“Hidden Entrepreneurship”: Destructive Practices within the Formal Economy?

This study focusses on “hidden entrepreneurship” activities, which are legal and legitimate within the formal economy, but where the governance structure of the organization is illegal. This qualitative study draws upon institutional theory to explore the emergence of hidden entrepreneurship in Oman, and to examine its effects on the domestic entrepreneurship ecosystem. Hidden practices are found to be shaped by the dynamics of formal and informal institutional environments, and have a negative effect on the domestic entrepreneurship ecosystem. This paper contributes empirically to the domain of entrepreneurship by illuminating the impact of hidden entrepreneurship through the lens of institutional theory.