Enterprise Formalization

Tom Kenyon reporting on a Enterprise Formalization conference states that:

The most basic requirement is to understand exactly what informal entrepreneurs might gain from formalizing. Their reasons for doing so are quite context-specific. In mining communities, for example, small scale operators don't usually require loans but they do require a reliable means of holding and transporting cash. Linking formalization to credit would make little sense but providing physical security might...Once policy-makers have understood what it might take to persuade entrepreneurs to formalize, they need - as Chanakya(a contributor) says - to think creatively about how to how to link costs and benefits...Another lesson is to identify and work through 'amphibians' - people who have one foot in the informal sector and the other in the world of formal institutions. The advantage of using intermediaries is that they have closer knowledge of conditions on the ground and may be better placed to enforce bargains.