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NORGLOBAL2-Norge - global partner

Working Through Violence: SMEs and the SDGs in Fragile Urban Spaces (UrbanSMEs)

Alternative title: Urbane småbedrifter i voldelige områder: Jobbskapere, fredsaktører eller voldelige entreprenører?

Awarded: NOK 12.2 mill.

Project Manager:

Project Number:

302791

Application Type:

Project Period:

2020 - 2024

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Location:

Partner countries:

In most of the world, Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the main providers of employment and livelihoods. This is particularly true for large cities in poor countries that will host an increasing share of the world's population in the future. Many of these are also the sites of increases in violence. Like citizens, SMEs are often victims of violence and crime, such as extortion and robbery. SMEs have also been particularly hard hit by the Covid-19 lockdown. However, they may also be engaged in violent activities themselves, for example when they collaborate with gangs or launder illicit money. In other situations, SMEs can even be key actors in providing more peaceful and prosperous urban communities. UrbanSME researches how SMEs can support sustainable livelihoods and contribute to safer and more secure cities. It compares the strategies of SMEs in eight cities hosting different forms of violence: Beirut, Caracas, Cape Town, Bogota, Kampala, Medellin, San Pedro Sula and San Salvador. So far in the project, we have conducted a thorough literature review, a first round of data collection, and preliminary analysis of data. The data were collected using a telephone-based survey with 86,000 respondents, including owners of large and small businesses, and control groups. It has been carried out in seven of the case cities. In addition, we conducted initial interviews with business leaders and representatives of business organizations. These have focused on both the small businesses' relationship with violent actors and authorities, and changes as a result of the authorities' measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, including both restrictions due to lock-downs and other infection control measures, and the authorities' support program. The literature review has, among other things, identified different understandings of the role of small businesses, along two axes: whether they are passive or active actors, and whether they are constructive or destructive. Based on theoretical perspectives and empirical experiences, one can distinguish between four roles: peace preservers, catalysts, condoners and predators. We have also identified significant gaps in the literature on small business and external shocks, such as Covid-19. There is a particular lack of literature on small businesses in the global South during crises, and a far greater focus on medium-sized companies than the small and microenterprises that dominate in many poor countries. A preliminary analysis of the data indicates that there are greater commonalities than differences in how small businesses across different violent cities experience and relate to actors in violence, and what kind of changes the Covid-19 situation has brought about. There are greater differences between small and large companies than between small companies in the different cities. Large companies have received the most help through the pandemic, while the small ones have had to close to the greatest extent. It is also the small ones who have been most involved in the local communities. A further preliminary finding is that the small businesses that have become involved in the local community have had the greatest chance of surviving the crisis. There is also a generational gap in the way SMEs relate to local communities: younger business owners show greater commitment than the older ones. When it comes to the local communities' views on the extent to which companies contribute, it varies considerably. The clearest connection is that where local communities experience a positive change, people have a positive view of the companies, while where they experience a negative change, they have a negative view of the companies. Another preliminary finding is that more than half of the companies have recently experienced violence or threats of violence. This often happens in connection with extortion. There are small differences between small and large companies in the extent of threats, but significant in how these are handled. In the next phase of the project, we will conduct in-depth interviews in the case-cities with a focus on answering the overarching questions: What are the characteristics of small businesses that manage to survive and grow in violent urban areas? What significance do collaborations or opposition to violent actors have for their survival or growth? How do successful small businesses manage to use relationships with governments and large corporations to their advantage? The overall objective of the project is to explain how small businesses contribute to development and whether their strategies strengthen or undermine security in violent urban areas. By better understanding it, we will also be able to understand how small businesses can contribute to the sustainability goals number 8 (good jobs and economic growth), 11 (sustainable cities and communities) and 16 (peace, justice and stronger institutions).

In 2012, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon declared that ‘our struggle for global sustainability will be lost or won in cities’. Urban areas of the Global South will be critical arenas to tackle global poverty, ameliorate conflicts and achieve sustainable development, and Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are often held up as crucial actors in vulnerable or fragile cities. SMEs have the potential to be important development and peace actors across the Global South, but there are disconnects between the assumed impact of SMEs in fragile contexts and our understanding of how SMEs strategically, operationally and practically influence growth and peace. Bringing together five leading institutions, we will undertake the first global comparative study of the role of SMEs in supporting peace and development in violent urban contexts. It will study SME strategies in Beirut, Cape Town, Bogota, Kampala, Medellin, San Pedro Sula and San Salvador. We will identify core factors, relationships and strategies that explain how and why SMEs survive and grow in violent settings. Our research design is a comparative mixed-methods approach. It includes a qualitative study of SME decisions and outcomes in contexts of urban violence, and quantitative analysis of how resources, constraints, relationships and context affect outcomes to identify generalizable mechanisms. We will link business, urban geography, conflict studies, and development studies fields to develop comparative empirical knowledge into how SMEs shape inclusive development, safety and security. We also challenge assumptions in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) regarding the role of local business and growth upon development, focusing in particular on SDG 8, SDG 11 and SDG 16. This 4-year project will deliver 12 academic articles and a series of policy and popular outputs to fill key knowledge gaps on SMEs in fragile urban spaces and advance scholarly and policy frontiers on business and the SDGs.

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NORGLOBAL2-Norge - global partner