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This study explores the impact of insurance services and the sustainability of businesses in the Nigerian informal sector. The analysis relies on extant literature sourced from various sources to develop an understanding of the current trends of insurance services in the Nigerian informal sector and develop a suggested model for improved insurance service delivery in the Nigerian informal sector. Findings show that stakeholder commitment is necessary for better impact of insurance services in the sector. The conclusion emphasizes the possibility of business sustainability through consolidated insurance services among stakeholders in the sector. Part of the suggestion for further research is the need for a wider focus on insurance practices both in the formal and informal sectors of the Nigerian economy. This is coupled with an exploratory view on the impact of policy development on insurance support to business activities in the Nigerian informal sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the nexus between shadow economy and income inequality in the West African region. The study applies second-generation panel estimation techniques to analyze the effect and the direction of causation between the variables. The results reveal that the shadow economy reduces income inequality in the region in both short-run and long-run estimations. A similar result is documented when alternative estimation techniques are employed. In addition, the panel causality results show a bidirectional relationship between shadow economy and income inequality in the West African economy. The implications of the study are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does terrorism contribute to the growth of the shadow economy? While extensive literature has delved into the causes and consequences of terrorism, little has been studied on its impact on the shadow economy. Employing data on terrorism and the shadow economies of 116 countries from 1990 to 2017, we demonstrate that terrorism results in an increase in the size of the shadow economy and that the effect is larger in autocracies. We argue that the economic and social impacts of terrorism create environments that reinforce both exit and exclusion factors through the erosion of institutional trust and social capital, ultimately incentivizing or compelling actors to seek alternative methods of economic activities. Furthermore, a lack of free and horizontal information-sharing venues to address public fear and repressive counterterrorism measures in autocracies further hamper the economic pursuits of individuals, businesses, and foreign investors, facilitating their engagement in informal economic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous international development targets aim to encourage and formalize remittances, because they can support development efforts while controlling and monitoring illicit capital flows. Despite continued efforts to promote formal remittance channels, informal remittances flourish among specific population groups. This study uses data from the Canadian Study on International Money Transfers to analyze the determinants of remittance modality or channel choice. Previous empirical work tends to classify remittances as either formal or informal. In contrast, this article considers a variety of channels. It shows that the dichotomization of formal versus informal remittances masks crucial differences across remittance channels. Due to Canada's unique geographical positionality, cash transfers operate distinctly from informal methods despite often being treated as a homogenous group in other studies. Interestingly, remitters are also more likely to use formal money transfer operators (most of which offer cash pickup options to recipients) than informal channels to send funds to countries with larger informal sectors. Within the context of Canadian remittance outflows, this invalidates the frequent assumption that more informal destination country economies push remitters to opt for informal transfer methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article undertakes a socio-legal analysis of India's changing labour laws and situates migrant workers within the broader context of the changing relations between state, capital, and labour amid the reforms that were introduced in 2019–2020. It illustrates the precarity of migrant workers and the possibility of their legal exclusion from the revised labour codes, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic-led lockdowns. The new codes reduced the number of establishments under regulation and diluted provisions that can hold contractors and employers accountable, which increases the scope for exploitation of workers and has serious implications for the rights of migrants. The labour law reforms, we argue, appear to have favoured capital in its relations with workers and have increased the degree of informality in a wide range of industries. Inter-state migrant workers may find themselves excluded from protective provisions that hold employers accountable for their treatment and this may make them more vulnerable in the informal sector. The article concludes that this push by the state to boost the 'ease of doing business' via precarious forms of employment and whittling away the protections of inter-state migrant workers may be far more detrimental than expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study illustrates how incarcerated Latinx people create alternative social worlds or queer worldmakings as they negotiate everyday life in prison. I explore how these queer Latinx worldmakings are created and lived through the formation of chosen families or familias and the organizing of family dinners. Latinx queer worldmakings are temporary productions of social worlds that facilitate navigating life in the present while being queer and Latinx to resist as well as reconfigure disciplining heteronormative and white supremacist processes. It is the process of performing and creating a present that is oriented towards the future. I argue that such queer Latinx worldmakings counter white heteronormative social-spatial norms and carcerality, while also providing important lessons on what it means to live, love, and make place in and beyond the prison. The Latinx incarcerated women participants queered prison life by engaging in informal economies, negotiating relationships with correction officers, and securing ingredients for family dinners. By using an autoethnographic/testimonio approach and conversations with an incarcerated family member and friends, I explore two ways Latinx queer worldmakings are enacted: the creation of chosen families, and the organizing of family dinners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informality is widespread globally, with many workers and enterprises lacking formal arrangements. Effective statistics on the informal economy are essential for policy development, improving working conditions, and promoting decent work. Over the past 30 years, the establishment of statistical standards on informality has helped countries better measure and understand the informal sector and informal employment.Recent revisions to these standards, driven by evolving statistical labour standards and growing national experience, have led to a new resolution on informal economy statistics. Adopted at the 21st ICLS in 2023, this resolution offers a comprehensive framework for defining and measuring informality. It introduces concepts such as informal productive activities, the informal economy, the informal market economy, and informal work, setting the structure and boundaries for informality statistics.By integrating the 19th ICLS resolution on work, employment, and labour underutilization and the 20th ICLS resolution on work relationships, including ICSE-18, the new standards align with previous resolutions, promoting coherence in labour statistics. The resolution includes improved definitions of the formal and informal sectors, household own-use production and community sector, and formal and informal employment, enhancing data quality and harmonization across countries. Overall, the 21st ICLS resolution significantly enhance countries’ capacity to produce harmonized, policy-relevant statistics on the informal economy, aiding efforts to formalize it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the outcomes of internal migration in Indonesia, specifically focusing on the intersecting themes of ethnicity, informality, and entrepreneurial migration. We examine how Javanese migrants perceive the benefits and challenges of their migration and subsequent engagement in the informal sector as self‐employed migrants/small business owners in and around Kupang’s traditional markets. We use a sequential mixed‐methods approach (a household survey with a structured interview [n=344] and in‐depth/semi‐structured interviews [n=28] in 2020). Drawing on Hein de Haas’s framework on the internal dynamics of migration, we explore the multifaceted outcomes of entrepreneurial migration beyond the economic consequences addressed in similar studies. The perceived positive impacts of this migration include sufficient income to cover daily needs and children’s education, as well as new remittances and employment opportunities for communities in Java and Kupang. However, these broadly empowering trends were set against the experience of those migrants who, because of less informal sector labour experience, could not easily negotiate their settlement in a new host environment, leading to varied adverse consequences. Ultimately, then, the article highlights the importance of social networks, knowledge, and reciprocity in supporting the successful establishment of entrepreneurial migrants in emerging destinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global COVID-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020, has significantly impacted global health, causing symptoms ranging from mild flu to severe illness and death. This condition has also severely hampered economic activities, particularly in marginalized communities such as the Gunungsewu Karst Area in Gunungkidul, Indonesia. This study aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of economic resilience during COVID-19. The study employed a combined approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative data collection was conducted through expert interviews to determine the weight of economic resilience factors using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. Quantitative data was gathered through questionnaires. Data processing of the economic resilience index distribution was carried out using Geographic Information Systems. The results indicate that 81.36% of respondents in the marginal land of Gunungsewu earn less than the regional minimum wage, with a monthly income of less than 113.98 USD. The highest level of education for 34.69% of respondents is elementary school, and 95.92% are employed in the informal sector. The economic resilience index comprises six factors: socio-economic conditions, infrastructure, institutions, communities, natural resource utilization, and information and communication technology use. The spatial distribution of the economic resilience index varies among villages in the study area, with three distinct patterns: high-class resilience (50%), moderate-class resilience (37.5%), and low-class resilience (12.5%). This study highlights the predominance of high-class economic resilience in the research area, despite its marginal land status. Spatial analysis of the economic resilience index is crucial for informing targeted policies aimed at disaster risk reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that housing is a key element for security, access to resources, and the integration of migrant individuals, we inquire, concerning the rental market, about the forms of vulnerability to which they are exposed and the resources used (or not) to confront them. We present the case of Lima, the city that has received the largest number of Venezuelan migrants (1.1 million) in recent years. As an exploratory study, we conducted 37 interviews with tenants (27 Venezuelan migrants, 10 Peruvians). We analyzed the cases for each group, seeking common problems and strategies to address them. We found that Venezuelan individuals face challenges in searching for and staying in housing not only due to their restricted citizenship and employment in the informal sector, but also due to their limited access to social resources. As a result, they are more exposed to critical events and must confront them on their own. Consequently, their vulnerability is greater, and their housing tenure is always unstable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How much do financial constraints delay entrepreneurship and how much do they cost households in terms of foregone welfare in countries with large informal sectors and poorly developed financial markets? This paper uses a standard, partial equilibrium, dynamic model of occupational choice under financial constraints to derive the optimal time that households take to switch from subsistence work to entrepreneurship. Using data from the informal sector in Cameroon, the paper first tests the implications of the model with reduced-form, survival regression models and then structurally estimates key parameters using maximum likelihood. Prospective entrepreneurs would need to work for an average of 7 years as subsisters to accumulate the minimum savings required to start their micro-enterprise. Among the potential entrepreneurs about 53% are subsisters implying a missing proportion of entrepreneurs of 10.9% among which more than 32% have wealth below their estimated poverty traps. This means that despite their talent and ability to save a sizable fraction of the population will never start a profitable firm, given the tight collateral constraints in the economy. Finally, the paper conducts counterfactual simulations based on the estimated model. The results show substantial welfare gains from relaxing credit constraints, accruing mostly to high talent individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinhoyi in Zimbabwe is used as a case study to explore the potential of secondary cities in addressing urban challenges. This study is significant considering that while African cities are rapidly urbanizing, narratives in African urbanism focus more on large cities and metros. Adopting a qualitative research approach, data for this study were collected from interviews with 15 key informants and a review of policies and development plans. The study reveals that, albeit challenges bedeviling Chinhoyi, there is potential for sustained growth through maximizing local opportunities, including industrial capability, supporting the informal sector, promoting mixed-use development, and empowering the local authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of the COVID-19-induced economic crisis on tribal street vendors in Aizawl, India, using the framework of resilience theory. The paper uses a case-study approach to examine how street vendors recouped their economic losses after the relaxed lockdown phase during the region's most celebrated Christmas and New Year festivals. A total of 74 street vendors were interviewed for this study using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study discusses that despite the relaxation of lockdowns, vendors faced extreme challenges in earning their daily wages, causing an inability to satisfy basic requirements like food, paying rent, and experiencing harsher workplace conditions. We observe that street vendors had heterogeneous motives toward street vending and were not driven by a single theoretical perspective. We present that most street vendors during the lockdowns reflect resilience in their businesses, socioeconomic, and workplace conditions through their indigenous coping mechanisms and social networking. We find that street vendors displayed entrepreneurial qualities during the lockdowns by either changing the goods they sold or how they were sold before the pandemic. The study recommends different economic and financial policies for street vendors at the ground level such as improving basic workplace amenities, safety, and awareness among street vendors and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children account for a significant proportion of antibiotic consumption in low- and middle-income countries, with overuse occurring in formal and informal health sectors. This study assessed the prevalence and predictors of residual antibiotics in the blood of children in the Mbeya and Morogoro regions of Tanzania. The cross-sectional community-based survey used two-stage cluster sampling to include children aged under 15 years. For each child, information on recent illness, healthcare-seeking behaviour, and use of antibiotics, as well as a dried blood spot sample, were collected. The samples underwent tandem mass spectrometry analysis to quantify the concentrations of 15 common antibiotics. Associations between survey variables and the presence of residual antibiotics were assessed using mixed-effects logistic regression. In total, 1742 children were surveyed, and 1699 analysed. The overall prevalence of residual antibiotics in the blood samples was 17.4% (296/1699), the highest among children under the age of 5 years. The most frequently detected antibiotics were trimethoprim (144/1699; 8.5%), sulfamethoxazole (102/1699; 6.0%), metronidazole (61/1699; 3.6%), and amoxicillin (43/1699; 2.5%). The strongest predictors of residual antibiotics in the blood were observed presence of antibiotics at home (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.9; 95% CI, 2.0–4.1) and reported consumption of antibiotics in the last 2 weeks (aOR = 2.5; 95% CI, 1.6–3.9). However, half (145/296) of the children who had residual antibiotics in their blood, some with multiple antibiotics, had no reported history of illness or antibiotic consumption in the last 2 weeks, and antibiotics were not found at home. This study demonstrated a high prevalence of antibiotic exposure among children in Tanzanian communities, albeit likely underestimated, especially for compounds with short half-lives. A significant proportion of antibiotic exposure was unexplained and may have been due to unreported self-medication or environmental pathways. Incorporating biomonitoring into surveillance strategies can help better understand exposure patterns and design antibiotic stewardship interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do changes in inflation and financial market development affect the size of the shadow economy? Previous studies show that lowering the tax rate, coupled with increasing the level of tax enforcement through policing and imposing high penalties for tax evasion may reduce the size of the shadow economy. While increasing the level of enforcement may be a viable strategy, most developing countries are unable to effectively enforce their tax laws. Based on empirical observations, we suggest that monetary authority could play an important role in this regard. Using a two-sector dynamic general equilibrium model of a small open economy, we demonstrate how monetary policy can be used to reduce the size of the shadow economy. The results suggest that, conditional on access to credit, a rise in inflation leads to a reduction in the size of the shadow economy. With little or no access to credit, such a policy will be ineffective. We evaluate alternative policy measures to achieve a targeted size of the informal sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the transition of workers in the MENA region between formal and informal jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and investigates whether trade policy could be adopted as a measure to enhance the transition of workers from the informal to the formal sector. We use the combined COVID-19 MENA Monitor Household Survey constructed by the Economic Research Forum for 5 MENA countries and 11 sectors. This topic is timely and critical for the MENA region where informal employment is widespread, applied tariffs are still high, and female labor participation is low. Our results show that: first, fewer trade restrictions are associated with an increased probability for the worker to become formal and this effect is more pronounced post-pandemic. Second, fewer trade restrictions are linked to an increase in the probability of becoming formal for blue collars only, with an insignificant effect on white collars. Third, fewer trade restrictions are associated with an increase in the probability of men to become formal, with an insignificant effect on women. Finally, the effect of trade policy on job formality depends on the sectoral occupation of the individual with this effect being more pronounced in agriculture and manufacturing relatively to services sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID‐19 pandemic in Spain, the lockdowns brought about the loss of labour and social rights for many migrant women working in highly informal employment sectors. Drawing on digital ethnography, this article examines the role of migrant women in political mobilization within migrant associations during 2020 in Spain, when online interactions assumed primary importance. First, it shows how migrant organizations create bricolage by combining economic, social, cultural and political resources to organize migrants in Spain during COVID‐19 within the digital space. Second, the article highlights how the reactions of the migrant population to the pandemic in Spain represent an act of disruption led mainly by women, within the dynamics of social conflict and political activism that characterize migratory processes. This analysis displays as well the crucial role played by care relationships in these contexts of crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While an increasing number of studies concerning youth and informality have examined the complex relationship between youth, informal work and transitions to adulthood, this literature has paid little attention to how the death of a family member presents distinctive challenges to young vendors' life and livelihood progression. Addressing this, the paper draws on a case study of a small‐scale informal worker in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, who was participating in in‐depth ethnographic research when their father died suddenly. Through this, it investigates how parental death intersects with the challenges a young vendor experienced working informally while simultaneously attempting to achieve transitions to anticipated adulthood. Life‐mapping interviews and participatory timeline diagrams were employed, gaining rich insights into a young vendor's experiences of parental death, revealing how these were shaped by an interplay between the past, present and future. More specifically, the research, which brings together literature concerning youth, informality and family relations, explores how parental death can (re)configure a young person's household roles, responsibilities and relations in response to sudden precarity in the present, reshaping priorities and plans towards achieving goals over different timeframes. Given persistent levels of informality and uncertainty across employment in sub‐Saharan Africa and beyond, this article provides a timely contribution by highlighting the need for more studies to investigate how parental death creates and exacerbates the challenges youth vendors experience, constraining their abilities to grow and sustain their lives and livelihoods within the informal sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can and does realism explain the linkage between China’s economic advancement and its ever-increasing hard power and global influence? Realists assert that a growth in a nation’s economy triggers an upsurge in its craving for military or security advancement and power. Since the commencement of China’s ‘opening policy,’ its economy has witnessed tremendous hikes, being ranked second to the US economy. A vital coincidence of this is the ever-increasing attempt to modernising its military and general security systems. Of major concern is China’s recently established foreign military base in Djibouti in the ‘Horn of Africa.’ Realists have suggested that in such a Hobbesian world, Beijing will employ its economic power to assert its security interests. Analysing this linkage through a realist perspective, using case studies and historical analogies, the article concludes that realism best provides reasons for the phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread use of lead acid batteries (LABs) is resulting in the generation of million tons of battery waste, globally. LAB waste contains critical and hazardous materials, which have detrimental effects on the environment and human health. In recent times, recycling of the LABs has become efficient but the collection of batteries in developing countries is not efficient, which led to the non-professional treatment and recycling of these batteries in the informal sector. This paper proposes a blockchain-enabled architecture for LAB circularity, which ensures authentic, traceable and transparent system for collection and treatment of batteries. The stakeholders—battery manufacturers, distributors, retailers, users, and validators (governments, domain experts, third party experts, etc.)—are integrated in the circular loop through a blockchain network. A mobile application user interface is provided to all the stakeholders for the ease of adoption. The batteries manufactured and supplied in a geographical region as well as the recycled materials at the battery end-of-life are traced authentically. This architecture is expected to be useful for the battery manufacturers to improve their extended producer responsibility and support responsible consumption and production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractProtracted displacement of refugees and IDPs (internally displaced people) is one of the most critical humanitarian problems today. Legislation often prohibits refugees’ rights to work, move beyond camps, or attain citizenship, while IDPs lack access to security and services. New approaches are urgently needed to overcome barriers to economic integration of displaced people’s livelihoods and enterprise as a stepping-stone to broader social integration. Drawing on refugee, development and informality literatures, this paper proposes a new Displacement Economies Framework, a theoretical and programming tool that helps bridge the humanitarian-development divide and highlight the agency and collective economic contribution of displaced people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mental health problems disproportionately affect young people in developing countries. However, there is limited research on help-seeking behaviours and the social support systems that improve mental wellbeing among vulnerable youth populations. Objective: This mixed-methods study aimed to examine the relationship between social support reciprocity and mental health among young informal construction workers in Nigeria, a population at high-risk for occupational and socioeconomic stressors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was administered to 686 informal workers to measure reciprocity, mental health-related quality of life, and covariates. In-depth interviews with 32 participants provided qualitative context. Results: Quantitative analyses showed 25% of participants reported poor mental health. Reciprocity positively predicted mental health after controlling for covariates. Qualitative findings revealed reciprocity occurs directly between individuals as well as indirectly through trade unions and religious groups. Indirect exchanges through groups helped address limitations of direct support due to limited resources. Conclusions: This study fills important gaps in understanding how social relationships impact mental health in developing country contexts. Findings emphasize the role of collective action and community-based support systems in promoting mental wellbeing among vulnerable populations. Insights can inform culturally relevant, systems-level mental health interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: In recent years, research has shown that informal workers and businesses in low‐income countries are increasingly taxed by the state. While rarely a significant revenue source, informal sector taxation in highly informalized economies affects a large proportion of the working population. Under such circumstances the question of whether taxing informal economic activity either improves or undermines state–society relations are still debated, particularly in the case of fragile states whose tax systems tend to be characterized by a high degree of coercion towards poor actors. Purpose: Previous research has tended to focus on tax evasion and how to increase tax compliance in the informal economy. In this article, we aim to explore how informal sector actors in Bamako, Mali, interact with local tax collectors in various ways with varying levels of agency. On this basis, we develop a broader analytical framework for understanding local government–taxpayer relations. Approach and methods: In a case study of Mali, a fragile state with violent conflict and a highly informalized economy, we made use of qualitative research methods with semi‐structured interviews and focus group discussions with different actors in the informal economy. Findings: We find four main modes of interaction: (1) "tax evasion," where individuals evade or minimize their tax obligations; (2) "tax bargaining," where groups with limited political resources negotiate with local authorities; (3) "forced taxation," where disadvantaged groups pay taxes without tangible returns or a voice in protest; and (4) "harsh sanctions" faced by those unable to pay or evade taxes. Informal sector actors show a different capacity for collective action impacting their agency vis‐à‐vis state authorities. Policy implications: The informal sector needs to be unpacked in fragile states, focusing on understanding existing fiscal pressures on different informal actors and their various strategies for navigating tax systems. Tax administrations should promote dialogue and trust‐building measures and avoid strategies that exacerbate social division and undermine state–society relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Latin America, informality has historically operated as a safety net during economic crises, by absorbing unemployed workers and providing income. However, unlike past economic crises, the 2020 crisis unleashed by the outbreak of the new coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is not only economic but has resulted from a health emergency that requires social distance and isolation. In this article we argue that, in the context of social distancing and confinement measures, informal work constitutes a safety trap instead of operating as a safety net. First, informality as an economic subsistence mechanism is limited given that working activities in the informal sector are less convertible to remote jobs. Second, even when telework may be a viable option, the home conditions of informal workers often hinder the feasibility of telework. In making this argument, we bring to bear a conceptualization of potential to telework which includes both occupational and household components, the latter an often-neglected piece of the telework puzzle. To evaluate our argument, we conduct a quantitative cross-country analysis of seven Latin American countries (Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay). The empirical analysis consists of a descriptive assessment of the potential to telework of informal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The limited availability of formal jobs in developing nations always heightens the challenge for unemployed individuals in securing regular employment. Temporary employment in the informal sector serves as a source to fulfill their basic needs and enhance their employable skills. In this paper, we introduce a nonlinear mathematical model to study the effect of informal and formal jobs on the dynamics of unemployment. For the model formulation, we categorize the labor force into three classes: unemployed, temporary employed, and regularly employed. A separate dynamical variable is used to represent the available temporary vacancies. It is assumed that temporarily employed individuals may transition into regular employment or self-employment. Furthermore, self-employed individuals contribute to generating temporary vacancies within the informal sector. The long-term behavior of the proposed system is analyzed using the qualitative theory of differential equations. A quantity known as the reproduction number of the system is derived, and it is found that the occurrence of multiple bifurcations for the proposed system is influenced by the value of this threshold quantity. Furthermore, we validate our analytical findings numerically. The findings of this study illustrate that an increase in the shifting rate of individuals from temporary to regular employment is not always effective in increasing the number of regularly employed individuals. Additionally, an increase in the transition of temporarily employed individuals into self-employment, coupled with their involvement in creating more temporary jobs, proves beneficial in reducing unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It argues that EAEU members and China need each other to implement their two major initiatives. As a result of the conjunction of the EAEU and BRI, China and the EAEU states linked their transportation infrastructure, which provided them opportunities for modernization and growth. The EAEU member states established contacts with the second economy of the world at a multilateral level as well. The Agreement on Economic and Trade Cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and Its Member States, of the One Part, and the People's Republic of China, of the other Part , signed in 2018, which came into force in 2019, provided added impetus to strengthen economic relations and created a legal platform for the further harmonization of the BRI with the EAEU. This article also argues that the conjunction of the EAEU and BRI has a political meaning as well. It means that in post-Soviet Eurasia, Russia and China have chosen cooperation over competition, as they are the main initiators of these economic and political integration initiatives. It explains that it fully coincides with the national interests of other members of the EAEU, such as Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, as these states can cooperate with both Russia and China without choosing any side. This contribution concludes that cooperation between China and the EAEU in post-Soviet Eurasia improves security level and contributes to peaceful, cooperative development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zimbabwe has distinct urban nationalist myths stemming from the colonial period—urban modernity and economic exceptionalism. The modernity myth has been constructed from the colonial period and came to be associated with urban order, lifestyle and social mobility. The economic exceptionalism myth refers to Zimbabwe's past exceptional economic performance during the colonial and early postcolonial periods. However, the economic crisis and informalisation from the late 1990s have challenged these myths as neither previous practices of urban modernity nor the feeling of exceptional economic performance is attainable any more. In this context, people in the informal sector reimagine what these nationalist myths mean to them. In particular, they engage in debates about which economic practices are modern enough to be implemented in urban areas, especially in the city centre, and how to identify themselves make a claim to urban modernity. The memory of economic exceptionalism in the meantime acts as a reference point in discussions about future national development. All these translate into the question of legitimacy—of the informal economy and its practices and the government that failed to uphold the modernity and exceptionalism myths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North Koreans have relied on the shadow economy since the collapse of socialism in the 1990s, but little is known about the degree to which informal markets have influenced the country's everyday politics. Based on a large-scale survey of defectors, as well as interviews with almost 100 defectors, including some who had been high-ranking officials prior to leaving North Korea, this article finds that the shadow economy has elicited many changes. First, informal marketisation has affected social practices in the workplace, such as reduced job attendance, decreased participation in mandatory organisational meetings, and a strengthened public perception that official job allocations are unfair. Second, the shadow economy has spread unfavourable views of the official welfare system, leading people to prefer life in the market to their past reliance on the command economy. Third, the shadow economy has led to rampant corruption, strengthening popular perceptions that officials are corrupt and law enforcement is unfair. Finally, the shadow economy has negatively affected public views of the North Korean regime, decreasing loyalty to the leadership and reducing public trust in political institutions. Despite these social transformations, people remain sceptical about the idea of regime change due to tight social control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the shadow economy seems to have both positive and negative effects on a country's macroeconomy, almost all governments have attempted to control the shadow economy to prevent the loss of tax revenues and the attendant impact on the government budget. Even though official development assistance (ODA) has no formal link with the shadow economy, we often observe a relationship between the two in recipient countries. We argue that ODA can increase the size of the shadow economy in recipient countries through both government and individual-level flows of ODA to the shadow economy. We analyzed data on the shadow economies of 107 ODA recipients from 1990 to 2018 using both fixed effect and Driscoll–Kraay estimators. The results show that recipients receiving a higher volume of ODA are more likely to have a larger shadow economy. Moreover, the relationship between ODA and the shadow economy is stronger in more corrupt recipients. We dealt with endogeneity issues using the generalized method of moments, which supported our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Euro crisis prompted an extensive academic debate on the role of ordoliberalism, a German variant of neoliberalism, in the European crisis politics. This study contributes to the debate by reconstructing the ordoliberal ideology using Michael Freeden's morphological approach. The ordoliberal ideology consists of a common core of political concepts (order, competition, freedom, power, state and Ordnungspolitik), differently interpreted by its various currents. The article, based on selected works of representative ordoliberal authors, compares different currents and generations of ordoliberals. For the first generation, Walter Eucken's and Franz Böhm's Freiburg School, Wilhelm Röpke's sociological neoliberalism and Alfred Müller-Armack's Social Market Economy; for the second generation, Erich Hoppmann; for the third generation, Viktor Vanberg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North Waziristan is emerging from an episode of terrorism that lasted for decades. Critically examining the dynamics of borderlands, this paper explicates the intersection of informal cross-border trade with the local economy and livelihoods. These socio-economic patterns created by ungoverned geographies, and porous uncontrolled borders foster a dependence on the informal economy, which is largely responsible for financing and perpetuating the instability. The paper signposts that effective border management and ongoing security reconstruction have contributed to rejuvenating the local economy and providing the necessary impetus for post-conflict economic development, keeping widespread unrest and militancy on hold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on the existing health inequalities disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations. It explores the impact of COVID-19 pandemic response measures to "curb the spread" on informal sector workers in Ghana. In Ghana, like many other developing countries, the informal sector was impacted by a higher risk of exposure to the COVID-19 infection and the slew of pandemic response measures, for example, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, as well as guidelines around social distancing implemented by their governments. Given the high level of precarity that undergirds work in the informal sector and the intersectional forces that contribute to and maintain their marginality—class, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and geographic location—this paper creates a space for dialogue about the unintended consequences of pandemic response measures on the livelihood security of informal sector workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines Egypt's labor market transition dynamics post-Arab Spring based on the two most recent rounds of the Egypt Labor Market Panel Survey conducted in 2012 and 2018. In addition to providing disaggregated level analysis by examining labor market transitions by gender, education, and age groups, our paper provides a cross-country perspective by comparing Egypt's labor market transitions with Jordan's. Regression analyses focusing on transitions to and from the dominant absorbing labor market states in Egypt – public sector employment for both genders, non-participation for women, and the informal sector for men – show that having a post-secondary education is associated with a lower probability of remaining out of the labor force (OLF) for women who were already OLF at baseline, while being married at baseline is found to be a significant predictor for women to stay out of the labor force if they were already so. As for men, the better educated are found to be more likely to secure formal employment, be it in the public or in the private sector, and also more likely to keep their public formal jobs once they secure them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses what might be gained from placing informal urban settlements at the centre of analyses of contemporary Fiji. Holding around 20 percent of the total population and growing rapidly, these settlements represent significant demographic movement and economic transformations. Analytically, they offer a paradigm shift. Heterogeneous and complex, racially mixed, transient and rapidly changing, squatter settlements are places that challenge many of the taken-for-granted assumptions used to analyse Fiji, including its politics of ethnic division, rigid social hierarchies, and the centrality of village economies. Instead, they offer new insights into the contradictions, ambiguities, and insecurities that come to signify the contemporary moment for many Fiji citizens. Following Brij Lal's later work, I draw upon ongoing ethnographic research in two urban settlements to ask what centring the narratives of urban squatters themselves, in discussions about nation-building, citizenship rights, and social justice, can teach us about Fiji in the present as well as its potential for future transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigation on an asymmetric impact of the informal sector on economic growth. • The informal sector asymmetrically affects the economic growth in Bangladesh. • Urbanization and capital growth contribute to increase economic growth in Bangladesh. • Diminishing the prevalence of informality is suggested for higher economic growth in Bangladesh. The role of the informal sector in economic growth still remains an issue of debate. This study contributes to resolving this by taking into account the asymmetric effect of the informal sector on economic growth. The study applies the Non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (N-ARDL) model to capture the asymmetric relationship between the informal sector activity and economic growth for the period 1982–2018 in Bangladesh. The estimation of the N-ARDL model reveals that the informal sector asymmetrically affects the domestic output and economic growth in Bangladesh for both the short-run and the long run. The study has observed an asymmetrically larger effect on output and economic growth from the falling contribution of the informal sector. Urbanization and capital growth also contribute to an increase in economic growth. Therefore, proper incentives and careful policy measures are suggested to effectively diminish the prevalence of informality and promote its transition towards a more formalized framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural sector in India has come to prominence as a source of employment and livelihood. It is one of the most significant informal sectors in the country, and one in which informal learning plays a major role. This article analyses the informal learning of farmers in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. In the course of this research, qualitative interviews with 34 farmers in Coimbatore were conducted and analysed with regard to informal learning. The findings show that informal learning is lifelong and chiefly takes place at home in a family and peer group context. Informal learning is facilitated by training courses specifically adapted to farmers' needs, which can help them improve their situation on their respective farms. However, not every farmer attends these courses, indicating a need to strengthen the programmes, conduct information campaigns to raise awareness, and improve accessibility, especially for farmers and agricultural labourers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A complementary analysis of social evaluations in informal recycling is performed. • SLCA methodology requires adaptations for informal settings. • Our discussion encompasses adjustments made in each phase of SLCA. The transition towards Circular Economy (CE) is a promising approach to sustainable development that may cause significant social impacts. Despite the benefits of CE initiatives, key players such as informal recyclers face serious social issues such as poverty, lack of social security, and discrimination. Although evaluating social impacts remains a considerable challenge, Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) is recognized as a suitable methodology with a life cycle perspective. While most SLCA experiences are conducted in the formal sector, it is important to consider the informal sector, which plays a crucial role in developing countries. This article presents an analysis of SLCA studies in informal recycling settings in order to identify the challenges and adjustments required for informal settings. The analysis is based on a literature review and a documentary review of a pilot application of SLCA in the informal recycling system in Cuenca, Ecuador. The results show that SLCA requires adaptation to be applied in informal settings. There are particular challenges in delineating boundaries due to the fuzzy nature and variability of informal activities. Tasks such as establishing specific indicators, developing reference scales and data collection, require careful planning and active stakeholder participation. For instance, indicators regarding Fair Salary or Working hours were adapted based on best practices. Furthermore, tasks such as verifying and disseminating results should be included in interpretation phases to generate long-term impacts and influence behaviors. The study underscores SLCA's multidimensional view but highlights the need for further standardization and adaptation for informal sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of a shadow economy is recognized as an impediment to sustainable development. By applying the Bayesian approaches, the current article investigates the linkage between financial development, green trade, and the scope of the shadow economy, aiming to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of how these factors address the challenge posed by the shadow economy in Emerging and Growth-Leading Economies (EAGLE) from 2003 to 2016. The results demonstrate that (i) The progress of the financial sector is expected to diminish the scale of the shadow economy. Specifically, the expansion of financial institutions and markets has a strong and negative influence on the shadow economy. (ii) Increased involvement in green trade is likely to result in a decreased shadow economy. Empirical findings provide evidence for effective policymaking in simultaneously promoting sustainable trade practices, strengthening financial systems, and curtailing informal economic activities for inclusive economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sufficiency of government support. Based on an online survey with 920 respondents, the cross-tabulation and binary logistic regression results show: firstly, in terms of loss of income, male respondents are more likely to have a loss of income as compared to female counterparts, and secondly, among different categories of employment status, the self-employed respondents are the most vulnerable group, given that more than 20 percent of them experienced loss of income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, respondents working in small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) and the informal sector are more likely to face loss of income as compared to respondents working in other sectors of employment. Likewise, respondents without tertiary education level are more likely to have a loss of income as compared to respondents with university certification. The baseline results highlight the insufficiency of government financial support programs based on the perspective of Malaysians from different demographic backgrounds. As a policy implication, the findings could guide the State in formulating the right policies for target groups who need more assistance than others in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Removing impurities that occur in landfill gas, from sulphur and silicon compounds, is crucial for the energetic use of biogas in a cogeneration unit for energy purposes. The aim of this study was to analyse the shaped activated carbon, examining its structure and elemental composition as part of the biogas purification. The qualitative study of the purified landfill gas performed in this study showed a significant overshoot of hydrogen sulphide at 304.1 ppm with respect to the gas engine manufacturer's requirements, while the calculated hydrogen sulphide reduction efficiency was 24.58%. Examination of the surface of the spent carbon and its pores with a scanning microscope revealed a high level of clotting by sulphur compounds, which prevents proper reduction of this compound and reduces the efficiency of the treatment plant. Replacement of the activated carbon bed with a new one showed a hydrogen sulphide value of 7.5 ppm in the purified gas and a calculated reduction efficiency of 97.9%. The results of the study confirmed that continuous monitoring of the quality of the purified gas is necessary to control the adsorption properties of the activated carbon and can be used for the operation of gas engines in cogeneration units. The landfill gas treatment method described in this paper constitutes an environmentally sustainable project within the meaning of the EU regulation on the establishment of a framework to promote and facilitate this type of investment in terms of its financing and operation. The topic of the work fits into three key areas of broad research and implementation activities. The first, technological, is the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable and resource-efficient closed-loop economy; the second, environmental, pollution prevention and control. The third area is economics and finance in terms of making financial products available designed to reduce climate change and reporting on these activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect of foreign ownership on firm performance in the South African informal sector. Using the data of 1097 informal businesses sourced from the World Bank Enterprises Survey conducted in four Township provinces in South Africa (Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and Western Cape) in 2020, the paper aims to address two issues: what is the effect of foreign ownership on performance in the South African informal sector and what factors drive foreign-ownership gap in the South African informal sector if it exists? The empirical analysis uses the multivariable decomposition technique and finds a performance gap between locally and foreign-owned businesses in the South African informal sector. A decomposition of factors shows that differences in endowments can explain the bulk of the gap. Discriminatory/unexplained factors, likely capturing the business culture, also play a significant role. Caution is given when seeking to curb foreign business participation in the informalsector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the political economy of aid to determine its impact on Lebanon's politics of sectarianism. I approach NGOization as a political process that normalizes a situation where citizens are accustomed to functioning without the state, and as an economic process creating a parallel economy. Both trends have expanded with the current crisis. I posit that politics of sectarianism feeds on NGOization: they allow sectarian elites to outsource aid, manage discontent and depoliticize NGO s and CSO s, while silencing potential challenges to their order. Thus, organizations aiming to transform the political system lack visibility and leverage, while their space of operation has been shrinking. I also explore the role of international aid on the continuity and durability of the Lebanese state and its neo-patrimonial and clientelist governance mode. NGOization is further reinforced by the fact that national NGO s have been co-opted by foreign donors, which has the effect of depoliticizing their discourse and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Kinshasa, chronic crises and lack of access to employment, quality education, and other resources contribute to the social exclusion of a growing number of disadvantaged young people. They are deprived of the possibilities of leading a decent life and alienated from both the market and legitimate authorities. Despite their social, political, and economic marginalization, many of these precarious Congolese youth have proved adept at improvising livelihoods in the informal economy and seek out ways to be agents of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana's informal economy through institutional theory. Specifically, the study sought to understand how the elements of the institutional theory (norms, culture, and regulations, which form formal and informal institutions) support or discourage immigrant entrepreneurship in the Sub-Saharan African context, with insights from Ghana. It is qualitative research that adopts an in-depth face-to-face interview with 30 respondents. Analyzing the data from the interviews, the key findings are immigrants' inability to find paid jobs, failure to gather sufficient funds to operate in the formal sector, and the willingness to use innate ability. The Ghanaian culture of hospitality and the government's inability to implement trade regulations have been an enabler to the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana. The legal frameworks that prohibit immigrants from participating in retailing, especially in the informal economy of Ghana, are well known by immigrant entrepreneurs, albeit it has yet to adhere. Therefore, there is a call for policy measures to address the weak institutional framework, which encourages disregard for the country's laws. Immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to remain in doing business in Ghana must obey the rules or suffer the punishment thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of institutional quality and banking competition on shadow economy for 127 economies for the period of 2005–2017. It further explores if institutional quality/competition shapes the relationship differently between banking competition/institutional quality and shadow economy. This paper uses the system GMM estimator to tackle potential omitted variable bias, endogeneity, and simultaneity issues. The findings suggest that overall, greater competition among banks and stricter institutions in the country reduce the size of shadow economy. Furthermore, impact of competition on shadow economy is even stronger in countries with weak institutions and the impact of institutional quality is greater in lower competitive environment. Only severe competition matters for shadow economy in case of developed countries. To sum up the novel findings of this research, competition and institutions complement each other in reducing the size of shadow economy. These findings are robust to different econometric estimators. The findings carry vital policy implications for the governments and regulators to play their part in reducing the shadow economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study investigates the impact of remittances on the shadow economy and how domestic institutions, particularly property rights, moderate this relationship. Methods: We employed a quantitative research method using panel data from developing countries from 1990 to 2018. We adopted both fixed‐effects and instrumental variable approaches to address possible endogeneity concerns between remittances and the shadow economy. Results: The results demonstrate that remittances are positively associated with the shadow economy's size. However, this positive effect is weaker in countries with strong property rights institutions. These findings remain robust across alternative measures of key variables and estimation techniques. Conclusion: The results suggest that foreign income in the form of remittances is an important determinant of the shadow economy in recipient countries. We believe that exploring the relationship between foreign sources of income and the decisions of economic actors to enter specific sectors warrants further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monopolies constituted one of the main institutions to control the economy from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey. Over time, monopolies' roles changed from revenue sources for the sultans' treasuries to assigning foreign debts to debtors, creating a Muslim-Turkish bourgeoisie, structuring property relations by commercializing the economy and finally generating revenues for modernization projects. The new Turkish state also used monopolies to raise funds for its radical modernization and state-building projects. This article examines how low-income consumers, producers and traders coped with monopolies via smuggling during the first two decades of the Republic. It argues that most of what was called smuggling were economic survival methods and the continuation of the practices that had a very long pedigree among low-income people to cope with the high prices of monopoly products due to high taxes and high monopoly profit margins. This article lays out a different interpretation of smuggling as 'social smuggling', which lessened the burden of the monopolies over low-income cultivators, traders and consumers. It argues that this informal economy limited the state's extractive capacity and economic interventionism required for modernization projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by the capability approach and critical discourse analysis, this article examines how the development of green skills among master craftspersons and apprentices in the informal sector of Ghana could be promoted for cleaner production and sustainable futures. The findings show that inequality and poverty; cyclical policy trap; sectoral green initiatives and the green coordination gap; and limited human resource capacity including uncoordinated informal learning approaches serve to constrain the development of green skills among master craftspersons and apprentices in the informal sector of Ghana. To address these challenges, the current study proposes the development of a framework that (1) harmonises the different sectoral initiatives and strategies on green skills to avoid the cyclical policy trap; (2) expands the current green Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) agenda to include green skills development for individuals in the informal TVET sector; (3) closes the coordination gap in government green initiatives by creating an agency responsible for national green agenda; and (4) creates clear qualification models and strategies for the development of green skills in the informal sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent financial crisis caused by corruption and opacity has led us to examine how the informal economy and other factors affect tax revenues using a three-pillar theoretical analysis. Empirical research has not thoroughly explored the shadow economy's impact on direct and indirect taxes, tax revenues, and the central bank's independence from the shadow economy and tax collection. This paper used 2010–2018 data from 129 countries. The shadow economy and tax revenues had a substantial negative relationship. The shadow economy also changed the fiscal authorities' policy mix by reducing direct taxes and increasing indirect taxes. Finally, the central bank's independence mitigated the shadow economy's negative effects on tax revenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the arrival of COVID-19 in Mexico, a majority of the population was affected in terms of their labor participation. This article aims to measure the levels of educational mismatch-overeducation and undereducation-in Mexico before and after the closure of activities decreed during the pandemic. The research examines changes in educational adjustment from the first quarter of 2020 to the third quarter of the same year and the first quarter of the following year, and it investigates whether there were modifications in sociodemographic profiles, changes in the conditions of those experiencing educational mismatch, and if these dynamics were a result of the crisis. The analysis uses the National Occupation and Employment Survey and employs multinomial models to assess the probability of being in some form of educational mismatch, with a grouped base for five survey editions to establish changes over time. The results show an increase of approximately 0.5% in overeducation in the total occupied population, considering sociodemographic and labor insertion characteristics. Similarly, there are differences between informal and formal employment in terms of how these changes occur, with the former showing increases first, followed by the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]