Innovation in informal settings: reflections and proposals for a research agenda

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of innovation in informal settings as a necessary step towards the understanding of the role innovation can play in inclusive development. It reviews major concepts from the innovation studies literature as well as from the informal economy vintage, blending them with different conceptualizations of innovation: inclusive, below the radar, and bottom of the pyramid; and diverse approaches: cooperation for innovation, grassroots innovations, indigenous knowledge, gender and institutions. The need to bridge intellectual traditions with rather weak links so far inspires a research agenda, strongly interdisciplinary in nature, presented at the end of the paper.