Informal employment: Two contested policy issues
For their helpful comments, the authors would like to thank Richard Anker, Patrick Belser, Janine Berg, Naomi Cassirer, Philippe Egger, Christoph Ernst, Susan Hayter, Raymond Torres and Sylvester Young.
Responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles rests solely with their authors and publication does not constitute an endorsement by the ILO.
Abstract.
This article addresses two contested issues of crucial importance to policy, namely: formal labour regulations as a cause of informal employment, and so‐called “voluntary” informal employment. The authors provide theoretical overviews on both issues and an extensive survey of empirical studies on the effects of formal labour regulations on informal employment. The article closes with observations on the relevance of the ILO's four decent work objectives for informal employment and economic development, with particular emphasis on the significance of – and potential for – organizing workers in the informal economy.
Citing Literature
Number of times cited: 38
- Leanne Roncolato, Nicholas Reksten and Caren Grown, Engendering Growth Diagnostics: Examining Constraints to Private Investment and Entrepreneurship, Development Policy Review, 35, 2, (263-287), (2017).
- Aeggarchat Sirisankanan, Informality: does financial development matter?, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 37, 1/2, (16), (2017).
- Şebnem Eroğlu, Income generation, informality and poverty in urban Turkey, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 37, 5/6, (295), (2017).
- Jakub Buček, Determinants of the Shadow Economy in the Czech Regions: A Region-Level Study, Review of Economic Perspectives, 17, 3, (2017).
- Ela Callorda Fossati, Labour and Production Relations, The Diversity of Emerging Capitalisms in Developing Countries, 10.1007/978-3-319-49947-5_4, (95-126), (2017).
- Luz Adriana FLÓREZ and Francisco PERALES, Labour protection and informal work: A cross‐national analysis of European countries, 2004–2012, International Labour Review, 155, 4, (623-650), (2017).
- Bill Gibson and Diane Flaherty, Juridical and Functional Informality: From Theory to Practical Policy, Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, 10, 4, (409), (2016).
- Karin Astrid Siegmann and Freek Schiphorst, Understanding the globalizing precariat: From informal sector to precarious work, Progress in Development Studies, 16, 2, (111), (2016).
- Coskun Karaca, The Comparison of the Shadow Economy in Turkey and European Countries, Comparative Economics and Regional Development in Turkey, 10.4018/978-1-4666-8729-5.ch004, (73-105)
- Leanne Roncolato, The Feminization U in South Africa: Economic Structure and Women's Labor Force Participation, Feminist Economics, 22, 4, (54), (2016).
- Maria Ferreira, Informal versus precarious work in Colombia: Concept and operationalization, Progress in Development Studies, 16, 2, (140), (2016).
- Corti Paul Lakuma, Robert Marty and Annette Kuteesa, Survival Analysis of Regional Unemployment in Uganda: Evidence from the Uganda National Panel Survey (UNPS), African Development Review, 28, 1, (140-154), (2016).
- Friedrich Schneider, Outside the State: The Shadow Economy and Shadow Economy Labour Force, The Palgrave Handbook of International Development, 10.1057/978-1-137-42724-3_11, (185-204), (2016).
- Arnab K. Basu, Nancy H. Chau and Ravi Kanbur, Contractual Dualism, Market Power and Informality, The Economic Journal, 125, 589, (1534-1573), (2015).
- Roxana Maurizio, Transitions to Formality and Declining Inequality: Argentina and Brazil in the 2000s, Development and Change, 46, 5, (1047-1079), (2015).
- Kea Tijdens, Janna Besamusca and Maarten van Klaveren, Workers and Labour Market Outcomes of Informal Jobs in Formal Establishments. A Job-based Informality Index for Nine Sub-Saharan African Countries, The European Journal of Development Research, 27, 5, (868), (2015).
- Friedrich Schneider, Shadow Work: Measurement, International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.94036-4, (862-867), (2015).
- Marisol E. Ruiz, Gemma Tarafa Orpinell, Pere Jódar Martínez and Joan Benach, ¿Es posible comparar el empleo informal en los países de América del Sur? Análisis de su definición, clasificación y medición, Gaceta Sanitaria, 29, 1, (65), (2015).
- G. Betcherman, Labor Market Regulations: What do we know about their Impacts in Developing Countries?, The World Bank Research Observer, 30, 1, (124), (2015).
- Jhon James Mora and Juan Muro, Informality and minimum wages by cohort in Colombia, Cuadernos de Economía, 33, 63, (469), (2014).
- Isabel Pla-Julián, Addressing informality, gender and ethnicity in domestic labour, Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, 20, 4, (559), (2014).
- Alan Finkelstein Shapiro, Self-employment and business cycle persistence: Does the composition of employment matter for economic recoveries?, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 46, (200), (2014).
- Rosaria Burchielli, Annie Delaney and Kylie Coventry, Campaign strategies to develop regulatory mechanisms: Protecting Australian garment homeworkers, Journal of Industrial Relations, 56, 1, (81), (2014).
- Natalia Radchenko, Heterogeneity in Informal Salaried Employment: Evidence from the Egyptian Labor Market Survey, World Development, 62, (169), (2014).
- Friedrich Schneider, Work in the Shadow: Micro and Macro Results, International Economic Journal, 28, 3, (365), (2014).
- Simon COMMANDER, Natalia ISACHENKOVA and Yulia RODIONOVA, Informal employment dynamics in Ukraine: An analytical model of informality in transition economies, International Labour Review, 152, 3-4, (445-467), (2013).
- Maria Sagrario Floro and Ranjula Bali Swain, Food Security, Gender, and Occupational Choice among Urban Low-Income Households, World Development, 42, (89), (2013).
- Travis Wiseman, US shadow economies: a state-level study, Constitutional Political Economy, 24, 4, (310), (2013).
- Alexandra Cortés Aguilar, Teresa M. García Muñoz and Ana I. Moro-Egido, Heterogeneous self-employment and satisfaction in Latin America, Journal of Economic Psychology, 39, (44), (2013).
- Mariano Bosch, Edwin Goñi-Pacchioni and William Maloney, Trade liberalization, labor reforms and formal–informal employment dynamics, Labour Economics, 19, 5, (653), (2012).
- Michael Grimm,, Rolph van der Hoeven,, Jann Lay, and François Roubaud,, Neubewertung des informellen Sektors und Unternehmertums in Sub-Sahara-Afrika, Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung, 81, 3, (69), (2012).
- Boonsom Namsomboon and Kyoko Kusakabe, Social protection for women homeworkers: a case of healthcare services in Thailand, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 31, 1/2, (123), (2011).
- Janine Berg, Laws or Luck? Understanding Rising Formality in Brazil in the 2000s, Regulating for Decent Work, 10.1057/9780230307834_5, (123-150), (2011).
- John Stirling, Trade unions in a fragile state: the case of Sierra Leone, Industrial Relations Journal, 42, 3, (236-253), (2011).
- Michael Quinlan and Peter Sheldon, The Enforcement of Minimum Labour Standards in an Era of Neo-Liberal Globalisation: An Overview, The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 22, 2, (5), (2011).
- Lars P. Feld and Friedrich Schneider, Survey on the Shadow Economy and Undeclared Earnings in OECD Countries, German Economic Review, 11, 2, (109-149), (2010).
- Maria S. Floro and Anant Pichetpongsa, Gender, Work Intensity, and Well-Being of Thai Home-Based Workers, Feminist Economics, 16, 3, (5), (2010).
- Philippe Adair and Youghourta Bellache, Labor market segmentation and occupational mobility in Algeria: Repeated cross‐sectional and longitudinal analyses (2007 to 2012), Review of Development Economics, , (2018).
