Household micro-entrepreneurship and e-commerce as a livelihood resilience strategy

Purpose In emerging countries, households usually resort to micro-entrepreneurship for their livelihood and to cope with adversity, whereas social distancing measures during pandemics hinder these options. Using the dynamic capabilities framework, we analyze the conditions under which e-commerce enables household micro-entrepreneurship and livelihood resilience in times of adversity. Design/methodology/approach We assume that e-commerce capabilities have enabling and moderating effects on the relationship between distancing measures and micro-entrepreneurship in the food and accommodation sector. The hypotheses are tested in Indonesia, which implemented COVID-19-related social distancing unevenly across administrative districts. This context presents a natural experiment, which we exploit using a difference-in-differences on population survey data. Findings While household micro-entrepreneurship decreased on average across Indonesia, it increased significantly in districts implementing restriction measures, and household e-commerce capabilities further enhanced this effect. This reveals the enabling role of e-commerce adoption for household micro-entrepreneurship and livelihood resilience during adversity in emerging countries, with implications for theory and practice. Originality/value This paper addresses the lack of theoretical and empirical research on the enabling role of digital technologies in micro-entrepreneurial and resilience processes. More specifically, it focuses on households facing adversity in emerging countries, combining digitalization and micro-entrepreneurship to build livelihood resilience strategies.