In the Shadow of the States: the Informalities of Chinese Petty Entrepreneurship in Nigeria

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

"The burgeoning interstate relation between China and Nigeria is in fact hiding the vulnerable condition of transnational Chinese petty entrepreneurship. Small-scale Chinese entrepreneurs in Nigeria are faced with everyday corruption practised by both Nigerian authorities and ordinary Nigerian people, the dominance of self-interest over cohesion and mutual support among the Chinese compatriots, and variations in state policies due to dynamic and changing interstate relations. To overcome their position of weakness, small-scale Chinese entrepreneurs strategize their interactions with both Nigerian and Chinese nationals. Informality is a characteristic of such interactions. Economic informality is primarily embodied in the documentation service businesses that are indebted to those popular corrupt practices in Nigeria; while social informality takes place in cyberspace. Interaction via the Internet among Chinese involved in Chinese-Nigerian businesses helps small-scale Chinese entrepreneurs to cope with fluctuations in interstate links at the macro-level and to develop a sense of community." (author's abstract)

Object Details

• Alternative title: Im Schatten der Staaten: die Informalitäten chinesischen Kleinunternehmertums in Nigeria
• ISSN: 1868-1026
• Extent: Seite(n): 75-105
• Language: Deutsch
• Notes: Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 44(1)

Classification and Topics

• Subject: Internationale Beziehungen ; Soziologie, Anthropologie ; Wirtschaftssoziologie ; internationale Beziehungen, Entwicklungspolitik ; Kleinbetrieb ; Chinese ; Nigeria ; Vulnerabilität ; Korruption ; informelle Struktur ; China ; Westafrika ; Entwicklungsland ; Ostasien

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Xiao, Allen Hai
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Deutschland
• (when): 2015

Further information

• URN: urn:nbn:de:gbv:18-4-8163
• Last update: 21.06.2024, 4:27 PM CEST