Examining Resource Bricolage as an Entrepreneurial Strategy Among Nigerian Informal Economy Operators

This study empirically examines resource bricolage, the creative recombination of resources at hand as an alternative to market-based resource acquisition, as a dominant entrepreneurial strategy among informal economy operators in Nigeria, filling the gap in systematic empirical evidence on bricolage mechanisms and outcomes in the world's largest informal economy by population. Baker and Nelson's bricolage theory was developed primarily from Western SME evidence, and its application to the Nigerian informal economy context, where resource constraints are structurally determined rather than incidental, requires empirical examination and potential theoretical extension. The study employs a qualitative comparative study design, examining 24 informal economy enterprises demonstrating bricolage characteristics across Lagos, Kano, and Enugu, selected through theoretical sampling in collaboration with market association leaders. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observation sessions at each enterprise. Cross-case comparative analysis and constant comparison were applied. Findings identify five bricolage mechanisms particularly prominent in the Nigerian informal economy: cross-trade tool sharing networks, waste material valorisation for production input, apprentice labour exchange, informal knowledge bricolage through competitive imitation and adaptation, and market stall space subcontracting as a form of asset bricolage. The study finds that Nigerian informal bricoleurs exhibit a social embeddedness dimension not well captured by existing theory, relying on dense community obligations and reciprocity networks as their primary bricolage resource base. A contextually extended Nigerian bricolage model is proposed. Keywords: resource bricolage, informal economy, Nigeria, entrepreneurial strategy, resource constraints.