External publications

Household enterprises in Egypt: between survival and vulnerability

in: ERF Policy Brief 152

Volltext/Full text

We use household enterprise data from the Egypt Labor Market Panel Surveys (ELMPS) in 1998, 2006, 2012, 2012 and 2023 to track the state of household micro and small enterprises (MSEs), particularly in light of the enactment of the new micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) law in 2020. The sector continues to be dominated by informal, male-owned microenterprises. Despite numerous initiatives and reforms in the institutional and regulatory environment, MSEs remain heavily self-financed. These characteristics suggest that the sector functions more as a ‘survival sector’ or a last-resort employer rather than as a competitive, high-tech and high-value one.

About the IDOS author

El-Haddad, Amirah

Economy

Further IDOS experts

Altenburg, Tilman

Economic Geography 

Asimeng, Emmanuel Theodore

Urban Planning, Sustainability 

Loewe, Markus

Economy 

Sommer, Christoph

Economist 

Sowa, Alina

Economics 

Strohmaier, Rita

Economy 

Stöcker, Alexander

Economics 

Vogel, Tim

Economy 

Vrolijk, Kasper

Economy 

Zintl, Tina

Political Scientist