Abstract
ABSTRACTEconomic research has rarely considered the significance of the home and neighbourhood context of where business owners live for their business. Conversely, urban and neighbourhood research has overlooked how housing and neighbourhood shape business and entrepreneurship outcomes. This paper investigates the importance of housing and neighbourhood resources for microbusinesses using a random sample of microbusinesses in Edinburgh (UK) including those that are informal and home-based, and various characteristics of the neighbourhood in which the business owner lives were attached to the survey records. The data capture whether business owners have business premises outside their homes, and have used neighbourhood contacts, housing equity or space in the house for their business. In short, housing and neighbourhood resources are used by a large majority (82%) of microbusinesses. The findings challenge a number of common assumptions on the separation of commercial and residential functions, how neighbourhoods feature in the evolution of businesses, the nested conceptualization of home within a neighbourhood and on the nature of home-based businesses. It is concluded that multi-use (rather than mixed-use) neighbourhood planning would help foster more flexible and dynamic use of neighbourhoods and urban districts, although recognizing that this is a political issue.
Highlights
Economic research and urban planning tend to conceptualize commercial and residential functions as physically and semantically separate
This study stresses that the prevalent planning and economic concepts that isolate commercial and residential functions do not reflect how microbusinesses function in urban economies
Especially housing resources, are used by a large majority of microbusinesses (82% in our sample). This is not limited to microbusinesses run from the owner’s home, but extends to businesses in commercial premises using space in the owner’s home and to the use of housing equity to fund business operation and expansion
Summary
They represented 92.7% of all businesses in the EU28 non-financial business sector in 2014/2015 (European Commission, 2015, p. 8). We mean features of housing or neighbourhoods that provide benefits or assets (e.g. physical space, security for loans, or business networks and advice and role models from neighbours). Our focus is not on conventional economic ‘success’, but on the use of local residential resources by businesses This is important from an economic point of view because almost all businesses are micro. Most businesses will start as micros and may use different resources than when more established These ‘different’ resources may include to a substantial extent local residential resources, for example neighbourhood networks, a garage to store goods or housing equity to secure external finance. We attach to the survey records information on various characteristics of the neighbourhood in which the business owner lives This approach allows empirical underpinning of a new perspective on business which links the functioning of business with neighbourhood and housing resources
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
