Search

Although considerable discussion has been devoted to the macro determinants of labor market variables across genders, comparatively little attention has been given to the contribution of the informal economy to this market. This study was aimed at empirically investigating the impact of the size of the shadow or informal economy (IE) on labor market variables across genders in 12 Middle Eastern countries. The study used quarterly time series data on each country under investigation, covering 1991 to 2015. Phillips–Perron unit root tests were carried out to verify the stationarity of the examined economic series. An autoregressive distributed lag approach was adopted to conduct cointegration tests and estimate long-run regression coefficients and error correction terms. The results indicated that the IE served men and women differently across countries. Whereas this economy had a long-run positive relationship with men's employment rates in Bahrain, Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, this relationship existed among women only in Israel. IE activities matter in the employment of men and women in Middle Eastern countries. The sizes of IEs in the labor market are a significant factor that favors men's employment rather than that of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context of ever-growing demand for tourism property, this paper scrutinizes emerging forms of tourism-led housing commodification in Havana, Cuba. In 2011, the Cuban property market reopened to investment when the socialist government allowed the sale of private property at prices set in a market environment. We pay attention to the critical role of Cuban migrants, remittance investors and lifestyle elites in commodifying Havana’s historic housing stock and transforming residential property into short-term rentals, hotels, private restaurants and tourist boutiques. We demonstrate how the Cuban government has become an active market facilitator, either by restraining private competition or by encapsulating tourism property investment within broader channels of the state. We conclude that the case of Havana is indicative of broader trends in tourism and hospitality, particularly in the Global South and East. We propose tourism-led housing commodification as a conceptual framework for understanding these broader commonalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in driving financial inclusion is contested. We argue that the ability of MFIs to consistently contribute to financial inclusion depends on their business model and its resilience to structural changes. We find that MFIs with an embedded business model (i.e., deep engagement with the local community) perform better in the aftermath of structural policy interventions as compared to MFIs with a transactional model. Using a difference in differences analysis on a database of MFIs that operated in India during the currency demonetization, we find support for our hypotheses. Our findings indicate that while transactional MFIs do better in a stable environment, embedded MFIs hold the advantage in a turbulent environment. Our results underscore the role of business model fit with the environment in driving financial inclusion. We also alert practitioners to the tradeoffs involved in being embedded in the local context (or lack thereof). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While in developing countries around 50% of total employment are informal sector jobs, and much more among the poorest, its statistical measurement is a major issue. Having long remained a black hole of national statistical systems, sound methodologies have been developed to measure the informal sector in its different dimensions (employment, production, and more broadly articulation with the rest of the economy) in a reliable manner. Taking stock on nearly four decades of experiences accumulated around the world, this article presents a system of original surveys, specially designed for this objective: the Informal Sector Mixed (households-businesses) Surveys (ISMSs). After exposing their theoretical principles, the paper addresses the main challenges of implementation in the field, detailing their advantages and limitations. In particular, we question the compatibility of ISMSs with the recommendations of the new Resolution concerning statistics on the informal economy, adopted in 2023 during the 21st International Conference of Labor Statisticians. We also identify avenues to address a certain number of challenges that still arise with this type of survey, both in the methodological field and on the institutional level. We illustrate our discussion with a set of selected empirical results drawn from surveys conducted in various contexts. [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]

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]

In this article we develop and analyse novel datasets to retrace the persistence and scale of underground market activity in Maoist China. We show that, contrary to received wisdom, Chinese citizens continued to engage in market-based transactions long after "socialist transformation" was ostensibly complete, and that this activity constituted a substantial proportion of local economic output throughout the Maoist era. This helps to explain, in part, why, when markets were officially reopened in China, private economic activity took off. We arrive at these findings through the development and analysis of novel datasets based on unconventional historical sources – namely, a collection of 2,690 cases of "speculation and profiteering" that were recovered from flea markets in eastern China. We show how these grassroots sources can be systematically analysed and used, in lieu of official statistical aggregates, to develop new insights into the macro workings of the Maoist economy. [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]

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]

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 study examines how legislative instability in tax laws affects the growth of informal economic activities in Egypt. It suggests that unclear or unsustainable tax regulations drive a shift towards the informal sector, fueled by benefits like tax evasion and reduced compliance costs. To encourage voluntary integration, the study proposes measures such as transparent tax laws, awareness campaigns on tax compliance benefits, and simplification of procedures. It advocates for policymakers to prioritize creating an environment conducive to integration over punitive measures. By fostering a fair tax system and addressing underlying factors driving informality, Egypt can boost tax revenue, ensure fairness, and promote sustainable growth. Employing a descriptive-analytical approach, the study analyzes secondary data from official reports, academic literature, and relevant publications. This method allows for a systematic examination of tax legislative disruptions' impact on informal economic activities. It facilitates understanding the dynamics of tax regulations and their effects on informality by analyzing diverse information sources. This approach ensures reliable insights into the relationship between tax laws and the informal economy in Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2023, Argentina elected Javier Milei, a right-wing former television personality, as its president. Milei promised to implement radical, libertarian policies such as abolishing the central bank and eliminating public institutions. His victory, with 56 percent of the vote, was supported by sections of the working class, particularly young males in the informal sector. This election marks a potential transition to a new political and social regime in Argentina. The country has previously been governed by populist left and neoliberal right governments, but neither type of government has been able to fully address the country's economic challenges. [Extracted from the article]

The restoration of precolonial authorities in contemporary Uganda has inspired the revival of practices constitutive of local identities. The article focuses on the role of (re)distribution in the formation of Ganda identity in the Buganda kingdom, by exploring the moral conundrums lived by workers in Kisekka Market (Kampala). The article describes two principles underpinning economic relations. First, it explores culturally approved patronage and downwards distribution which, given the pyramidal structure of society, translates simultaneously into forms of redistribution and the upward submission of subjects to a higher order (clans and kingdom). This two-way process is called 'nested redistribution'. Second, it shows how culturally approved forms of (re)distribution conflict with individual accumulation, culturally condemned but paradoxically key to afford redistribution itself. The ethnography describes how tensions between these principles are resolved, making use of the same categories (culture, morality) that engender them in the first place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is nowadays widely understood that undeclared work cannot be efficiently combated without a holistic view on the mechanisms underlying its existence. However, the question remains whether we possess all the pieces of the holistic puzzle. To fill the gap, in this paper, we test if the features so far known to affect the behaviour of taxpayers are sufficient to detect noncompliance with outstanding precision. This is done by training seven supervised machine learning models on the compilation of data from the 2019 Special Eurobarometer on undeclared work and relevant figures from other sources. The conducted analysis not only does attest to the completeness of our knowledge concerning the drivers of undeclared work but also paves the way for wide usage of artificial intelligence in monitoring and confronting this detrimental practice. The study, however, exposes the necessity of having at disposal considerably larger datasets compared to those currently available if successful real-world applications of machine learning are to be achieved in this field. Alongside the apparent theoretical contribution, this paper is thus also expected to be of particular importance for policymakers, whose efforts to tackle tax evasion will have to be expedited in the period after the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italy is characterised by a significant dualistic economy, which also includes an extensive underground sector. The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between the quality of legislation and irregular employment in Italy. Our contribution consists of two components: the theoretical modelling of the impact of regulatory quality on the informal economy and the empirical validation of the predictions of the theoretical model using data from the Italian region between 2004 and 2019. The results confirm the theoretical and empirical arguments in favour of the need for laws to curb the informal sector. The regions with the highest institutional standards tend to have a lower percentage of irregular workers that fosters and encourages the legality of the labor market. Some robustness tests back up the main conclusions which show how important following rules is for strengthening the internal economy and for lowering the number of illegal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with extraordinarily high unemployment, the long-term unemployed in South Africa increasingly have been securing livelihoods outside of standard waged work. Many are establishing unregistered, micro-enterprises that provide low-cost goods and services to low-income households. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study of unregistered (informal) second-hand tyre dealers in three South African cities to better assess their role in urban economies. Interviews with informal tyre dealers were conducted to understand how their businesses are positioned along the waste tyre value chain, their prospects for generating employment, and their potential to contribute to product reuse and repurposing. By extending the useful lives of tyres, informal dealerships can be analysed through a circular economy framework that acknowledges their varied environmental, economic, and social benefits. Concerns, however, are raised about the unregulated sale of second-hand tyres, some of which are unsafe and pose risks for road users. This in turn gives rise to difficult trade-offs between on the one hand the economic and environmental benefits of informal tyre sales and road safety on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The India–Bangladesh border is the world's fifth longest land border, a focus of political tension in an area with vibrant informal economies. Cross-border communities share culture and language and informal cross-border trade (ICBT) is well-established. This article explores ICBT on the Indian side of the border, examining its actors, power relations and spatial dimensions, and the vulnerabilities of those involved. Debates on the social and cultural roots of ICBT, and the vulnerability of small-scale entrepreneurs to a complicit state, and powerful middlemen in lucrative sectors of ICBT, inform the analysis. The trade is theorized through the lens of jugaad, the Indian term for 'making do' and 'instinctive creativity'. The research draws on case studies of three cross-border sectors, everyday trade in small household goods, the politically sensitive cattle trade, and cross-border medical/healthcare services. The mechanisms of jugaad are seen to some degree in all three case studies, but heavy state regulation gives advantage to controlling middlemen and state officials. Finally, we argue that ICBT is a critical component of the wider political economy in the border regions of West Bengal, and that the forgotten sector of ICBT could, if supported by light-touch regulation, have important poverty-reduction potential in enabling livelihoods for marginalized border communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The studies that explore the impacts of national intellectual capital on informal economy are scant. Moreover, the effect of an external factor such as institutional quality that moderates this relationship has largely been neglected in previous studies. Institutions are considered important pillars to accumulate national intellectual capital and reduce shadow economy. As such, this paper aims to investigate how institutional quality moderates the effects of national intellectual capital on informal economy in 17 Asian countries from 2000 to 2018. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses the generalized method of moments techniques, which allow cross-sectional dependence and slope homogeneity in panel data, to examine the moderating role of institutional quality on the relationship between national intellectual capital and informal economy. Various tests are conducted to ensure the robustness of the findings. Findings: Empirical findings from this paper indicate that an increase in national intellectual capital and institutional quality declines the informal economy. Interestingly, better institutional quality aggravates the negative effects of national intellectual capital on reducing the size of informal economy. The author also finds that enhancing international trade and economic growth results in a decrease in the informal economy in Asian countries. Practical implications: Empirical findings offer policymakers an indication of the relationships between national intellectual capital, institutional quality and informal economy, pointing out that national intellectual capital and institutional quality should be strengthened to allow Asian countries to limit the informal economy. Originality/value: This study provides a conceptual model through which the moderating role of institutional quality on the national intellectual capital–informal economy nexus can be recognized. This approach has thus far not been investigated in the existing literature. To the best of the author's knowledge, this study makes an original contribution to the empirical of national intellectual capital and informal economy nexus and produces new insights into the fields of the moderating effects of institutional quality on this nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marketplaces have long provided a context for observing the negotiation of everyday life amid broader processes of social and economic transformation. A growing scholarship has debated the relationship between markets and capitalist modes of production in Africa. However, less attention has been paid to the changing moral dimensions of economic life within popular urban marketplaces. This article examines the moral economy of a central marketplace in Kampala, Uganda, through an analysis of a rare archive: the records of the market disciplinary committee. We show that market vendors have responded to the expansion of market economy in Kampala by invoking principles derived from the past, including the obligation to 'feed' others. Rather than an abstracted market economy, disputes in the market were interpreted in the context of an embedded market society in which value is placed on livelihood facilitation. These findings advance the burgeoning literature on capitalism in Africa by demonstrating the ways in which neoliberal norms and values are situated within a broader moral landscape that places limits on what can be exchanged with whom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context and background The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into businesses has become increasingly widespread in recent years, particularly in developed countries, fundamentally reshaping the landscape of entrepreneurship and innovation. AI presents numerous opportunities for small businesses, including those involved in cross-border trade. It has the potential to transform various aspects of business operations, such as customer interactions, marketing research, understanding consumer behavior, optimizing routes, and forecasting sales and marketing trends. Additionally, AI can contribute to the formalization of business processes, and assist these businesses in adapting more effectively to the ever-changing dynamics of the market. However, the successful implementation of AI necessitates a meticulous assessment of AI applications to ensure alignment with the objectives and resources of each individual small business. Goal and Objectives: The primary focus of this paper is to explore the potential of Artificial Intelligence in enhancing Africa's cross-border trade. The paper will address the following research questions: What are the effective applications of artificial intelligence in cross-border informal trade in Africa, and what are the limitations? What does the future hold for African countries in terms of utilizing artificial intelligence for cross-border trade? How can African informal cross-border traders and their stakeholders benefit from incorporating artificial intelligence in their activities? Methodology: The research is purely empirical research based on observation and measurement of phenomena, as directly experienced by the researcher. Results: AI can be effectively applied by Informal Cross-Border Traders (ICBT) to enhance their businesses and enhance competitiveness. There are several AI applications accessible to ICBT within their operational context. Although the adoption and utilization of AI in Africa are still in their infancy, there is considerable promise for the future. Africans must address the challenges hindering the adoption and utilization of AI, as technology is advancing rapidly, and opportunities await those who embrace it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how a carbon tax could reduce fiscal and economic distortions as well as cut carbon emissions in developing-country economies. A computable general equilibrium model is developed to analyze the economic impacts of a hypothetical carbon tax in Côte d'Ivoire, a country in Sub-Saharan Africa with large losses of tax revenues due to informality and leakage. The model represents informal as well as formal production activities. The analysis shows that the economic impacts of a carbon tax and the levels of CO2 reduction vary significantly among alternatives for recycling the carbon tax revenue. A carbon tax with revenues recycled to reduce the existing value-added tax would increase GDP and economic welfare. If the revenue is used to cut the existing tax on labour, the carbon tax would not only increase GDP but also induce the migration of workers from informal to formal activities. The analysis also shows that if energy producers are not excluded from carbon tax revenue recycling, the carbon emission reduction is significantly lower due to a rebound effect. A carbon tax with lump-sum transfers of revenues to households would be progressive as the revenue is equally transferred to all households, but it reduces economic output and does not help reduce informal economic activities. A carbon tax can be beneficial to developing countries by generating fiscal co-benefits through revisions of other taxes. The size of the fiscal co-benefits depends on the carbon tax design. A carbon tax with revenue recycled to cut labour taxes incentivizes informal economic activities to move to the formal sector and to increase economic welfare. Using carbon tax revenues to reduce the value-added tax can reduce tax evasion and increase economic welfare. Unless energy producers are prevented from receiving the benefits of carbon tax revenue recycling, emission reduction is decreased due to a rebound effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Formal social protection systems, such as health insurance and representation, are often biased in favour of formal workers, thereby excluding most of the world's working population who make a living in the informal economy. Purpose: The article extends existing critiques of formality bias by investigating the reality of work for people in the informal economy in Kenya and Tanzania and analysing related social protection challenges. Specifically, we look at: (1) the governance of work; (2) the organization of work relations; and (3) collective agency. In terms of social protection, we focus on formal and informal forms of social insurance and representation. Methods and approach: We draw on interview and survey data from people working in micro trading, transport, and construction in Nairobi and Kisumu in Kenya, and Dar es Salaam and Dodoma in Tanzania. A total of 1,462 workers were surveyed and 24 focus group discussions were held with such workers. Interviews were conducted with 120 key informants: leaders and members of informal workers' associations in the three sectors, as well as representatives of authorities, trade unions, and business associations. Data were collected from June 2018 to December 2019. Findings: Formal social insurance and representation do not fit the real experience of most people working in the informal economy. They have been modelled on and designed to support workers in formal standard employment relations. At the same time, informal workers' associations play important roles in meeting—albeit inadequately—the social insurance and representational needs of their members. Policy implications: Meaningful engagement with the reality of work and collective agency in the informal economy is necessary to inform more appropriate policies and measures to provide informal workers with appropriate social protection measures, particularly social insurance and representation. Their reality should not have to conform to an inadequate model; rather, the model should fit their reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a brief overview of the social impacts of the COVID‐19 crisis in Latin America and the Caribbean, presenting how these are intertwined with a structural deficit of social protection systems. It also describes the main features of the emergency social protection responses adopted by Latin American countries that are relevant to the ongoing debate on an emergency basic income. Finally, it discusses the role, implications, and challenges in implementing an emergency basic income as a sustainable entitlement, embedded in the social protection system, to be activated in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW) is a labor union that was established in 2022 to address the challenges faced by low-wage service workers in the U.S. South. These challenges include state laws that are against unions, lack of federal labor protections, and the exploitation of Black Southern labor. USSW aims to transform low-paying service jobs into jobs with dignity by using direct action, forming alliances with the community, and organizing across different industries. The union draws on the experiences of previous worker organizing efforts in the South and aims to build a strong organization of workers to achieve long-term changes and immediate victories. USSW uses tactics like strikes and worker speak-outs to address issues and demand better working conditions. They also recognize the connection between workplace and community issues and engage in community unionism. USSW focuses on popular education, cultural organizing, and community-building to empower workers and sustain their commitment to fighting for justice. [Extracted from the article]

This article analyses the strengths and bottlenecks of institutional capacity between social security institutions implementing the reform in Zambia, which focuses to provide social security to small-scale dairy farmers, a group of informal economy workers. Zambia's informal economy workers absorb over 80 per cent of the labour force. This is a qualitative study of institutional capacity in the extension of social security. Twenty-one interviews were conducted with participants from Farmers' Cooperatives (MCC), National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), and Dairy Association of Zambia (DAZ). We selected participants through a purposive sampling technique. We reflected on data using a Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) built on thematic analysis. Analysis suggests that the institutions of the partnership are committed towards extending social security to informal economy workers. There was low involvement of local NAPSA officers in the project design and their role during implementation of the pension extension was unclear. This contributed to a lack of trust by some non-NAPSA members towards social security institutions. Knowledge and beliefs about the capabilities of implementers were essential in the activities for implementing the public policy on the extension of social security. However, there are several implementation lacunas concerning the process, its overarching infrastructure, and adequate human resources. There is a critical need to address gaps in process and procedures, equipment and materials, infrastructure, human resource, trust, and knowledge of context for the extension of social security to informal economy workers in Zambia. This could make the new public policy scheme more attainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the height of its power over everyday life, between 1968 and 1993, the Cuban Communist Party outlawed virtually all non-state labour and exchange. Since then, however, its continuity in power has increasingly depended on devolution: shifting responsibility for the provision of basic goods and services from failing state enterprises back to the self-employed. The latter now produce the majority of food and basic products; receive most of the national income from tourism, remittances and foreign investment; and generate most new jobs. Nevertheless, they subsist under a subaltern regime of fragile and conditional freedoms. The article adapts James Scott's consideration for the subaltern's 'hidden transcripts' and agencies to contemporary Cuba. It analyses the unavoidability of informal and illegal practices for daily subsistence; their naturalisation in society in contrast with their delegitimisation as opportunistic self-enrichment in party-controlled media; and how the self-employed resist such judgements in favour of more conciliatory civic visions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we seek to understand the role of relationship marketing in achieving customer loyalty in Ghana's informal economy. The study further investigated the role of customer perceived value as a pass-through mechanism for the relationship between relationship marketing and customer loyalty. We collected primary data from 229 customers of informal economy operators in Accra. The data was then analyzed using structural equation modeling utilizing the STATA 15 Package. Our findings indicate that commitment is the only fundamental relationship marketing factor investigated that has a direct influence on customer loyalty in the informal business context. Trust and conflict handling on the other hand benefit significantly from the presence of customer perceived value whereas communication seems to have negligible effects. Consequently, scholars and marketing practitioners seeking to deploy the relationship marketing concept in the informal economy need to be aware of these contextual interplays and how they shape further discussions of the relationship marketing theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to public space for earning livelihoods is important for street vendors in global south cities. However, due to continuous population growth and the demand for lands by the real estate development sector, pressure on land is very high in the global south. Consequently, global south cities such as Dhaka provide 'no place' for its poor migrant citizens. Yet, the urban poor are able to appropriate public space for livelihoods. Drawing on a case study of Sattola slum in Dhaka, this article investigates how the urban poor access to public space for livelihoods and construct counter-spaces by breaking the planned order of the city. This article argues that the urban poor are able to construct counter-spaces with the tacit support of translocal social networks as well as with the support of a range of state and non-state powerful actors who are compromised by the benefits and profits they extract from vendors. This article draws on qualitative data generated through in-depth interviews with 94 informal workers and 37 key informants. This article contributes to urban sociology literature demonstrating that the urban poor are able to construct counter-spaces drawing on a range of everyday tactics and appropriating public space by quietly breaking the planned order of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the growing body of research on social assistance (SA) dynamics by analyzing patterns of SA receipt in China, a middle-income country with a large informal employment sector. Using national low-income household survey data and event history analysis, this study explored the mechanisms underlying exit from Dibao (formally known as Minimum Living Security) and changes in exit probability over time. We found that in the context of an informal economy, the 'explicit' change of individual characteristics and employment structure decisively affects receipt duration on the micro and macroeconomic levels, respectively. On the policy level, affected by the informal employment structure, employment services tend to be of low quality and fail to promote Dibao exit effectively. Although the specific Dibao payment strategy, which is used to address the difficulty in means tests, largely curbs the risks of declining working motivation, it considerably increases the possibility of prolonged Dibao use. With this systemic influence of informal employment, a unique pattern of SA receipt characterized by the combination of long-term use and a nondecreasing hazard rate has developed in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration shapes Sao Paulo's history. The labour demands of the sugar economy and, increasingly, the coffee economy soon exhausted the supply of local labour, replacing it with European immigrants, mainly Italian, Portuguese and Spanish, but including government-sponsored immigrants from Japan. Domestic immigrants from the Center of Brazil and from the North-East contributed to the city's diversity, but remained a minority of the population. Studies of urban poverty in Latin America show that though poverty is widespread, it is rarely homogeneous. In Sao Paulo, inequalities are evident in the contrasts of luxury mansions, guarded by gates and fences, and the sprawl of informally constructed housing. But different classes and ethnicities live in relative proximity to each other, with informal workers servicing the mansions of the wealthy and labourers working on the construction of modernist housing and transferring the skills they learn to improving their own informal dwellings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do cities foster political trust among informal workers? This question is particularly salient in Africa's growing cities where local governments must reconcile policy priorities across highly heterogeneous constituencies, including a burgeoning middle-class and a large informal economy. We argue that expectations about reciprocity and procedural justice shape the probability that informal traders trust their local government. In doing so, we analyse a survey of approximately 1000 informal traders in Ghana's three main cities – Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. We find that traders who paid requisite fees to local assemblies and could attribute a benefit from those payments were more likely to trust their local government while those who had experienced harassment by city authorities were less likely to do so. The paper highlights that drivers of trust among diverse urban constituencies deserve greater empirical and comparative attention, especially as countries deepen decentralisation initiatives and cities commit to development goals around inclusivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, Ghanaians adopted face masks, or "nose masks," in public places to combat the spread of a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Seamstresses and tailors quickly pivoted to manufacture nose masks by April, given the longstanding cottage sewing industry. While the country saw an influx of disposable face masks by the end of the year, cloth mask makers made a significant impact on public health at the start of the pandemic. This article considers how people were able to quickly popularize nose masks in 2020, noting the key role women seamstresses played alongside public leaders, the Ghana Standards Authority, and the police who used punitive punishments and coercive tactics to encourage sustained use as the pandemic continued. It marks one of the first studies on the history and cultural use of nose masks in an African country, comparing their use and adoption to other national mask responses, including those in the United States, Japan, and the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the gig economy is an exploitative extension of the informal economy. With its decentralised promise of individual entrepreneurship, I will argue that it places undue burdens on the worker as an 'independent contractor' that would otherwise be upheld by the employer. I will do so by applying a Marcusian analysis of the gig economy, highlighting two primary concerns. First, Marcuse's critique of 'industrial rationality' explains how industrial rationality creates the framework for - and justification of - exploitation within the gig economy. Second, as Wendy Brown notes, following Marcuse, the gig economy promotes the neoliberal notion of 'self-care' as a means of absolving corporations from any duty towards their employees. More specifically, 'self-care' within the gig economy forms part of the exploitation of workers within the informal economy which is often viewed as a buffer to absorb the unemployed within a neoliberal society. Building on this critique, I refer to the work of Byung-Chul Han and his concept of 'self-exploitation,' arguing that the gig economy should be considered an extension of an informal economy, in which workers are left in a perpetual state of servitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Home-based work is among the largest forms of employment in the informal economy in India and is overwhelmingly represented by women. Employing a social reproduction framework that reframes what is counted as labor, this article asks how women's unpaid work activities are appropriated as labor in subcontracted home-based work. Applying this analytical framework, it becomes clear that domestic work in the home, often completed by women, is needed and exploited in this production process as a result of gendered constructs of care. The contribution considers how unpaid work is directly appropriated by capital as surplus value. The context of informal work is key here because of the irregular and fragmented production process, the space where work occurs, and the use of unpaid family workers. The goal of this research is to offer empirical evidence that broadens analytical perspectives to account for the context of informality in the Global South. HIGHLIGHTS Subcontracted home-based work in India relies on a gendered, fragmented, and precarious labor force. Unpaid caregiving and household work directly contributes to profit-making. Western analytical concepts of the economy need to be reexamined in the context of the postcolonial informal economies. Research tools that measure economic participation need to capture how unpaid activities directly or indirectly contribute to economic processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The investigation of the labor market challenges generated by an aging society is currently one of the central subjects of international academic literature. Previous research mostly analyzed the labor market participation of people aged between 55 and 65. However, as the raising of the retirement age is on the agenda in several European countries, the ability and willingness of the 65+ age group to work has become a key issue. Our questionnaire survey conducted in Hajdú-Bihar county, North-Eastern Hungary (N = 2,625, multistage probability sample) focused on this age group, which has received relatively little attention in research with respect to their labor market status. It investigated participation in the formal and informal labor market, the time management of the 65+ age group, and the factors that determine their willingness to work. Our analysis revealed that only a rather small proportion (2.7%) of the investigated age group is engaged in the formal economy, and the vast majority (93%) is not engaged in any gainful activity even in the informal economy. However, in 68.7% of the sample we can identify certain activities that aim to reduce expenses and can be clearly considered as work. Thus the members of the Silver Generation are working to a considerably higher degree than official employment statistics show. The primary obstacle for open labor market involvement is not age but rather education level and health status. According to our research, the level of employment of the 65+ age group is highly affected by the lack of pressing financial need and also by ageism. A total of 99.2% of the respondents possess transfer incomes that cover their living expenses, so in their case there is no financial constraint forcing them to return to the open labor market. At the same time, certain widespread stereotypes about the work involvement of older people are also strongly present among members of the 65+ age group (internalized ageism) and significantly reduce their motivation to participate in employment in the formal economy even among those members of the age group who are still fit for work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to evaluate whether the acceptability of different types of business- and individual-level non-compliance has different impacts on the likelihood of participation in undeclared work. Design/methodology/approach: To evaluate this, data is reported on the EU27 and the UK from the special Eurobarometer survey no. 498, using a novel statistical methodology that deals with two potential sources of bias: sample selection error (avoidance to answer to the question about participation to undeclared work) and misclassification in the response variable (false statements about engagement in undeclared work). Findings: This reveals the association between tax morale and participation in undeclared work. It shows that citizens find far more unacceptable undeclared work conducted by firms than individuals, but both are significantly associated with participation in undeclared work although the greatest effect is clearly exerted by individual-level tax morale. Originality/value: This paper uses a methodology that accounts for the potential bias related to sample selection error and misclassification in the response variable of participation in undeclared work and sheds light on different components of tax morale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street vendors are an indispensable part of the urban social ecosystem, but due to a lack of comprehensive understanding, many cities have adopted simple eviction policies, resulting in the gradual marginalization and stigmatization of the street economy. The efficient governance of street vendors requires the comprehensive investigation of their business scale and spatial distribution information. However, traditional methods have limitations in terms of automatically surveying large-scale street vendor information, particularly spatial distribution. This paper proposes a method for the automatic investigation spatial distribution of street vendors based on street-view images and a deep-learning object recognition model. Street-view images were collected at fixed intervals according to the urban road network, and 1, 957 images containing one or more vendors were selected through human-machine interaction to establish street vendor label data. To achieve high recognition model accuracy, the category labels were subdivided into four categories: ground stalls, table stalls, tricycle stalls, and small truck stalls, based on the goods carriers used by street vendors. A deep neural-networkbased image object detection model based on YOLO v4 was constructed to identify street vendors in the streetview image library, with an average F1 value of 0.77 and an mAP of 0.67. The accuracy of the model was satisfactory for investigating the number and location of street vendors covering the main roads in the city and then applying a kernel density distribution model to evaluate the spatial distribution pattern of street vendors. Using street vendors in Guangzhou as a case study, the proposed automatic investigation model identified 26,119 street vendors from 3,339,062 street-view images. The results showed that the street vendors were distributed in a multicenter aggregation pattern in the central urban area, mainly concentrated in areas with high pedestrian traffic, such as subway stations and urban villages; their numbers increased as road grades decreases. Street vendors were mainly distributed in areas with medium rents. The proposed method is helpful for performing the efficient, low-cost, and city-scale mapping of street vendors; the results obtained provide suggestions for formulating and implementing spatial governance policies for the informal economy and further provide suggestions for improving and implementing spatial governance policies for open and diverse urban street-view images. The results can be used as a reference for the location preference analysis of practitioners, the exploration of NIMBY syndrome, and the determination of the formalization zone. Although street-view images have an insufficient spatiotemporal coverage, using them to perform street vendor investigations is a low-cost and efficient method compared with the use of traditional investigation methods and data sources. In addition, the method proposed in this article can be coupled with multitask deep learning algorithms to investigate additional dimensions of street vendor information, such as the sex, age, and type of business of street vendors. Relevant research needs to be conducted in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that in many sociological theorizing on gender, work, and employment, relatively little is known about how men who engage in female dominated informal works make sense of their gendered identities. Drawing from qualitative research in a rapidly urbanizing Ghanaian city, we examine the meanings and implications of men's involvement in gender atypical informal works. An unpacking of the constructions of gendered identity reveals the situative strategies that men may deploy to maintain, embolden, and/or adjust their masculinities congruent with dominant cultural scripts. In the end, we argue that men who engage in traditionally feminine work are accused of failing to herald the mainstreaming of the fulfillment of hegemonic masculinity which is a necessary cultural milestone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed at the championship season on the subject of the study, which is the hidden economy or the informal economy. By focusing on some of the issues in this topic that formed the problem of the study; They are the economic and social effects of this type of economic activity, with a statement of methods for estimating this type of economic practice. The study aimed to draw attention to the reality of this activity in selected countries, with reference to the Arab countries in particular and the developing world in general. In order to achieve the objectives of this study, the analytical descriptive approach was used, with an explanation of the methodologies, methods, and methods that are used to estimate the size of the shadow economy in different countries. The study concluded that the economy is still and whatever positives it presents, it remains a human activity fraught with dangers and has negative effects that cannot be ignored on the formal economy, and this is indicated by the current study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the barriers and challenges for decent job creation along the value chain of plastic recycling that street waste pickers (SWPs) face in the urban regions of Cape Town with a mixed method research design. The findings from the descriptive case study's primary survey data indicated that the informal recycling economy in these regions has little to no barriers of entry. Initiatives to absorb individuals into this economy could potentially help decrease the unemployment level of unskilled and lowly educated people. On average, SWPs earn about R155 for a day's waste and R632 for a week's waste. The econometric results revealed that SWPs from the coloured population group who do not have access to trolleys yield statistically significantly lower earnings. Assisting SWPs through the provision of trolleys and protective gear could potentially be an advantage to sustain their income and create decent employment opportunities for SWPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this outpouring of gratitude, an army of low-paid workers in the gig economy of day laborers, nannies, cleaners, and delivery workers went unnoticed - even those who performed that most essential of tasks, delivering food to people during a lockdown. Keywords: Worker's Justice Project; informal economy; gig economy; deliveristas; DoorDash; Grubhub; living wage EN Worker's Justice Project informal economy gig economy deliveristas DoorDash Grubhub living wage 23 29 7 06/07/23 20230501 NES 230501 Editor's Note In the winter 2023 issue of I New Labor Forum i , columnist Kressent Pottenger exposed the harsh and demeaning conditions food delivery workers have endured for the privilege of earning a subminimum wage plus tips. Alliances with other worker centers connected delivery workers and helped them build their organizing capacity. In California, several units of grocery store delivery workers (regular employees of those stores) have joined the United Food and Commercial Workers and gained improvements: I Are the deliveristas thinking about affiliating with a union?. [Extracted from the article]

This article constitutes an empirical contribution regarding the correlation between economic informality and the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru. Based on interviews with merchants in the informal sector of the city of Huancayo, the pandemic-related impacts are analyzed in relation to income and livelihoods. It is argued that informal employment played an important role in the tragic indicators of public health in the country. The intrinsic flexibility of this type of activities, specifically for walking merchants, and the lack of access to systems and programs of social security were the main reasons that people worked in this sector to replace the income they lost due to confinement. Thus, the notion “replacement of income” in the economy appeared during the pandemic. The heterogeneity among those who carry out informal work, specifically in terms of their access to different resources, enabled such work and enabled some people to control their exposure to the virus. It is concluded that the focus on economic formalization of the last decades of financial liberalization are not considered advantages that informal activities offer in relation to formalization. In fact, informality continues to offer the best opportunity for immediate income and highly flexible options, in particular for adapting to crisis situations like the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Street vendors are often targeted for removal from city streets and sidewalks in the name of beautification, sanitation or (re)development. These removals are commonly described as conflicts over the use of urban public space. However, focusing on conflicts over the use of public space provides an incomplete picture. In addition to contention over the use of space, street vending also involves debates over the users of public space. Through the lens of street vending in Mumbai, this research shows that conflicts over vending are often tied to who is vending, reflecting a local political atmosphere concerned with preventing 'outsiders' from working (and living) in the city. However, vendors are not helpless, and try to capitalise on informal institutions, specifically hafta, and intermediaries, to make claims regarding their urban belonging status. While informal institutions may mediate questions of urban citizenship and belonging, they provide only limited opportunities, leaving vendors often with a de facto rather than de jure vending, and urban belonging, status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal economy has become a vibrant and growing phenomenon across the world. Within the context of sustainable development, connecting local economic development (LED) to the informal economy is imperative. However, the informal economy remains largely neglected within the conventional LED literature. Using key informant interviews and focus group discussions, this paper found that recognizing, embracing and supporting informal economy contributes to a more inclusive form of LED. The study concluded that local government authorities need to be more innovative in recognising the informal economy as part of local governments' strategies for addressing unemployment, and supporting livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to analyse the impact of the informal economy on bilateral exports in sub‐Saharan African countries. We use a gravity model, to which we add indicators of the informal economy and indicator variables for different economic regions. The study used Pseudo‐Poisson Maximum Likelihood (PPML) and Heckman estimation techniques on data from the period 2002–2018. The results show that the informal economy has a negative impact on bilateral inter‐community exports and a positive impact on bilateral intra‐community exports. These results thus support the idea that the informal economy can accelerate the integration of regional economic communities and ultimately facilitate the establishment of bilateral export free trade areas at the continental level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are many studies on informal workers juggling multiple jobs, how workers differentiate their jobs economically and morally is less examined. Based on 18 months of fieldwork among urban middle‐class entrepreneurs in Brazzaville, this article argues that entrepreneurs in the informal economy work on multiple projects that complement each other in terms of economic gains and moralities, a pattern I call "patch‐work." Some projects are pitched in entrepreneurial competitions to gain funds, awards, and training and traveling opportunities. Others can generate more stable cash flows to support other projects. Yet others are not for profit but rather to expand one's social network. Despite being unable to generate income quickly, projects deemed entrepreneurial are kept for years, as they have high moral value. Thus, rather than simply maximizing profits, an entrepreneur in the informal economy "patch‐works" to pursue economic, social, and moral goals at the same time. Moreover, the moral values are highly diverse and debated among the entrepreneurs, showing that they cannot be reduced to a single logic. Patch‐working shows that, rather than passively coping with precarity or following neoliberalism, some working in the informal economy actively construct their working patterns to meet their multifaceted pursuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, using the data between 1990 and 2018, the effect of various macroeconomic indicators on the informal economy was investigated for 9 Balkan countries consisting of Greece, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary and North Macedonia and Turkey. According to the results of the study, a one-unit increase in national income reduces the informal economy by 5.53 units. A one-unit increase in gross fixed capital formation increases the informal economy by 0.266 units. A one-unit increase in unemployment increases the informal economy by 0.164 units. A one-unit increase in inflation increases the informal economy by 0.007 units. A one-unit increase in taxes on goods and services reduces the informal economy by 1.18 units. There is a positive and significant relationship between income inequality and the informal economy. A one-unit increase in income inequality increases the informal economy by 0.361 units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying an advance dynamic panel second-generation two-step system generalized method of movement modeling, this study endeavors to bridge the gap in the literature by examining the association between shadow economy and economic stability in multiple countries with a special case of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study has been motivated by the evidence that the shadow economy is a persistent source of the decline in tax revenue, which is the main source of funds for any economy to run welfare packages for the public. In addition, it also impacts the economy's financial stability and amplifies the losses. Saudi Arabia is selected as a special case given its global significance and participation in the group of the fastest growing economies in the world. Thus, this study finds a negative association between the shadow economy and economic stability in the case of the full sample and a sub sample of Saudi Arabia. In other words, our study supports the point of view of those scholars who claim that the shadow economy is harmful to the economy. Based on the empirical findings, the study recommends that policymakers need to give importance to the shadow economy while formulating economic stability policies in the case of a full sample, especially in Saudi Arabia. Similarly, the robustness of the results is tested using different model specifications and alternative estimation techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]