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There is much debate around whether labor informality reflects situations of exclusion or whether it constitutes a valuable alternative for those who work in this sector. This paper contributes to the discussion by comparing the characteristics of those who move from the formal to the informal sector with the characteristics of those who remain in formal sector jobs during the 1995-2019 period in Argentina. Multinomial choice models are used for this purpose. The influence of such movements on the variation of wages is also evaluated. Both sets of evidence reveal that the positions in the informal sector, taken as a whole, do not seem to constitute a desirable destination for those who work in the formal sector. However, there is also evidence of heterogeneity in the informal sector, since the profile of those who move to one of its segments -that of employers- is consistent with the idea of voluntariness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The study examines the consequences of the COVID‐19 pandemic‐induced lockdown on the socio‐economic status of 212 female migrant workers employed in the informal sector, originating from four underprivileged districts of West Bengal, India. The study assesses the changes in their scope of employment, financial instability, and the level of violence experienced within households and workplaces in the pre‐pandemic and post‐lockdown phases. We apply the binary logistic regression to identify factors influencing their low employment scope, the t‐test to observe changes in their income as a consequence of the pandemic, and the Wilcoxon signed‐rank test alongside effect size analysis to detect any rise in experiences of violence and exploitation against women. The findings suggest a notable decrease in their employment scope due to the absence of previous jobs, low wages, insecure workplaces, and family constraints; a decline in earnings; and an increased incidence of violence against them. The research suggests designing reforms to improve the current situation of female migrants, who represent one of the most marginalized sections of society. Formalizing the labor market and ensuring proper registration of these women would enable them to gain access to social security benefits, pension schemes, and relief packages that are vital for their well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Revista de Arqueologia is the property of Revista de Arqueologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

(1) Background: Labor market outcomes can be directly or indirectly influenced by the health behavior patterns of the labor force. This study assesses the association between patterns of physical activity and smoking behavior maintenance (and their transitions) and the labor market outcomes of employment participation and formal employment participation. (2) Methods: The sample evaluated in this study comprises adult individuals aged 18 and above from wave 5 of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, a chi-square test, and bivariate probit regression techniques. (3) Results: The bivariate probit regression results regarding the impact of health behavior transition and maintenance patterns on labor market outcomes show that transitioning to physically active behavior or maintaining physically active behavior increases the likelihood of participating in the labor market and being employed in the formal sector compared to those ceasing to be physically active over time. Surprisingly, both the maintenance and uptake of smoking behavior increases the probability of the occurrence of both labor market outcome variables. (4) Conclusions: These findings have both explicit and implicit implications that can serve to increase labor force participation probability and to promote healthy behavior. There is a need for community-wide campaigns via promotions and media coverage to promote active physical activity among the labor force group. Also, interventions to support individuals who lack extensive social networks is necessary. The results further highlight the importance of education, rural economic development, and good health status for desirable labor market outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate how means-tested public pensions interact with the informal sector, by exploiting a reform in the noncontributory old-age pension system in South Africa, where the eligibility age was lowered from 65 to 60 for men. By employing a difference-in-discontinuities ("diff-in-disc") approach, we show that this reform triggered a large drop in elderly male employment. The response at the extensive margin comes from informal workers, who drop out of the labor force, while formal employment is mostly unaffected, despite the implicit incentive to draw benefits and simultaneously work informal jobs. This heterogeneity is not due to the lower earnings in informal jobs; at the same level of hourly earnings, informal workers drop out, while formal workers do not. Overall, we argue that this response is indicative of the "subsistence" nature of informal employment in South Africa, in particular, among the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation, both omnipresent and influential, has deeply impacted various sectors with a particular focus on the economy. The introduction and adoption of tools that facilitate technological changes and online business practices have emerged as game changers. They have endowed corporations with enhanced internal agility and improved employee communications. Online business, with its vast potential, is becoming increasingly crucial in developing countries, where Internet accessibility is steadily growing. This study explores the impact of e-commerce on company productivity by considering both formal and informal sectors. It leverages data from the 2018 General Business Census of Togo. By applying endogenous switching regression and smoothed instrumental variable quantile regression tools, this study demonstrates that online businesses can significantly increase productivity, particularly in firms within the informal sector. However, this finding highlights the potential risk of job loss. This study concludes that support strategies are essential for promoting the integration of online companies, increasing productivity, and protecting jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A myriad of factors influence young people's vulnerability and the likelihood of becoming NEET. Moreover, the share of young NEETs in European countries is very high. Institutional and governmental initiatives aiming to promote the inclusion of young people in the labour market are of paramount importance. However, the socio-economic conditions and the level of vulnerability alongside other socio-demographic characteristics are likely to influence the extent to which young people ultimately engage with such programmes. The current study ascertains whether previous experience of informal work increases young people's propensity to participate in programmes offered by public employment services, such as the Youth Guarantee Programme. Indeed, we hypothesise that the experience of working without a contract makes young people more aware and concerned about the risk of remaining trapped in a spiral of vulnerable jobs. To test this, we used data from a survey of 4,273 NEETs and focused on Italy, Portugal, and Spain. The study's findings contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between past experience in the informal economy and engagement with the Youth Guarantee. Besides contributing to the literature, the study can also contribute to policy making and practitioners' assessment of the relative efficacy of Youth Guarantee initiatives among different subgroups of young NEET and tailor the interventions accordingly. In other words, the outcomes of this study should signal to governments that greater efforts should be made to implement initiatives reaching out to young people, as well as acting to reduce the precariousness in job contracts, which negatively impacts their quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, we conducted a study of the dynamics of the formation of the labor market and employment of the rural population based on the materials of the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine. According to the results of the research, we found that the presence of fully functioning agricultural enterprises and the size of their main and variable production assets are the dominant factors influencing the employment of peasants in Ukraine. In addition, a rather powerful factor influencing the formation of employment indicators of the rural population is the dynamics of the growth of the number of personal peasant farms, which form a fairly significant share of the gross domestic product of the agricultural sector of Ukraine. In the article, we substantiated that the dominant type of employment in rural areas of the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine is personal farms. In the article, we substantiated that in rural areas of Vinnytsia region, the specific weight of such rural population in 2020 was 74.5% of the total number of employed persons. It is important that employment in peasant farms according to the current legislative field of Ukraine is not an officially registered form of employment, therefore the rural population working in this field actually forms the shadow sector of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Day-labor worker centers are labor market intermediaries that target their interventions to underregulated segments of residential construction and allied industries. As sites of rulemaking in the informal economy, worker centers raise standards and enforce worker protections in sectors that lie beyond the reach of government enforcement. In addition to strengthening wage floors, worker centers are now acting as "disaster recovery hubs" that can help local communities following natural disasters. As the economy was shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic, worker centers pivoted to provide emergency assistance to unemployed workers. This paper assesses these two emerging areas of worker center activity through a survey of disaster-recovery workers in Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey and a national survey of worker centers that administered emergency assistance to immigrant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These case studies reveal promising new interventions that could lead to more inclusive forms of workforce development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of a rise in oil prices on the wages of workers in the unorganized sector of a developing economy. The model economy is comprised of two non‐traded transport sectors, formal and informal, along with other sectors. The main results that we obtain are as follows. The informal transport sector contracts when fuel price rises and lowers the real income of the informal workers. The per‐unit return to land rises, and the factor readjustments even raise the output of other sectors in the economy. We also show why inclusion of non‐passenger transport services does not alter the main outcomes of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any economy, regardless of its level of development, is characterized by the formal-informal duality of the labor market, but informality is more pronounced in emerging economies. The measures applied in developing economies during the transition to a market economy have left behind immeasurable social costs and deep structural imbalances, especially in the labor market. Among the structural imbalances in emerging economies we can mention the dual nature of the economy, represented by the two sectors of the economy, namely formal and informal, lack of flexibility of labor and low wages, which can be considered a barrier for employment. In this paper we aim to make a characterization of the dual labor market and to present what are the main differences between the two types of labor markets: formal and informal. In this regard, we will consider the following aspects related to: regulation, revenues / incomes, duration of contracts, flexibility, quantification, segmentation and entering to the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal work is a significant feature of labour markets in many developed countries, despite having unemployment protection (UP) programmes. We use a model of job search over the duration of unemployment to study how the structure of these programmes influences the incentive of the unemployed to engage in informal work while searching for formal jobs. Accounting for informality enables the model to jointly explain three known features on job search dynamics: a temporary re-employment spike, low search effort, and negative duration dependence. The quantitative analysis finds that both informality and unemployment can be reduced by redistributing (across either workers or programmes), rather than increasing, the overall UP budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociedad y Economia is the property of Universidad del Valle and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Labour markets in sub‐Saharan Africa are characterized by a gendered division between formal and informal sectors. This article argues that this division originates from a rationality introduced by racist and gendered colonial legal segmentation, produced by a variety of legal regimes in and beyond employment law. Labour market segmentation in postcolonial settings cannot be understood or overcome without analysing the specific colonial institutional origins of the commodification of labour. In sub‐Saharan Africa, the "colonial exploitative legal employment standard" that commodified labour focused on black African male employees for European employers, excluding or marginalizing women and domestic labour relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article applies a qualitative approach to the legal segmentation analysis developed by Dingeldey et al. (2021), considering exclusion from, and hierarchies of, worker protection. Examining the cases of China, India, Malaysia and Viet Nam, the author finds that several factors distinguish these countries from those in the global North and produce distinct labour market outcomes, namely: in terms of the relative size of the workforce operating outside the effective coverage of employment regulation; legal terminology that is not readily translated into Western languages; and legal history, especially as regards the mismatch between statutory frameworks and the labour market resulting from colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the labour market effects and redistributive consequences among natives of the arrival of the Syrian refugees in Turkey. For that, we use the quantitative spatial model developed in Loayza et al. (2021) , in which low- and high-skill workers can choose where to live/work and firms within each region can choose to operate in the formal or informal sectors and, if formal, whether to hire their workers formally or not. We use the estimated model to quantify the effects of the 'refugee shock' on informality, wages, profits, and tax revenues across regions and the country as a whole. We show that informality increases among low-skill but decreases among high-skill workers and the skill premium increases. Wages of low-skill workers decline substantially in the most affected regions, but tax revenues and profits per worker increase. Redistributing tax revenues can substantially reduce low-skill workers' losses in most affected areas. In addition, redistributing profits can completely revert both low- and high-skill workers' losses, even in the most affected regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers how the regulative functions of labour law have been developed within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and seeks to identify instances of legal segmentation. The authors provide an overview of the demographic nature of the informal economies in SADC Member States, drawing the conclusion that the labour law mechanisms employed in the region substantially contribute to the legal segmentation of the regional economies. This has occurred despite the constitutionalization of labour law in the SADC region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vigorous growth of the Chinese economy together with its increasingly successful role in international trade may have profoundly impacted developing countries. This study examines the large increase in the international trade exposure of the Brazilian economy during 2000–2012 to assess the impacts of import competition on its manufacturing formal and informal labor markets. In this period, import penetration grew by more than 20 percent in Brazil, and the share of the import penetration originating in China increased from 3 to 20 percent. At the same time, the share of informal workers in manufacturing declined from 27 to approximately 15 percent. Employing a switching regression model and Brazilian household survey data, this study finds that a greater industry-level Chinese and 'rest of the world' import penetration increases the likelihood of jobs becoming informal at different intensities, and these effects are smaller in unskilled-labor intensive industries and manufacturing states. Additionally, both types of import penetration positively impact the average informal wage. In contrast, the estimates suggest that a larger Chinese import penetration reduces average formal wages, while imports from elsewhere have the opposite effect. The results also indicate that the magnitude of the effects on wages are moderated by the unskilled labor intensity of the industry and whether the worker is located in a manufacturing state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Telos is the property of Revista Telos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The pre-Covid-19 world of work was rife with inequalities and difficulties, with more than 40 per cent of working-age South Africans unemployed. The majority of those in employment were barely able to eke out a living - between 20 per cent to 30 per cent were working in the informal economy, mostly without labour rights and social protection and earning low incomes that trapped them in poverty. The precarious nature of the South African labour market before the Covid-19 pandemic was characterised by casualisation, informalisation, and externalisation of work. This resulted in the reduction of the number of workers employed for definite periods and rising levels of precarious workers. This article investigates the precarious nature of work and the various work paradigms present in the South African labour market before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. New challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and new forms of work in the South African labour market are also considered, together with measures taken to address precarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to investigate the status of women's presence in different economic sectors and formal and informal economies. Also, considering the special situation of Iran in terms of increasing number of women with higher education and economic sanctions, identifying the effective factors for recognizing barriers to women's presence in economic, social, and cultural dimensions and providing solutions for removing those barriers is the need of the present time to obtain practical results for the field of employment policy. Accordingly, this study, after identifying the effect of these barriers on women's economic participation, intends to provide solutions to eliminate and reduce the effect of barriers and suggest appropriate solutions for creating opportunities and increasing women's economic participation. Based on the results, using a correlation test and multivariate regression, it was shown that three of them, economic, social, and occupational barriers had a negative and significant effect on women's economic participation in Iran's labor market, while the effect of institutional barriers was not statistically confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Arte y Políticas de Identidad is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Direito da Cidade is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Introducing this volume, this article reflects on recent changes that brought to the editors' attention the need for this special issue on the methodological and ethical challenges facing those who research precarious, virtual and clandestine labour in the 21st century. An exponential spread of algorithmically managed platform labour, just-in-time working, micro-work, teleworking and other trends associated with digitalisation has converged with traditional patterns of work in the informal economy, including clandestine practices, such as the use of child labour, trafficked labour and slave labour, to create a dynamically shifting labour market that cannot be captured by traditional means using existing indicators. Simultaneously, digitalisation has introduced the possibility of new research methods, raising new ethical challenges, as well as stimulating the adaptation of older forms of ethnographic research including participant observation and action research. It discusses the articles in this issue, suggesting that they form the basis of an ongoing debate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Facultad de Ciencias Economicas: Investigacion y Reflexion is the property of Revista Facultad de Ciencias Economicas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article aims to study the evolution of the Argentinean labor market over the last three decades in the light of an approach that takes into account the structural determinant of the national economic cycle: the relationship between the lag in international productivity and the availability of sources of compensation for it, at each moment in time, under the different models of accumulation. To this end, the dynamics of different relevant labor variables (employment, wages, the evolution of the urban informal sector, and the quality of employment) are analyzed in stages identified according to the general economic dynamics: 1991-2002, 2003-2011, and 2012-2021. The main conclusion is that only in instances of a particularly high flow of ground rent (2008-2011) a genuine improvement in the employment and living conditions of the Argentinean population was achieved, which failed to reverse the pronounced deterioration that had occurred since the mid-1970s. This deterioration was the result of a growing differentiation in the conditions of reproduction of the labor force, which has its correlation in the marked fragmentation that characterizes current Argentinean society vis-à-vis that of the early 1970s, which stood out in the regional panorama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses a topical issue which is extremely relevant in crisis periods – evaluation of the level of the shadow economy in all Lithuanian regions. By applying the MIMIC modelling, three equations were developed for three different periods: economic upturn, economic downturn (crisis) and economic recovery. The number of immigrants, employment rate and population’s density were identified as the major shadow economy determinants in Lithuanian regions. The determinants identified are unique in the case of Lithuania because they reveal that the labour market (employment rate, the number of immigrants) and population’s density are the key factors that show how municipalities address the issues of the shadow economy. 10 municipalities with respectively high or low levels of the shadow economy were ranked for each period under consideration. The maps developed for different periods illustrate the general trends of the evolution of the shadow economy. This is the first study that estimates the size of the shadow economy in 60 municipalities (a small regional division) with different economic periods taken into account. Scientific novelty manifests through consideration of the regional shadow economy and proving significance of the labour market and immigration in reducing regional disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the effects of COVID-19 on actors in the informal economy in Cameroon. To analyze the effects of the COVID-19 crisis on actors in the informal economy, we use secondary data from the National Institute of Statistics (NIS). These data come from a survey of 1310 households. We performed data analysis using comparative methods and a labor market participation model that considers changes in people's behavior towards health risks in order to explore and compare empirical results with earlier studies. From this analysis, it was revealed that job losses are more important in the informal sector (and, in particular, among men). We note that the absence of wearing a mask decreases the chances of having an informal job and of being suspended from one's job during the crisis. Likewise, time restrictions that are not appreciated by workers will push actors more towards the informal sector. These results lead to recommendations that contribute towards providing support or direct support to informal workers in the sector. [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]

In response to COVID-19 most governments used some form of lockdown policy to manage the pandemic. This required making iterative policy decisions in a rapidly changing epidemiological environment resulting in varying levels of lockdown stringency over time. While studies estimating the labour market effects of lockdown policies exist in both developed and developing countries, there is limited evidence on the impact of variation in lockdown stringency, particularly in developing countries. Such variation may have large heterogenous effects both on aggregate and between worker groups. In this paper, we estimate the causal effect of lockdown stringency on employment probabilities, adopting a quasi-experimental design on unique labour force panel data from South Africa. South Africa is a useful case study given its upper-middle-income status and relatively small informal sector, thus serving as an example to a variety of developing and developed country economies. We find that the negative employment effects of the country's lockdown policy were driven by effects on the informal sector. Furthermore, we observe important effect heterogeneity by employment formality as the stringency of the country's lockdown regulations changed over time. We find that more stringent lockdown levels negatively affected informal, but not formal sector employment, while less stringent levels negatively affected formal, but not informal sector employment. From a policy perspective, evidence of such heterogeneity can inform decisions around the optimal targeting of support as the pandemic progresses and lockdown policies are reconsidered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of COVID-19 on different demographic groups in the Thai labour market using the Labour Force Surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019. We construct a new set of COVID-19 impact indicators capturing both the degree of risk in industries and the degree of occupational flexibility in the Thai context. The results show that the effect of COVID-19 is highly divergent across demographic groups, which may further worsen the pre-existing inequality in the Thai labour market, given the composition of industrial sectors and occupations. The results also indicate that education attainments and income levels play a significant role in protecting individuals, suggesting the key contribution of human capital. In addition, marriage affects men and women workers differently during the crisis, with married women appearing to suffer more. Finally, this study highlights the need for targeted government support to vulnerable groups, including workers with low education, informal sector workers, private employees, older women and the young, who are more likely to be affected by COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study analyses the impact of lockdown on the socio-economic condition of female migrant workers of informal sector. A field survey is conducted on 107 female migrant workers in four underprivileged districts of West Bengal, India. The study evaluates the effect of lockdown on their employment status, financial instability and degree of violence suffered in households and workplace comparing their pre-pandemic and post-lockdown condition. The methodologies considered are regression to study the impact on employment scope, t-test for studying the effect of pandemic on their income, Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Effect size to check the increase in violence and exploitation. The derived result implies a significant impact of independent variables on their employability, social security and violence committed on them. Hence, the research provide insights to the policy makers on the kind of reforms required to be introduced presently to upgrade the condition of the female migrants as they are one of the most neglected segments of the society. Moreover, the study proposes formalization of labour market and proper registration of these women so that they can utilize the desired social security-healthcare services, pension schemes, relief packages, and employment opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pre-employment card program, a training voucher policy initiated by Indonesian government in the beginning of 2020 emerged as an alternative instrument in economic recovery, including for youth affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the multinomial logit and Lee's selection-biased corrections, the objectives of the study then are to see the effect of the program on (1) employment status and (2) income of youth during the pandemic. The data used are sourced from the 2020 National Labor Force Survey. The results show that the participation of youth in the program increases participation in the labor market, especially in the informal sector. However, the results show that there is still no significant effect of the program on income in all employment status, suggesting a potential lagged income effect of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. In many cases, informal employment is forced and associated with vulnerability and discrimination of workers, who may be limited in wages, social protection, professional growth and promotion, etc. The state and trends associated with the sphere of informal employment require constant monitoring. To make the right economic decisions, it is important to have timely information. The purpose of the work is to study the level, structure and dynamics of informal employment in the Russian Federation. Materials and methods. To achieve this goal, secondary analysis of data provided by the Federal State Statistics Service and the Russian Public Opinion Research Center was used. During the study, systemic and institutional approaches were applied. Results. The category of informal employment includes carrying out labor activities in the informal sector and carrying out labor activities in the formal sector without formalizing labor relations. The average age of people employed in the informal sector is growing and in 2023 was 41,5 years. Despite the fact that Russian society has a fairly high tolerance for “black” earnings, the number of such payments is decreasing. Conclusions. The study showed a decrease in the number of people employed in the informal sector in 2017–2023 and a decrease in the number of people employed simultaneously in the formal and informal sectors.

In this paper, we investigate the wage differentials that exist in the post-liberalized labor market in Pakistan. The increasing wage differential contradicts standard labor theories and models. The literature also confirms the existence of wage differentials across different labor markets both in industrialized and non-industrialized countries. The firms compensate the workers both on their observable and unobservable characteristics. The mincer equation used in its semi-logarithmic decomposed form to derive wage differentials. The weighted adjusted standard deviation technique is used for further decomposition of the level and regional variations in sectoral wage gaps, as suggested by Horrace and Oaxaca. The sectoral heterogeneity, skill characteristics and regional dispersions derived by using the micro labor force data sets spread over thirty years. The results confirm the existence of inter-industry wage differentials. However, the size varies across the regions, levels of education, and types of occupations. A substantial difference in the wage gap observed in firms both in the formal and informal sectors. The financial services firms pay higher than the average national wage followed by firms in utility services, the services sector, and the mining sector. The firms in the agricultural sector pay lower than the average national wage. The dispersion in wages has risen to the magnitude of almost 25 percent over the last three decades. Firms pay higher wages to high-skill workers, while industries requiring jobs with low skills pay lower wages. The wage differentials in various regions are attributable to the persistent and relative backwardness of provinces. The high-skilled occupations in general are likely to have more benefits than those involving low-skilled workers. Individual and household characteristics account for almost 50 percent of variation regardless of the sectoral affiliation. The increase in the minimum wage, with targeted social policies in educational attainment, increased participation of women, and provision of social services in the informal sector may reduce the gap in wage difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labor market dualism has caused a persistent wage gap between formal and informal workers in Indonesia. This study aimed to decompose the wage difference between formal and informal workers based on cohorts in Indonesia and further analyze the factors that influence this gap. This allowed us to identify the structure of the labor market and whether it tends to be segmented or competitive. By controlling the cohort, the estimation result was compatible with the human capital accumulation argument. The data sourced from the 2010 and 2019 National Labor Surveys comprised 581,312 and 503,313 workers, respectively. This study used the threefold Heckman selection-biased corrected Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition technique. The results showed that the wage gap between formal and informal workers is decreasing, especially among the younger cohort. Among this cohort, the labor market is still segmented, although the degree of segmentation is lower. In contrast, the older cohort labor market is more competitive but at a decreasing rate. A further decomposition showed that education has affected the wage gap between young and old cohorts. However, this effect is diminishing. In addition, differences in institutional labor market settings such as the wage system and occupational health and safety systems have increased the wage gap. The findings imply that equitable access to education for the younger cohort and the improvement of labor market institutions can reduce the gap between formal and informal wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding labor market dynamics remains a pivotal aspect within contemporary economic discourse, as necessitates the pursuit of effective employment models to ensure steady progress in the conditions of changes in the economic structure. The aim of the research is to examine the dynamics of the labor market in developing countries, with particular emphasis on China and Kazakhstan, taking into account economic, social, and technological trends. The methodology includes the analytic and comparison of trends in the labor market in developing countries, such as China and Kazakhstan over the past 20 years, and also monitoring the socio-economic nature of the labor process. The study identified changes in the labor market and provided empirical evidence for new forms of employment, utilizing comparative analysis and data visualization of the sectoral structure of the economy and global labor market trends up to 2027. The obtained results provide three main conclusions: a decrease in demand for low-skilled workers and an increase in demand for highly qualified individuals; the emergence of jobs with low levels of social protection; new forms of employment-oriented towards workers outside the social security system, domestic workers, and self-employed individuals. These types of employment can fill jobs in platform and piecework economies, cooperativism, and the sharing economy, which allows employers in developing markets to optimize employment. The findings of the study can contribute to understanding the functioning of the labor market in developing countries including the development of small and medium-sized businesses, startups, and innovative projects, and may be applicable in the development of economic and social policies for sustainable economic growth and social stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified global social inequalities and disrupted socio-economic stability, as recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO). This study uses Marxist and critical theoretical frameworks to analyze how the pandemic has exacerbated class struggles and socio-economic disparities, focusing on the working and lower-middle classes in Southeast Asia. Through case studies of Indonesia and Malaysia, the research evaluates national policy responses designed to protect these groups. Employing a descriptive and qualitative methodology, including analysis of official data and media discourse, the study highlights how the pandemic has amplified existing contradictions within capitalist systems, leading to increased job losses and widening labor market inequalities. Despite the introduction of economic stimulus packages, these measures often fail to address the underlying systemic issues of capitalism that perpetuate class exploitation and inequality. The paper critiques the capitalist framework for exacerbating the challenges faced by the working class during the pandemic, arguing that these policies offer only temporary relief without tackling the root causes of socioeconomic disparities. This analysis underscores the need for a more transformative approach to understanding and addressing capitalist dynamics in Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the analysis of the principal tendencies in development of labour market in the Republic of Moldova in the period 2014-2020, including the period of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Negative natural growth and increased external migration over the last two decades have led to the population' decline by about 25%, which had the negative impact on labour market contributing to the quantitative and qualitative decline in labour supply. The irreversible ageing process has led to a change in the structure of economically active and employed population by age and sex, as labour market has aged. The increase in the share of elderly population, who have a lower level of participation in labour market, has also influenced the rates of economic activity, which have decreased from 60% to 40%, while having a slight recovery in recent years. In addition to the problems mentioned above, there are also qualitative problems, including the informal employed population, whose share, after a period of decline in recent years, has begun to rise again (mainly in agriculture and construction), which indicates a slow pace of structural change in the national economy. A negative impact on labour market has caused by the economic shock caused by the Covid-19 virus due to the reduction in economic activity and, as a result, the decrease or stopping of employment. The consequences of the shock include rising unemployment and declining employment, as well as a medium-term increase in the economically inactive population, which will aggravate the problem of labour shortages after the period of economic recovery. The labour market tendencies outlined above require a wide range of interventions to address the risks and challenges of given market at the actual moment. In this context, some proposals have developed to improve the situation on labour market in the Republic of Moldova. The article was elaborated within the framework the project of the State Program (2020-2023) 20.80009.0807.21 Migration, Demographic Changes and Policies of Stabilization the Situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This article reports on the results from a scoping review and a modified e-Delphi survey with experts which aimed to synthesize existing knowledge and identify research gaps on the health and health equity implications of informal employment in both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). Methods: The scoping review included peer-reviewed articles published online between January 2015 and December 2019 in English. Additionally, a modified e-Delphi survey with experts was conducted to validate our findings from the scoping review and receive feedback on additional research and policy gaps. We drew on micro- and macro-level frameworks on employment relations and health inequities developed by the Employment Conditions Knowledge Network to synthesize and analyze existing literature. Results: A total of 540 articles were screened, and 57 met the eligibility criteria for this scoping review study, including 36 on micro-level research, 19 on macro-level research, and 13 on policy intervention research. Most of the included studies were conducted in LMICs while the research interest in informal work and health has increased globally. Findings from existing literature on the health and health equity implications of informal employment are mixed: informal employment does not necessarily lead to poorer health outcomes than formal employment. Although all informal workers share some fundamental vulnerabilities, including harmful working conditions and limited access to health and social protections, the related health implications vary according to the sub-groups of workers (e.g., gender) and the country context (e.g., types of welfare state or labour market). In the modified e-Delphi survey, participants showed a high level of agreement on a lack of consensus on the definition of informal employment, the usefulness of the concept of informal employment, the need for more comparative policy research, qualitative health research, and research on the intersection between gender and informal employment. Conclusions: Our results clearly identify the need for more research to further understand the various mechanisms through which informal employment affects health in different countries and for different groups of informal workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a systematic literature review to provide a collection of theories explaining the impact of global value chains (GVCs) on labour market outcomes. Due to the complex nature of GVCs and the interconnectedness of wages, employment, and productivity, many direct and indirect effects are at play. To ensure a transparent and systematic flow of the review process, I follow the PRISMA guide. Eventually, 36 records out of 1221 results from Scopus database were selected. This review may be useful for theorists, empirical economists, and policy makers as an overview of theoretical developments and convenient map of potential outcomes expected from involvement in GVCs. It identifies and systematizes a number of effects existing in the literature under various names. The results show that the predictions from the theory are ambiguous. The positive effects which may emerge regardless the characteristics of the GVC are the productivity-enhancing effect and the cross-effect, especially important considering growing servicification of manufacturing. Here lies the critical role of the state and policies to assure that the losses will not exceed the gains in the aggregate terms. One of the main factors shaping the outcome is the power distribution among the GVC's firms. Additionally, this paper shows the shortcomings of the existing theories. Less aggregated levels of analysis could be a great input to the discussion, as well as addressing different GVCs' dimensions and types of organisation. The understanding of relation between GVC position and labour market is especially worth exploration as the existing evidence adopt different and even contradicting perspectives on the definition of upgrading the GVC position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of research is to analyse the impact of population ageing process on labour force market, as well as economic factors on the transition from labour activity to pension in the Republic of Moldova. The change in the structure of labour force to wards elder ages, as well as interruption of active economic activity and retirement is one of the factors in economic growth slowdown, which is conditioned by a reduction of labour force reproduction and its growth. In this situation, in order to mitigate the negative consequences of labour force deficit, it is necessary to take effective measures to increase labour productivity not only to ensure economic growth, but also to ensure the welfare of the country's population and meet the necessities of an increased share of the population-dependents (both the elderly population and children under 15). Taking into account the relevance of the above-mentioned problem, the analysis of the relationship between economic factors and the transition from labour activity to pension in the conditions of demographic ageing was carried out, including the evaluation of the role of economic factors in making a decision to exit from the labour market to pension. In this context, the comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis of tendencies in the economically active and employed population was carried out, including pre- and pension ages and the phenomenon of precarious employment, the demographic coefficient of dependence on old age, the dependence of pension from the income level, and the financial stability of the Social Insurance Budget. The proposals to improve the effectiveness of government policies in regulation and harmonization the transition from the labour market to pension, including the continuation of active economic activity was elaborated in order to reduce the negative consequences connected with the process of population ageing and to ensure the stability of labour market development. The article is developed in the framework of the research Subprogramme "The demographic transition in the Republic of Moldova: particularities, socioeconomic implications and demographic resilience straightening" (2024-2027). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether participating informality is attributed to income shocks such as wage arrears, unexpected wage cuts or compulsory unpaid leaves. The current research uses Russia longitudinal Monitoring Survey 2002–2015. Design/methodology/approach: Using formal jobs as the base category, the authors conducted pooled multinomial logit regressions allowing for the two additional employment statuses: workers without contracts and unincorporated business workers. Findings: The overall results mainly suggest that no effects occur. In other words, unexpected negative income shocks are not the main driving force of informality. Although the majority of previous studies are based on survey questions on unexpected income shock which has sample selection bias, to obtain robustness, the current study used Russian minimum wage reforms as income shocks. This research shows that Russian minimum wage reform does not affect the decision of informality in the labor market. Research limitations/implications: Given the data limitations, the authors only observed and examined the supply-side of the labor market. Tax-evading motives would be the main reason for informality; to ensure this conjecture, however, demand and supply sides need to be simultaneously examined which is beyond the scope of this study. Originality/value: In contrast to a large number of studies on cross-sectional differences in determinants of informal job holding, emphasis on the effects of income shocks on informal employment across business cycles has been minimal. The current study focuses on the business cycles because trends of informal employment can be interpreted differently regardless of whether in an economic boom or recession. Russia, as a unique natural experiment, provides us to examine informal job holdings over the business cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recent research has confirmed the crucial role of social security in promoting social justice. However, despite its significance, these services are sometimes deemed unnecessary by both employers and workers. This can lead to insurance evasion. Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative research method based on grounded theory, during which 14 experts of the Social Security Organization were selected using a purposive sampling technique. These people responded to the main question of the research (identification of the factors affecting insurance evasion) during structured and issue-oriented interviews. Findings: After analyzing the data, the core category was identified as “insurance evasion, short-term profitmaking of stakeholders, and long-term instability in the production of collective good social welfare.” This central phenomenon is influenced by several causal conditions, including “lack of awareness among actors about the benefits of insurance,” “successive waves of economic crises,” “complexity and ambiguity in laws and regulations,” and “the lack of an effective monitoring and evaluation system.” Additionally, the findings revealed that social actors encountering this issue have implemented strategies such as “prioritizing income for the labor force”, “associating labor based on bribery/threats”, and “neglect of insurance benefits”. These strategies have resulted in consequences such as “the challenge of financing the uninsured workforce” and “the gradual and increasing collapse of income/cost of insurance companies”. Discussion: The insurance evasion occurs under the influence of economic and structural factors. The inflation economic crises, and deficiencies in the social security laws regarding the determination of insurance payment and insurance styles affect the performance of capital and labor owners more than any other factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the stock of scientific knowledge by showing the effect of orphan status on child labour and school attendance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While the abolition of child labour is undeniably one of the major tasks assigned to the International Labour Organization (ILO) when it was founded, child labour remains a severe problem worldwide. In many parts of the world, especially in developing countries, children do not have access to school. Instead of ending up in school, millions of children are forced to engage in child labour in income-generating and non-income-generating activities. Little researchers have yet made it possible to obtain simultaneous information on child labour, school attendance and orphaned children. This paper describes the research that tries to make such a connection. Data used is from the out-of-school children and adolescents (OOSC-DRC-2012) survey organised by the Ministry of Primary, secondary and Vocational Education. Using a bivariate probit econometric model and testing the endogeneity with an instrumental variables approach, funding of the analysis supports the assumption of a significant negative relationship between child labour and school attendance. The result shows also that being orphaned reduces a child's likelihood of school attendance and increases the probability of entering the labour market. It is underlined that most children are present in non-income-generating than income-generating activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the experiences of rejected asylum-seekers (RAS) caught in their everyday lives between deportation threat and mechanisms of irregularization. We analyze their everyday lives in Italy and Germany, two EU member states facing the non-deporability of RAS in different ways according to the specificity of their labour market forces, integration policies, and democratic institutional culture. Furthermore, this paper aims to focus on the temporality as a crucial dimension to grasp the power relations between the technologies implemented to govern migrants on the move, and the everyday struggles put in place to face and overcome the barriers raised to deter their integration. The dialogue between the two case-studies contributes to a better understanding on how post-arrival migration enforcement regimes and their different underlying rationales produce temporal regimes strongly affecting the everyday lives of RAS. From one side, we look at time as technology to govern population in different manner according to the different types of "migration enforcement regimes" (Leerkes and Van Houte, 2020). From the other side, we explore how RAS deal with the politics of time (Low, 2003) that run within asylum and deportation policies, and their (non)-implementation, while struggling to make their life into the host society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]