The engagement of home-based businesses in the digital economy. (January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Reuschke, Darja; Mason, Colin
• Is Part Of: Futures. Volume 135(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-01
• Subjects: Small business -- Digital entrepreneurship -- Home-based business -- E-commerce; Economic forecasting -- Periodicals; Technological forecasting -- Periodicals; Economic policy -- Periodicals; Prévision économique -- Périodiques; Prévision technologique -- Périodiques; Politique économique -- Périodiques; Economic forecasting; Economic policy; Technological forecasting; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 330.0112
• DOI: 10.1016/j.futures.2020.102542
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0016-3287

Abstract

Highlights: Home-based businesses show a greater reliance on e-commerce trading for sales. However, only a minority of home-based businesses uses online trading for sales. The use of online marketplaces is rare, similar to other SMEs. There is little geographical variation in using online trading for sales. Abstract: This paper explores the engagement of home-based businesses in digital trading, measured as proportion of their sales from buying and selling services and products online of all their sales. Findings are drawn from a sample of 994 Small- and Medium-Sized Businesses that are members of the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland. Multivariate findings show that home-based businesses are associated with high proportions of online sales supporting the view of home-based businesses as 'online' businesses. However, quantitatively, the overall transformational effects of digital technologies on the nature and processes of entrepreneurship are rather small as the vast majority of home-based businesses, like SMEs that are not home-based, trade offline. Online business models represent a very small proportion of the home-based business sector. Home-based businesses in rural areas do not make greater use of e-commerce. The findings add to the critical literature on the transformative nature of digital entrepreneurship and the emerging home-based business literature that question whether the role of digital technologies and online marketplaces for home-based businesses are being exaggerated, particularly in rural economies.