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Adversity or Opportunity? Exploring the Effect of COVID-19 on Ghana’s Informal Economy

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Advances in Human Factors, Business Management and Leadership (AHFE 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 267))

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Abstract

This study purported to explore the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the informal sector in Ghana. Particularly, the study sought to explore the nature of adversity, opportunities arising from the pandemic and remedial measures. The study adopted a mixed method and used a sample of 186 small-scale business owners and operators. The study found that the major driver of people into the informal sector were the lack of job opportunities in the formal sector rather than the need to evade government regulations. The adverse effects of the pandemic on informal businesses included lowered sales, shortage of supplies and closure of businesses. However, there were opportunities for informal businesses propelled by business diversification and technology. The study recommended the need for government to support and protect the informal sector to enhance mutual revenue generation amidst this pandemic.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Office of the Legal Counsel, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 25, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    Olivia Anku-Tsede

  2. Department of Organisation and Human Resource Management, University of Ghana Business School, P.O. Box LG 78, Legon, Accra, Ghana

    Reginald Arthur

Authors
  1. Olivia Anku-Tsede
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  2. Reginald Arthur
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Olivia Anku-Tsede .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Jussi Ilari Kantola

  2. Institute of Maritime Operations, University of South-Eastern Norway, Borre, Norway

    Salman Nazir

  3. Häme University of Applied Sciences, Hämeenlinna, Finland

    Vesa Salminen

Appendix

Appendix

See (Table 1).

Table 1. Economic activities of respondents
Full size table

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© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Anku-Tsede, O., Arthur, R. (2021). Adversity or Opportunity? Exploring the Effect of COVID-19 on Ghana’s Informal Economy. In: Kantola, J.I., Nazir, S., Salminen, V. (eds) Advances in Human Factors, Business Management and Leadership. AHFE 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 267. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80876-1_30

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80876-1_30

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-80875-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-80876-1

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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