This article presents the results of an empirical study of the contractual practices of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the area of Dakar, Senegal, from the perspective of legal pluralism. The notion of internormativity developed by Jean-Guy Belley in his study of the relationships between Alcan and its suppliers serves to question the importance of state law in business relationships and economic development and the approach taken by the World Bank with respect to the relationship between formal and informal norms in developing countries.

Allotment and subcontracting are the two procedures enabling small businesses to participate in procurement. We compare these two procedures in the context of a procurement contract awarded by a first-price sealed-bid auction. We assume that the public buyer wishes to fulfil two different goals: to minimize expected costs of the contract for the public buyer and to maximize small businesses' profit. We show that, under specific cost-technology conditions we determine, the allotment procedure not only enables extensive participation by small businesses but also can achieve the goal of minimizing expected total costs for the public buyer.