nature and processes of entrepreneurship are rather small as the vast majority of home-based businesses, like SMEs that are not home-based, trade offline. Online business models represent a very small proportion of the home-based business sector. Home-based businesses in rural areas do not make greater use of e-commerce. The findings add to the critical literature on the transformative nature of digital entrepreneurship and the emerging home-based business literature that question whether the role of digital technologies and online marketplaces for home-based businesses are being exaggerated, particularly in rural economies.
| Item Type: | Articles |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | The data collection was funded and administered by the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland. Darja Reuschke’s time on this paper was funded by the European Research Council, the Starting Grant WORKANDHOME (ERC- 2014-STG 639403) |
| Status: | Published |
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Mason, Professor Colin |
| Authors: | Reuschke, D., and Mason, C. |
| College/School: | College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management |
| Journal Name: | Futures |
| Publisher: | Elsevier |
| ISSN: | 0016-3287 |
| ISSN (Online): | 1873-6378 |
| Published Online: | 05 March 2020 |
| Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2020 The Authors |
| First Published: | First published in Futures 135: 102542 |
| Publisher Policy: | Reproduced under a Creative Commons license |
University Staff: Request a correction | Enlighten Editors: Update this record
Altmetric
Altmetric