From Informal to Formal: Does Formal Enterprises’ Prior Experience in the Informal Sector Drive their Adoption of Bricolage?

While previous studies have significantly contributed to our understanding of bricolage – an important resource mobilisation approach in resource-constrained contexts, there is limited research on the impact of formal enterprises’ prior informal sector experience on their adoption of bricolage. This paper develops and tests the hypothesis that the adoption of bricolage can be a function of prior informal sector experience. Using survey data from 1251 formal enterprises operating in Indonesia, we found support for our proposition. Our findings show that there is a positive relationship between prior informal sector experience and the adoption of bricolage. This relationship is strengthened by greater levels of informal competition. The results have implications for theory and practice.