ABSTRACT The informal economy plays an integral role in addressing the socio-economic issues facing many nations around the world. Informal sector entrepreneurship activities contribute 10–20% of the GDP in developed economies and up to 60% in developing economies. In South Africa, the informal sector accounts for 15–17% of total employment and about 5.2% of the country’s GDP. Yet, very little attention is given to how informal sector entrepreneurship shapes individual entrepreneurial orientation and the emergence of entrepreneurial leadership, and vice versa. The lack of attention to the notions of individual entrepreneurial orientation and the emergence of entrepreneurial leadership from the informal sector is worrisome given that a significant number of now successful entrepreneurs in African contexts began their business operations within the informal sector. This article presents a multilevel analysis of the emergence of entrepreneurial leadership in the informal sector of South Africa. We draw from “rags to riches” inspirational accounts and social identity theory to develop an integrative framework on the emergence of entrepreneurial leadership in the informal sector. Short case studies of successful entrepreneurial leaders who emerged from the informal sector are presented for illustrative purposes. This paper aims to provide valuable insights into one of the understudied but rapidly growing entrepreneurial contexts, informal sector entrepreneurship, and how this context shapes individual entrepreneurial orientation and the emergence of entrepreneurial leadership. This exposes a previously hidden territory for new insights and further studies on how to advance entrepreneurship development research and praxis.

中文翻译：

---

非正式部门的企业家精神，个人创业取向和企业家领导力的出现

摘要非正规经济在解决世界上许多国家面临的社会经济问题方面发挥着不可或缺的作用。非正式部门的企业家活动在发达经济体中占GDP的10％至20％，在发展中经济体中占60％。在南非，非正规部门占总就业的15-17％，约占该国GDP的5.2％。然而，很少有人关注非正式部门的企业家精神如何塑造个人的企业家取向和企业家领导力的出现，反之亦然。鉴于目前非洲有许多成功的企业家开始在非正规部门开展业务，因此缺乏对个人创业取向概念的关注和非正规部门的企业家领导的出现令人担忧。本文对南非非正式部门中企业家领导力的出现进行了多层次分析。我们从“破烂致富”的鼓舞性论述和社会认同理论出发，为非正规部门企业家领导力的出现建立一个综合框架。出于说明目的，本文介绍了从非正规部门中脱颖而出的成功企业家领袖的简短案例研究。本文旨在提供一种有价值的见解，以了解一种未被充分研究但正在迅速发展的企业家环境，非正规部门的企业家精神，以及这种环境如何塑造个人的企业家取向和企业家领导力的出现。这为以前的隐藏领域提供了新的见解，并进一步研究了如何推进企业家发展研究和实践。