Publication Details
Abstract
This article presents a comprehensive study of the organizational and economic mechanisms of entrepreneurship development in the mahallas (neighbourhood communities) of Uzbekistan. The relevance of the problem stems from the fact that the share of small business in gross domestic product (GDP) contracted from 67.1% in 2017 to 49.6% in the first half of 2025, while the number of operating entities fell from 523.6 thousand in 2022 to 358.1 thousand in 2024. Drawing on the data of the National Statistics Committee for 2010–2025, a multifactor regression model was estimated by ordinary least squares (OLS, R² = 0.960); in parallel, the resource potential, specialization and household income structure of 105 mahallas in the Narpay and Pakhtachi districts of Samarkand region were analysed. According to the Committee’s operational data for January–June 2025, 1,200.4 thousand small business entities were operating nationwide — including 487.1 thousand small enterprises and microfirms and 713.4 thousand individual entrepreneurs, dehqan farms, family entrepreneurs, artisans and sellers of imported goods — yet their share of GDP continued its downward trend (54.8% in 2021 against 49.6% in the first half of 2025). As a result, entrepreneurship was found to account for only 8.9–9.3% of mahalla household income. Criteria for identifying the “driver sectors” and “growth points” of mahallas were developed, together with recommendations for improving the organizational and economic mechanism.