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This paper investigates whether and how digital economy (especially digital platforms and digital finance) restrains the informal economic activities in China measured by the MIMIC (multiple indicators multiple causes) model. Using Chinese provincial panel data from 1995 to 2020, we find that the average size of China's provincial informal economy displays a five-stage fluctuation, ranging from 13.63 % to 17.53 %. More importantly, we uncover a robust "inverted U-shaped" nonlinear relationship between the digital platform development and the informal economy, with a turning point of 0.4189. Initially, the development of digital platforms increases informal economic activities by disrupting traditional sectors, causing new types of tax evasion, challenging regulators and raising digital crime. However, beyond a certain threshold, digital platforms can overcome these problems through more job creations and improved regulation. Meanwhile, the digital financial development is proved to have a negative impact on the informal economy because it can offer much more advantages in addressing informality such as making payments transparent, easing credit constraints, raising total income, helping governments reach people and businesses. Our study provides convincing evidence and valuable advice for policymakers when developing digital economy to curb the informal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the heterogeneous, long, and short-run and causal relationship between the size of the informal economy and three usual variables related to each of the most important theoretical approaches on informality, namely, the dualist, legalist, and structuralist view. Specifically, we consider GDP per capita, institutional quality and trade openness. We explore this relationship, using novel econometric techniques such as CS-ARDL panel data approach to analyses a sample of 133 countries over the period 1995 to 2017. The results show a long-run relationship between the variables at the global level and by country group. GDP per capita, institutional quality and trade openness are negatively associated with the size of the informal economy. The signs confirm the dual and legal hypothesis; however, the sign is opposite to that suggested by the structuralist hypothesis. Additionally, we obtain a U-shaped relationship between the size of the informal economy and the level of economic development. This means that the informal economy does not tend to disappear in the long run. In terms of policy implications, we provide support about the effectiveness of GDP per capita, institutional quality and trade openness in diminishing the size of the informal economy. Nevertheless, based on our results of a U-shaped relationship between informality and GDP per capita, public policy should be designed conditional on the level of development of a certain country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper empirically analyses the effect of natural resources rents on the size of informal economy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). • The estimation procedure include Pooled OLS and GMM System. • The results reveal that natural resources rents increase the size of informal economy in SSA. • These results are robust to several sensitivity analyses. • The positive relationship between natural resource rents and the size of the informal economy becomes negative when good and strong institutions are in place. Despite the extensive literature on the resource curse, little is known about the empirical relationship between natural resource abundance and the size of the informal economy. Theoretical predictions suggest that natural resource abundance contributes to the growth of the informal economy because the investments and expenditures associated with natural resource revenues limit opportunities in the formal sector, thereby channeling more labor and firms into the informal sector. This theory is empirically tested using data from 44 sub-Saharan Africa countries over the period 1991-2015. The main results reveal a positive and significant relationship that natural resource abundance favors the growth of the informal sector in SSA. These results are robust to several tests. Furthermore, the positive relationship between natural resource abundance and the size of the informal economy becomes negative when good and strong institutions are in place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a recent global sample, this paper estimates the effect of cryptocurrency usage on tax revenue collections. We hypothesize that greater cryptocurrency use undermines tax collections, and this result generally holds across overall tax collections, VAT revenues, and GST revenues. The other contribution lies in dissecting the direct and indirect channels of cryptocurrency use on tax collections. Results show that greater cryptocurrency usage reduces tax collections. Furthermore, larger government sizes increase tax collections, while the COVID-19 pandemic undermined tax collections. Finally, significant differences were found in the direct and indirect effects. The main results withstand a number of robustness checks. • The relationship between cryptocurrency use on tax collection is studied. • Empirical findings from panel regression support the hypothesis that cryptocurrency use reduces tax collection. • Findings generally hold across overall tax revenues, VAT revenues, and GST revenues. • Larger government sizes increase tax collections, while the COVID-19 pandemic undermined tax collections. • There are significant differences in the direct and indirect effects on tax collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, there are 2 billion 'informal' workers, who lack access to social protection while facing profound health risks and socioeconomic exclusions. The informal economy has generated most jobs in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), but few studies have explored informal workers' complex health vulnerabilities, including in the face of climate change. This paper will discuss recent action-research in Indore (India), Harare, and Masvingo (Zimbabwe) with informal workers like vendors, waste-pickers, and urban farmers. We conducted qualitative interviews (N = 110 in India), focus group discussions (N = 207 in Zimbabwe), and a quantitative survey (N = 418 in Zimbabwe). Many informal workers live in informal settlements ('slums'), and we highlight the interrelated health risks at their homes and workplaces. We explore how climate-related threats—including heatwaves, drought, and floods—negatively affect informal workers' health and livelihoods. These challenges often have gender-inequitable impacts. We also analyse workers' individual and collective responses. We propose a comprehensive framework to reveal the drivers of health in the informal economy, and we complement this holistic approach with a new research agenda. Our framework highlights the socioeconomic, environmental, and political determinants of informal workers' health. We argue that informal workers may face difficult trade-offs, due to competing priorities in the face of climate change and other risks. Future interventions will need to recognise informal workers' array of risks and co-develop multifaceted solutions, thereby helping to avoid such impossible choices. We recommend holistic initiatives to foster health and climate resilience, as well as participatory action-research partnerships and qualitative, intersectional data-collection with informal workers. • Climate change is exacerbating many risks to informal workers' health and livelihoods. • WASH access may foster gender equality and decent work, while tackling heat stress. • Policymakers can partner with informal workers to create inclusive, multi-pronged interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many low-income households in the Global South a house is both a place to live and to generate income in the formal or informal economy. This can include activities in and around the home such as: running small shops selling daily necessities; producing food or crafts; repairing household items; providing services; or growing crops and raising animals. For many households home-based work (HBW) is their main source of income. It is particularly important for people who are more likely to be excluded from formal employment outside the home (such as women, elderly and/or disabled people). The aim of this article is to provide an overview of research on HBW through a scoping review to find research gaps and relevant aspects to study in the future. With a focus on Latin America and the Caribbean, 12 studies published since 2000 were selected for further study. We identified several characteristics of 'supportive housing and settlements' which make households more likely to engage in HBW and proposed a model of the symbiotic relationship between housing and HBW. We discuss the implications of our findings for development and humanitarian contexts, make recommendations for policy and practice, and suggest topics for further research. • Many homes in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) share domestic and working space within and around their homes. • People adapt their homes to accommodate work. • We reviewed academic and grey literature on Home-Based Work (HBW) in LAC published since 2000. • Key themes are discussed: spatial relations, gender, housing trajectories, livelihoods. • We offer recommendations for policy and practice and suggest further research topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims first to investigate the main determinants of the informal economy (IE) in Algeria using the Multiple Indicator Multiple Causes (MIMIC) approach, second to estimate its size and development, third analyse the relationship in the short and long run between the informal and formal economy, and finally to explore the causality direction by employing the Granger causality test from 1980 to 2017. The results showed that the tax burden, the agricultural sector, the quality of institutions, and the GDP per capita are the main determinants of the IE in Algeria. The average IE size is 33.48% of official GDP, and it has been increasing in size over the past 15 years. Furthermore, it has been found that the IE positively affects the formal economy in the short run, while in the long run, this effect is reversed. Moreover, unidirectional Granger causality from GDP to IE is found. As for policy implications, in order to lower the size of IE in Algeria, the government needs to reconsider its tax policies, including the re-examination of policies implemented to stimulate the agricultural sector, which half of their effects are absorbed by the IE, and the generalization of the use of electronic transactions in economic activities. • This article estimates the size and development of the informal economy in Algeria. • The relationship between formal and informal economy is investigated. • Average size is 33.48% over the period of 1980 to 2017. • Short and long run asymmetric effect between IE and GDP is found. • There is a unidirectional Granger causality from GDP to the informal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper carries out an extensive analysis of the drivers of the shadow economy (SE) in the welfare states of the European Union for the period 1995-2017. The empirical analysis is applied to the 28 EU 1 1 As we consider the period before the Brexit, when the United Kingdom is still EU member. member states, which are divided into the following clusters, according to their welfare model: Nordic, Liberal, Continental, Mediterranean, and Eastern models. The relationship between the SE and its determinants is analyzed based on the panel corrected standard errors (PCSEs) model in the presence of cross-section dependence and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) for investigating the long-run impact. The main empirical findings derived from a causality analysis reveal the important role played by economic development and welfare in the SE's decline in the past two decades. Increasing social protection expenditure and government efficiency are also considered as drivers of the SE's decline and for this reason, need to be included in the European Union's policy for combating the SE. Based on the results from this empirical study it is argued that EU countries need to implement an integrated set of rules and regulations in order to reduce the level of the SE in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The law is a central concern for waste pickers in th Global South. • Property regimes that exclude waste pickers result in high social costs. • Several property regimes are discussed (private ownership, res nullius). • An inclusive system of property regulates the waste sector efficiently. Previous literature has studied waste picking as an economic, social, and environmental phenomenon of great importance in the Global South. The legal foundations of waste picking have, however, received little scholarly attention. Surveys conducted by the global network Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing show that laws about access to waste are a central concern for many waste pickers. We study the efficiency of different property regimes for waste in the Global South. The candidate regimes are exclusionary ownership of waste by one category (private companies or the waste pickers), public ownership by the state, common or communal ownership, and res nullius ("first in time, first in right"). Any property regime that tries to exclude the waste pickers from accessing waste is associated with high transaction costs. We argue that the res nullius regime, complemented by waste pickers' organizations, regulates the waste sector efficiently in the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So far, research on platform-driven firms has been focusing on regulatory cracks. In an emerging market, however, the informal economy – a gap between legal and illegal – is a potential opportunity to increase technology-driven ventures. This study examines how platform-driven firms assist informal economy activities in exploiting technology and how the different traits between informal economy and technology firms shape their interaction. Using a qualitative approach, I presented multiple case studies from 22 interviews with start-up founders and managers. The result showed four types of interaction of platform-driven firms accommodating the informal economy: service standardization, existent community reorganization, non-employee co-creation, and tool-based collaboration. This study sheds light on practical approaches for platform-driven ventures in juxtaposing traditionality with modernity. Despite platforms driving informal to become more accessible, it is lucrative for the government to arrange reliable incentives and frameworks for harnessing the informal and digital sectors. • Digital platform's strategies in emerging markets. • Digitalization of informal economy activities. • Institutional-shaped of firms with informality as opportunity. • Qualitative study on platforms strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal sector is an integral part of several sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and plays a key role in the economic growth of these countries. This article used a comparative systematic review to explore the factors that act as drivers to informality in South Africa (SA) and Nigeria, the challenges that impede the growth dynamics of the informal sector, the dominant subsectors, and policy initiatives targeting informal sector providers. A systematic search of Google Scholar, Scopus, ResearchGate was performed together with secondary data collated from grey literature. Using Boolean string search protocols facilitated the elucidation of research questions (RQs) raised in this study. An inclusion and exclusion criteria became necessary for rigour, comprehensiveness and limitation of publication bias. The data collated from thirty-one (31) primary studies (17 for SA and 14 for Nigeria) revealed that unemployment, income disparity among citizens, excessive tax burdens, excessive bureaucratic hurdles from government, inflationary tendencies, poor corruption control, GDP per capita, and lack of social protection survival tendencies all act as drivers to the informal sector in SA and Nigeria. Several challenges are given for both economies and policy incentives that might help sustain and improve the informal sector in these two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of financial development (FD), along three dimensions (financial depth, financial access and financial efficiency) in two main sub-sectors (financial institutions and financial markets), on the shadow economy's (SE) size. Several econometric techniques and estimation strategies were applied to a balanced panel data set of a global sample of 114 economies and three sub-samples (low and lower-middle-income economies (LMEs), upper-middle-income economies (UMEs) and high-income economies (HIEs)) for the period 2002–2015. First , nine financial indicators were found to minimise the SE. Interestingly, financial institutions, especially financial institutions' efficiency, had a more significant effect on the SE than financial markets. Second , there was evidence that the non-linear nexuses between FD and SE were U-shaped for eight of the nine financial indicators, the exception being financial institutions' efficiency. Third , financial depth and financial access had a positive impact on the SE in the short run, while financial institutions appeared to reduce the SE in the long run. Fourth , the negative effects of FD on the SE were noticeable in LMEs and UMEs and dominant in HIEs in the long run. The non-linear relationships were consistent in UMEs, despite some variations in LMEs and HIEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local food systems are frequently endorsed as an economic development strategy by local economic development practitioners serving rural communities and regions. However, from the limited data available, local food systems are more apparent and more fully developed in urban or peri-urban areas, while scholarship on rural food systems in and of themselves is lacking. What scholarship and data does exist suggests that people in rural places may participate in local food systems in different ways than what has been documented or observed in urban food systems, and that these systems may develop and spread in unique ways requiring new conceptions of intricate flows of locally produced foods, the social, ecological and economic benefits they may have, and the barriers and opportunities they present. We draw from three interrelated literatures – sustainable development, community capitals and rural wealth to conceptualize how the flow of locally produced foods through informal or undocumented channels can contribute to the sustainable development of rural places in the U.S. Through a series of 10 focus groups in the Midwest, we found that rural consumers participate in locally based food systems in distinctive ways that may bypass formal economic channels, such as self-provisioning; sharing and reciprocity; or informal cash or barter transactions. However, many of these forms of food system participation depend upon inclusion in social networks. We conclude that development of local food systems in rural areas will require renewed efforts to consider flows of community capitals from both informal and formal channels in the food system and investment in local food systems , not just in markets and regular economic exchanges. Moreover, as scholars we need to refine our understanding of the nature of food systems in rural areas, and develop new ways of thinking about how informal production-consumption arrangements can potentially contribute to rural development. • Rural people acquire local food through self-provisioning, sharing, reciprocity and informal arrangements. • These forms of acquiring food depend upon specialized knowledge or inclusion in social networks. • Such practices may be overlooked in building comprehensive rural wealth. • Focusing on monetized impacts of local food systems may limit their application for rural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the process of urban governance through the lens of street trader displacements, a common policy adopted by city authorities in Africa. Whilst some knowledge exists on how central-local government relations affect urban governance, the combined effect of the nature of sub-national governance and local political dynamics on the process of urban governance requires deeper consideration. Drawing on in-depth qualitative case study research in Lagos, Nigeria, this article analyses how urban governance processes produce street trader displacements. From the "war against indiscipline" (WAI) policy by the Nigerian government to the "kick against indiscipline" (KAI) taskforce set up by Lagos State Government to implement its zero-tolerance policy against informal economy workers, street traders in Lagos have continuously suffered under unfavourable government policies. This legacy led up to the large-scale street trader displacements around the popular Oshodi Market in Lagos in 2009. Based on an analysis of urban governance through the lens of the displacements in Oshodi, this paper reveals how the overwhelming influence of city authorities and state-society relationships combine to produce displacements, with existing market trader associations unable to contest street trader displacements due to their political co-option by city authorities. The paper furthers knowledge on how politics shapes urban development and highlights the need for a careful consideration of enduring complex underlying relationships for a grounded understanding of urban governance in the African context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal sector of the global south has lately started to gain attention from innovation and development studies scholars. Studies highlighting the determinants, barriers, social processes, and institutions that influence innovations in the informal sector have enriched the discussion on the topic. This paper analyzes the existing body of knowledge at the intersection of the informal sector, innovations, and the global south. Seventy-seven academic articles from the Scopus and Web of Sciences databases have been thematically reviewed, and seven themes have been identified: 1) innovation potential of the informal sector, 2) knowledge and learning in the informal sector innovations, 3) technology adoption in the informal sector, 4) interaction and collaborations with formal sector entities, 5) innovation dynamics in the informal enterprises, 6) individual innovators in the informal settings, and 7) gender, innovation, and informality. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first attempt to synthesize the literature on informal sector innovations in the global south. Hence, the paper is a crucial contribution to the innovation studies literature. Finally, we provide future directions to guide further studies in this area. • The paper presents a systematic review of 77 academic articles on informal sector innovations in the global south. • The study identifies seven themes that capture the essence of informal sector innovations, including innovation potential, knowledge and learning, technology adoption, and gender. • The paper is the first attempt to review the literature in this area systematically • The paper provides valuable insights into the future direction of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We estimate the labor market response to financial crises in a large sample of countries. • Financial crises are followed by a drop in participation rate by an increase in unemployment and in informal employment. • We build a DSGE model which accounts for informality and for financial and labor market frictions. • The informal sector acts as a buffer which absorbs workers in bad times and vice versa. • The informal sector is also a crisis amplifier. The larger it is, the stronger the fall in the participation rate. Abstract We provide evidence, based on a large sample of countries, on the effects of financial crises on key labor market indicators, including official and unofficial employment, unemployment and the participation rate. Crises are followed by a drop in the official market participation rate and by an increase in informal employment. These responses are strongly persistent. Empirical results are then interpreted with a DSGE model which accounts for informality and for financial and labor market frictions. In this framework the informal sector acts as a buffer which absorbs workers in bad times and vice versa. Our simulations suggest the informal sector also is a crisis amplifier for the official economy. For a given financial shock, the ensuing contraction in the official economy is deeper and more persistent the larger the initial size of the unofficial sector. This implies that in less developed economies financial crises cause a relatively stronger reallocation of inputs towards less efficient sectors, expose a larger fraction of the population to the adverse effects of informality, cause a sharper deterioration of public finances limiting governments ability to supply public goods and to engage in countercyclical fiscal policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Studies of informal street vending in the Global South often investigate grassroots resistance to formal and informal power as a collective and organised phenomenon. In our case study in the megacity of Dhaka, we show collective resistance is not possible due to an overwhelming threat from a coercive state. Informal vendors must resort to other tactics to appropriate public space to preserve their livelihoods. This is achieved by street vendors entering into locally embedded social and economic relations with agents of the state working informally to extort regular payments from them in return for access to public space. These local relations work in opposition to the neoliberalising ambitions of the state to clear and sanitise public space. Vendors look to local police and petty criminals for livelihood security rather than each other. This atomisation, reinforced by the culture of suspicion and kinship insularity, prevents vendors from organising across local boundaries to press claims for greater protection from the state. We argue that in cases where formal power is acting informally, this need to be taken into account to understand the social and economic realities of informal trade and the subsequent obstacles to collective action by the poor in cities such as Dhaka. Highlights • Access to public space is vital for informal street vendors in cities in the Global South. • In many cities, vendors collectivise to resist the state and protect livelihoods. • In Dhaka the state acts locally to extort vendors in return for access to public space. • 'Gray space' between the legal and illegal gives vendors precarious access. • But denies them legitimate access to public space [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A plethora of research has been conducted over the past few years to explore several aspects of the key exchange actors within the sharing accommodation sector (i.e. hosts and guests). However, despite the exponential growth in the sharing accommodation entrepreneurship, literature exploring the characteristics, motivations, and challenges of entrepreneurs venturing in this sector is still scant. This study draws on a qualitative study approach using semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs involved in the sharing accommodation sector in Petra, Jordan. Findings revealed that sharing accommodation entrepreneurs were mainly driven by the desire for economic and cultural benefits. The positive host-guest relationship (e.g., honesty toward guests and enhancing positive reputation) emerged as a key factor influencing the growth of the sharing accommodation businesses whereas market-related issues (e.g., severe competition and lobbying efforts from traditional lodging businesses) were found to be the key challenges derailing the businesses. Highlights • Airbnb hosts were viewed as micro-entrepreneurs. • The study identified the common profile of the Airbnb entrepreneurs. • Motives, growth factors, and challenges of Airbnb entrepreneurs were identified. • The study provided timely and significant findings from a developing country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Colombia, over 50 % of the working population is employed in the informal economy, including street vending. This research aimed to analyze the socioeconomic conditions of street vendors located in public spaces of Florencia, Department of Caquetá, Colombia. The study examined the vendors' socioeconomic and commercial heterogeneity through gender, age, educational level, migratory status, income, type of goods and services they offer, and use of public space. To address this objective, we conducted 190 surveys and 39 interviews. This study shows the multifaceted nature of street vending and the vendors' perspectives on possible relocation, which is important for the development of public policies, especially since the research was carried out in an intermediate city. • The research was carried out in an intermediate city, which have been little studied in terms of informal economy and street vending. • The research allowed the analysis of the push-pull paradigm in Street Vendors migration. • The study made it possible to contrast the gender discrimination in informal economy and Street vending. • The research provides insight into the variability in street vending related to poverty and other factors of vulnerability as forced displacement. • The research identified key elements related to relocation and formal employment that contribute to the formulation of public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Demonstrates how weak state enforcement can undermine the societal co-production of order, or a collusion trap. • Provides novel survey evidence from 1,179 formal market traders in Lagos, Nigeria to illustrate that many formal traders have economic reasons to collude with informal street vendors yet also recognize they would be better off with greater enforcement against informal activities. • Uses survey data and market case studies to illustrate how the political linkages of societal organizations shape the extent and type of enforcement that occurs: politically strong associations convince state actors to engage in selective enforcement to serve the interests of market traders and leaders. Informal actors often compete with formal or regulated ones. Regulated actors therefore can be natural allies in government attempts to enforce laws and regulations. Yet they often are not. We argue that the lack of cooperation stems from a collusion trap. Collectively, formal actors are better off if informal actors are removed; individually, some can benefit from their presence. We demonstrate these dynamics in the context of Lagos, Nigeria, where millions of informal street vendors compete with traders in licensed markets. We draw on original survey data from 1,179 market traders across 199 associations and qualitative interviews with organization leaders, market traders, street vendors, and government officials in two markets with varying organizational capacity. We show how a negative equilibrium emerges in which limited state enforcement encourages wholesale traders, who can profit from street vendors' distribution network, to collude with street vendors. Association leaders also prefer to extract rents from some street vendors. The implication is that societal collusion makes it even more difficult for governments and organizations to enforce laws and regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review article uses India's e-waste economy to examine changes in the circular economy. Today, due to a mix of consumptive economies, urban ecological concerns and its disposal in the informal economy, e-waste governance is a critical issue for the country like it is elsewhere. Drawing on preliminary ethnographic findings in the e-waste sector in Jaipur, this review challenges some of the findings on surplus labour by observing the longstanding domination of caste and kinship structures in the domestic e-waste trade. I argue that we need to study expanding spatialities of e-waste through multi-site ethnographies and a focus on context specificities that would enrich our theorization of waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Latin America around 45% of the working population work in the informal economy. In Colombia it is almost half. The informal economy is made up of multiple and different kinds of jobs, one of them street vending. This study examines the heterogeneity of street vending by comparing and contrasting two groups of street vendors. In this analysis, detailed information of social demographic characteristics, earnings, aspirations and perceptions of their work are used. Links between this sector and the formal economy are shown. This study shows that indeed street vendor sector has different components and policy makers should take this in account when framing public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We explore the relationship between intellectual property rights (IPR), the informal economy, and foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries. Intuitively, stronger IPR protection attracts more FDI in countries with small informal economies but not in countries with large informal economies. The intuition is that the informal economy is a proxy for the quality of institutions. In institutionally strong countries, IPR protection promotes FDI by reducing illegal imitation and freeing up more resources for MNCs. Our empirical analysis, based on a threshold effect model, provides some evidence supportive of our model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal economy plays a significant role in the job market in Colombia. Cali, the third largest city in Colombia, is characterized by a high percentage of socially and economically vulnerable population groups who take part in the urban informal economy, with street vending as their primary source of income. This paper studies the socioeconomic dimensions of street vendors in Cali. In particular, it examines why they are unable to escape poverty and capitalize on their comparatively high earnings, despite a minimal tax burden due to the unregulated nature of their work and benefits from government welfare. The analysis is based on two surveys with 637 participants and 300 participants respectively. The study shows that most of the street vendors do not have access to formal banking systems. Consequently, they usually depend on payday loans with much higher interest rates which absorb a large share of their income and perpetuate their indebtedness, preventing them from improving their living conditions. However, the daily cash flow of street vending masks the high opportunity cost of loans and long-term deficits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2015 earthquake caused widespread damage in Nepal causing monetary loss of billions of dollars. Majority the households in Nepal are engaged in informal sector and relies heavily on local market and tourism. In Nepal, livelihood and households are not only linked through livelihood, built space, goods and services, but also through culture and traditions. As a result, understanding their linkage is important for effective recovery to further facilitate strengthening of community resilience. This article focuses on household and livelihood recovery within the first two years of the earthquake in traditional settlements Bungamati. Participatory mapping followed by narrative analysis of the interviews is used for understanding the linkages. Narrative analysis of the field interviews conducted with the shop owners generated six types household assets. Further, these assets were linked with the various coping strategies in the post disaster situation. The findings suggest three main type of coping strategies for livelihood recovery namely; Intensifying use of capitals, dependency on social capital and mitigate consumption and expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The informal economy currently provides two out of three jobs worldwide, with waste-picking activities providing employment for millions of the poorest of society. Moreover, waste-picking could provide a sustainable solution for solving the waste management crisis that affects the 3 billion people lacking access to waste services. Governmental policies toward waste-pickers in particular, and the informal economy in general, have been fundamentally based on four policy approaches: (1) dualist and voluntarist, which proposes repressive policies against waste-picker activity and the expansion of formal solid waste management systems; (2) structuralist, which argues for weak supporting policies aimed at reinforcing waste-picker associations; (3) legalist, which promotes the competition of waste-picking with other recycling alternatives without government intervention; and (4) co-production, which supports waste-picking with local policies as a means of enhancing waste-pickers’ productivity. Both qualitative, and particularly quantitative evidence testing the impact of these four approaches is scarce. In this paper, we attempt to fill this gap in the literature by operationalizing concepts, building a waste-picker sustainable performance index, and estimating the impacts of these four competing policy approaches. An exploratory sequential design method is used to analyze data: first, a thematic analysis to examine 40 in-depth interviews, and then multiple linear regressions to analyze a census survey of 100 waste-pickers in four cooperatives in Santiago de Chile. Our empirical results suggest a positive association between the level of government support and waste-pickers’ sustainable performance. Consequently, further positive government intervention, particularly in supporting a stronger structural organization for the waste-picker recycling system, is advocated as the primary policy recommendation of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment of the informal waste recycling sector in selected sub-districts of urban Beijing excluding inner suburbs and discusses the question of the segment’s survival amidst an increasingly challenging socio-economic environment. Based on several field trips and two research projects in 2013 and 2016 on informal recycling in Beijing, the paper analyses the sector specific changes over recent years. The results display the various changes in size and organisation, waste recyclable collection rates and income levels as well as the institutional structures of informal stakeholders in Beijing. The herein documented deteriorating performance of the informal recycling sector, i.e. a decline in collected recyclable quantities and thereof generated incomes, is the central topic of the subsequent discussion section. Here, we highlight the role of informal stakeholders regarding costs and revenues as well as their embeddedness in Beijing’s waste management system. Based on the key points in the results and discussion sections, we conclude that the informal sector at present constitutes an indispensable pillar for Beijing’s waste management. A significant challenge for the future existence of the IRS will most likely occur in form of labour supply shortages and, if continued, a further decline of secondary material prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid expansion of the mobile telephony sector in African countries has been accompanied by the establishment of a wide range of informal support businesses, mostly run by young people. Little is known, however, about the lived experiences of young entrepreneurs working in this rapidly changing, technologically-driven sector. Drawing on qualitative research conducted in Accra, this paper explores young people's experiences of running informal businesses within the mobile telephony sector, including the sale of mobile phones and accessories, repair and technical support services, and the sale of airtime and mobile money services. Fateful and critical moments relating to personal and family events, as well as social networks and structural factors, are shown to mediate young entrepreneurs' chances of success in this new ‘niche' economic sub-sector. Despite the challenges they face, the paper illustrates how many of these young people have been able to achieve financial independence, afford rental accommodation, provide support for family members, and establish and sustain households. The mobile telephony sector is shown to be offering young people the opportunity to carve out a living, facilitate transitions into adulthood, and even enable some to move up the social ladder. By highlighting the agency of this group of young people, and for some their success in achieving the status of adulthood through their hard work and ingenuity, this study offers an important counter balance to images of young people in sub-Saharan Africa as being ‘stuck' or in ‘waithood'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides evidence about the impact of informal economy on income inequality by using annual cross-country panel data from 28 European Union countries observed during the period 2005–2017. Particular attention is dedicated to the cultural setting which is expected to impact taxpayers' behaviour and thereby income distribution. The study reveals a relationship between the size of the underground economy and income inequality, which is negative when approaching domestic informality and positive when international tax evasion by individuals is related to the top-bottom income disparity. Moreover, a delay of one-year is needed for these effects to occur, sustaining the hypothesis of secondary consequences of the informality. The study also shows that a set of cultural peculiarities are relevant for the nexus of international tax evasion by individuals and income polarisation. The inequality enhancing effect of the offshore activities is larger in countries with high degree of uncertainty avoidance and power distance, and low level of indulgence and long-term orientation respectively. • The nexus of informality, culture and inequality is relevant for public policies. • Expanding traditional models of income inequality. • Informality's impact depends on territoriality, income groups affiliation, and culture. • Cultural factors model the distributional effects of international tax evasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• On-demand recycling startups have proliferated in urban India over the past decade. • A host of seemingly disparate policies have together enabled this rise. • Startups rely primarily on aggregation of materials to make a profit in this sector. • Traditional informal actors (kabadiwalas) are likely to be displaced as a result. • To protect livelihoods, collective organizing and state intervention are needed. Over the past decade, urban India has seen the emergence and proliferation of startups that are offering on-demand recycling services using web- and mobile-based platforms. These firms replicate the services of informal workers known as kabadiwalas who have historically made their livelihoods through trade in recyclable materials. Existing analyses of platformization in developed world contexts fail to explain the rise of platformization in India because of the particularity of the relationship between platform firms and the informal economy. This paper contextualizes the rise of platform recycling startups within a generally conducive policy environment focused on improving sanitation, encouraging entrepreneurship, and expanding the use of information technology in India. An examination of business models deployed by these firms reveals how and why the structure of recycling markets does not allow for a 'lean' model typically adopted by platform firms in other sectors. Rather than merely connecting service providers to consumers, these startups rely on aggregating recyclable materials and dispossessing intermediaries such as kabadiwalas in order to generate surplus value in an otherwise saturated market. Relying on an analysis of online content about these new firms, this paper examines the strategies that firms use to legitimize themselves and delegitimize kabadiwalas in an attempt to displace and dispossess them from the market space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of electricity consumption on aggregate regional Mexican industrial labor productivity is examined using a stochastic production function. Electricity consumption is also used to gauge macroeconomic informality that varies greatly across regions with no geographic advantage in reducing it. Unlike prior research, persistent regional technical inefficiency is found that has little impact on reducing informality but may help reducing corruption. Although electricity consumption contributes positively to industrial labor productivity over time, Mexican industry has yet to transition to a much lower consumption/output ratio found in other countries. Regional policies supporting returns to human capital accumulation being better kept by workers while technical inefficiency is reduced are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the business literature, coopetition is defined as simultaneous cooperative and competitive activities among actors. In the informal economy, norms and trust take the place of formal contracts among actors and may allow these actors to move from engaging in competition to cooperation easily suggesting that patterns of coopetition in this context might be different to that in the formal economy. This research explores coopetition among informal tourism economy actors using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and the concept of shared resources. The results of qualitative case studies of pedicab drivers and street vendors in Yogyakarta indicate that simultaneous coopetition occurs when the actors share multiple resources while sequential coopetition occurs in the context of a single shared resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal economy is an important part of urban economies in the global South. Almost half of Colombia's working population relies on the informal economy to obtain income. This study examined street vendors in downtown Cali, Colombia. A recent survey of 527 street vendors provides the basis for a detailed analysis of who works as street vendors, how much they earn, aspirations and perceptions of their work, and how closely they resemble the rest of the working population. The presented data also show the links between this sector and the formal economy. Connections between people working in this sector and the State were also examined, and welfare payment flows from the State to the sector were revealed. This study shows how the informal sector is closely tied to the formal economy and the State's welfare functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the effect of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the informal economy. We applied the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) on a sample of 45 African countries from 2000 to 2017. According to the findings, the use of ICTs (mobile phone and internet) decreases the spread of the informal economy in Africa. These results are robust to a battery of robustness checks. Furthermore, the results of the mediation analysis show that the effect of ICTs on the informal economy is mediated by financial development, human capital and control of corruption. From a policy perspective, we suggest a quantitative and qualitative consolidation of technological infrastructures, for a sustainable mitigation of the rise of informal sector in Africa. • This paper assesses the impact of ICTs on informal economy on a sample of 45 African countries over the period 2000–2017. • The results show that ICT decreases the spread of informal economy in African countries. • The effect of ICT on informal economy is mediated by financial development, human capital and control of corruption. • The results are very robust throughout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies indicate that the shadow economy is truly an environmental foe, with positive linkages with energy intensity, air pollution, and emissions. This study extends the literature by considering the environmental influence of the shadow economy on one of the most important components of the ecosystem, the forest. The analysis is carried out for a global sample of 148 countries from 1991 to 2017 using various panel techniques. Analyses are also conducted for four subsamples by income level and seven subsamples by region. The results are robust and consistent. Increases in the shadow economy seem, surprisingly, to have a positive impact on forest land in the short run. The effects are documented as consistent across four income groups and six out of seven sub-regions. However, the shadow economy appears to exacerbate deforestation in the long run. The results reveal asymmetric linkages between the shadow economy and forest area. More attention is then given to the consequences of the shadow economy on forest reservation, especially for long-term policy setting. • The influence of the shadow economy on forest land. • A global sample of 148 countries from 1991 to 2017. • Increases in the shadow economy decrease deforestation in the short run. • Increases in the shadow economy accelerate deforestation in the long run. • The results are confirmed for four income subsamples and seven region subsamples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research into e-cigarette use has largely focused on their health effects and efficacy for smoking cessation, with little attention given to their potential effect on health inequalities. Drawing on three years of ethnographic research between 2012 and 2015, I investigate the emerging e-cigarette practices of adult smokers and quitters in a working-class area of the UK. I first use de Certeau's notion of ‘tactics’ to describe the informal economy of local e-cigarette use. Low-priced products were purchased through personal networks and informal sources for financial reasons, but also as a solution to the moral problems of addiction and expenditure on the self, particularly for older smokers. E-cigarette practices were produced in local moral worlds where smoking and cessation had a complex status mediated through norms of age and gender. For younger men, smoking cessation conflicted with an ethic of working-class hedonism but e-cigarette use allowed cessation to be incorporated into male sociality. Continued addiction had moral implications which older men addressed by constructing e-cigarette use as functional rather than pleasurable, drawing on a narrative of family responsibility. The low priority which older women with a relational sense of identity gave to their own health led to a lower tolerance for e-cigarette unreliability. I draw on Kleinman's local moral worlds to make sense of these findings, arguing that smoking cessation can be a risk to moral identity in violating local norms of age and gender performance. I conclude that e-cigarettes did have some potential to overcome normative barriers to smoking cessation and therefore to reduce health inequalities, at least in relation to male smoking. Further research which attends to local meanings of cessation in relation to age and gender will establish whether e-cigarettes have similar potential elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Livelihood benefits, ethnic ties, and poor formal economic options drove the choice to pursue this quasi-legal trade. • Improved access to employment and education for women and girls could play a key role in reducing the drive to join the urban wild meat trade. • The expertise of market actors, and especially traders, is necessary to shape effective and equitable wild meat management practices and policies. • Educators used wild meat trading to supplement delayed (by 1–3 years) teaching salary highlighting the need for integrated national policy reforms. • A network of actors including rural hunters, urban and rural traders, market vendors, restaurateurs, and consumers fueled these markets. Wild meat (called 'bushmeat' or 'viande de brousse' in Central Africa) embodies a centuries-old livelihood and cultural exchange system that continues to play an important role in informal urban economies. From earlier studies, we know that selling the meat from wild animals provides a vital source of income to people in both rural and urban areas. Yet, little is known about the actors involved in wild meat markets, their entry to the informal market economy, or their motivations. Using the wild meat trade in two urban areas in Cameroon as case studies, we address why people choose to sell wild meat as an alternative to selling legal commodities and investigate whether urban wild meat traders rely upon particular ethno-linguistic or other ties to generate a network of buyers. We collected qualitative data through interviews in ten wild meat markets in Yaoundé and Abong Mbang and conducted long-term participant observations in markets and along urban trading routes in Yaoundé. Our data also include quantitative sales and profit data in the primary market of Yaoundé. We found that women comprised 74% of wild meat market vendors (45 of 54) in all the markets we studied. The majority of traders (85%), meat cleaners (89%), and vendors (95%) within the primary market originated from forest-based southern Cameroonian ethnic groups. Livelihood benefits, ethnic ties, and poor formal economic options drove the choice to pursue this particular trade. Our study highlights the role that improved access to employment and education for women and girls could play in reducing the drive to join the urban wild meat trade. This study also highlights the need to engage the expertise of wild meat market actors, and traders, in particular, in testing and revising wild meat management practices and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatically obtaining information on informal practitioners, especially their spatial distribution, has proven challenging when using traditional methods. This study addresses this issue by presenting a street view deep learning method, called the Street Informal Practitioners Spatial Investigation (SIPSI) methodology. This paper's application of this technology focuses on the study case of the street vendor, which is one of the most visible occupations in the informal economy. There were 3907 street vendors that were detected using this method; as well, the kernel density estimation indicated that they agglomerated in a multi-core cluster pattern in the city. Further analysis of the factors that influence agglomeration shows that the street vendors prefer premises that are near the lower level of the road and the higher density population sites, whereas the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome keeps these vendors away from the central City Business Districts and high-rent regions. The presented methodology and the study results contribute to high-efficiency investigations of informal economy employment, and it further assists in advising for the spatial governance policies improvement and implementation in any cities whose street view images are abundant and open-access. • An AI-based methodology, namely SIPSI, is presented to automatically investigate the informal practitioners. • Abundant open-access street view images provide a unique opportunity to map the informality of employment at the city-scale. • The YOLOv4 deep neural network is effective in analyzing street view images for street vendors detection. • The street vendors' agglomeration is a compromise of their location preference, the official regulating force, and the NIMBY syndrome. • The city-scale street vendors agglomerated pattern is vital for improving spatial governance policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proponents present the circular economy as an alternative to traditional, linear systems that use natural resources indiscriminately. The puzzle guiding this perspective piece is that the circular economy model needs further investigation in more diverse, unstructured contexts. With economic growth at the top of the agenda for Global South countries, testing the relevance of the circular economy in these contexts is important. There remain questions about whether the adoption and upscaling of circular principles and practices can contribute to economic development in contexts where social factors, such as high inequality, collide with environmental factors, such as high natural biodiversity. Another blind spot concerns how the structural conditions in Global South countries, such as vast informal economies, hinder this transition, and what new forms of organisation can facilitate the implementation of innovative circular practices. This perspective calls for greater attention from the academic community to help fill in some of the missing pieces in the puzzle of the informal economy and the circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Understanding the determinants of the informal economy is a crucial issue in economic development because of its effect on economic performance as well as undermining the construction of indicators to monitor economic development. While the focus on the literature has been on the proximate causes of informal production, such as taxation, we investigate the political environment that causes governments to choose policies that allow the informal economy to develop. We argue that the political environment affects the government’s incentive to invest in the efficiency of tax collection, and therefore the ability of the government to detect informal production. We show that political instability, social polarization along ethnic and religious lines, and an autocratic authority pattern are associated with a larger informal economy. The results suggest that efforts to reduce informal production should shift from an emphasis on the proximate causes to political reforms. Since polarization along ethnic and religious lines is structural, reforms should focus on reducing political instability and autocracy. However, the results imply that democratic reforms that change the authority pattern from autocracy to democracy can increase informal economic activity if it increases political instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper reviews competing theories about the causes of informality in developing countries and uses new data to determine which theory best explains the persistence and scale of Indonesia’s informal sector. Using nationally representative survey data on micro, small, and medium-sized firms, we find that most of Indonesia’s informal firms are very small, micro firms, with less than five employees. These firms pay low wages, are relatively unproductive when compared to large firms, are managed by individuals with low educational attainment, predominantly supply products to local markets, and have not recently attempted to expand their operations. From a small-scale, qualitative survey of firms, we find that many informal firms do not register their businesses either because they have no desire to expand or borrow from formal financial sources, or because they are avoiding taxes. Finally, we evaluate the impact of Indonesia’s one-stop-shops for business registration program, a large-scale program that attempted to reduce registration costs. We find both that the program had no effects on firms’ informality rates, and we also find that it did not reduce the probability that workers were informally employed. Taken together, the evidence suggests that a combination of the rational exit and the dual economy theories best explains why so many firms in Indonesia are informal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While energy poverty is a particularly large problem in rural areas, rapid urbanization in developing countries is also raising concerns about energy access in urban areas. How can policymakers improve energy access for the urban poor? We address this question by investigating the use of solar power for improved lighting for urban street vendors. We conduct a field study of the centralized charging station model in Patna, Bihar, India. A solar panel is installed in a marketplace and vendors can rent and charge the batteries of the lights for a daily fee. Our findings reveal potential problems with the approach. Key issues include opposition by local strongmen who operate diesel generators, the difficulty of finding local entrepreneurs to operate the system, vendor misuse of the lights, and physical barriers such as land availability. Policy recommendations include considering the sales of standalone devices and relying on the urban electricity grid for connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary We examine the role of informal water vendors in the urban poor’s efforts to secure safe and affordable water in the squatter settlements of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Using an economic justice framework, we evaluate (1) how informal water markets operate, (2) differences in client and vendor perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional (in)justice, and (3) how cooperation among water vendors impedes or assists in achieving justice in water delivery. The research includes a comparative institutional analysis of three key data sets: long-term participant-observation in water-scarce squatter settlements; interviews with 12 water vendors; and interviews with 41 clients from 23 squatter settlements. We find that informal water vendors organize themselves to safeguard distributive justice (e.g., fair pricing, good water quality), but clients are distressed by procedural and interactional injustices (e.g., unreliable and inequitable service). Our research also shows that unionized vendors are more effective than non-unionized vendors in creating and enforcing rules that advance distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. We make concrete recommendations for improving justice in informal water markets, including a larger role for unions and community consultation. We conclude that, despite challenges, the informal economy may play an important role in advancing the human right to water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary This paper looks at the concept of law and urban development with a focus on property rights and land, exploring the potential collective rights in the public domain to underpin a more equitable approach to the management of public space and challenge inappropriate regulation that criminalizes the lives of the poor. The focus is on street trade and the informal economy. The hypotheses are that: collective use rights extend to public land and are crucial to the livelihoods of the urban poor; such use provides public good as well as private profit, and legal traditions in sub-Saharan Africa can often accommodate the broad definition of rights entailed. The literature review interrogates debates on property rights, legal empowerment, and public space, to suggest that urban public space should be considered as a common resource where open access remains. Fieldwork draws on comparative studies of Dakar, Senegal, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, based on in-depth interviews with street traders and key informants, and a legal review in each city. The findings suggest very different trajectories in each city. In Dakar collective action with political support has created space for dialog, while in Dar es Salaam lack of solidarity among traders meant that evictions were uncontested. In both cities the balance between public and private gain was moderated through complex social processes to create the hybrid space of the street, defined here as a ‘collective pool resource’. Finally the paper explores bundles of rights that might include access and beneficial use but with collective management to establish such a ‘collective pool resource’. Thus the paper challenges the usual conception of the public domain as state land, to recognize the collective claim for the street that is core to the operation of urban informal economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various forms of informal activity have long played an under-recognized yet substantial role in solid waste management, especially in developing countries. In particular, informal activity is prominent in the electronic waste (e-waste) sector, whose volume and impacts have grown rapidly over recent decades. While the worrying aspects of informal e-waste recycling have been widely discussed, less attention has been given to its positive potential and to its relation to formal e-waste actors and policies. These topics have direct implication for pathways for transitioning from informality, and, in particular, ways in which informal recyclers can build on their strengths while beginning to operate in cleaner ways that retain livelihoods while reducing ill effects. In this paper, we draw upon extensive field work as well as secondary literatures to offer a taxonomy of management stances towards informal e-waste practices. These range from hostility through disconnection to interaction and, finally, synergy. Our recommendation is for the latter since the informal sector has important strengths and merits, as well as its harmful aspects, while formal approaches that ignore or attempt to squelch the informal sector do not yield constructive outcomes. Specifically, we suggest an incremental ratcheting synergistic model that draws on the respective strengths of both sectors to forge a genuine partnership between them. We describe six key elements of this model, and illustrate it through application to the Israeli–Palestinian context we have studied in depth. In particular, we show how the treatment of copper cables, now one of this industry's largest and most harmful segments, can be improved through an incremental series of synergetic solutions that preserve or even improve livelihoods of informal recyclers while greatly reducing their health and environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the relationships among the use of digital communication technologies, innovation performance and productivity, using an extended version of the Crepon-Duguet-Mairesse (1998) model, for a sample of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in a middle-income country, South Africa. Based on the results of an original survey carried out in 2019, we investigate these links for a sample of 711 manufacturing MSEs located in Johannesburg. We estimate the relationships sequentially, firstly estimating the relationship between digitalization and innovation, and secondly the relationship between innovation and productivity. Our results show that selected digital communication technologies including the use of social media and of a business mobile phone for surfing the internet have a positive effect on innovation, and that innovation conditional on the use of these technologies has a positive effect on labor productivity. The findings suggest that public programs aimed at fostering inclusive digitalization must consider the types of digital technologies that are most accessible and beneficial to small firms, including those operating informally. Our original contributions are threefold. • We use a unique dataset that complements the data collected through national innovation surveys carried out in South Africa. • We study the impact of digitalization on firm performance as it changes the production process and improves product quality. • We raise key issues on MSEs readiness to adopt digital technologies that fuel wider debates about achieving an inclusive 4IR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a stochastic frontier production function at the raion (county) level of aggregation, Rostov Oblast rural economy's formal economic growth 2009–2013 is analyzed in conjunction with satellite luminosity data capturing both the formal and informal economy. Satellite luminosity data reveal a growing economy with higher levels of secondary education, access to a federal highway and availability of natural gas associated with wealthier raions. The region's ability to absorb unregistered Ukrainian refugees with both the wealthiest and one of the poorest performing raions right on the Ukrainian border is questionable though on the eve of the crisis most raions exhibited a growing informal and formal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal economy is a vibrant and growing phenomenon, offering both opportunities and lessons on resilience and innovation. When considering global social, economic and environmental challenges, resilience and innovation are valuable response strategies. The notion of a green economy has similarly inspired a number of ideological, geopolitical and institutional responses, yet a review of the dominant approach indicates the propensity to undervalue or ignore the informal economy. Within the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, connecting the informal economy with the green economy is imperative. This paper explores possible connections between the green economy and the informal economy in South Africa and argues that by engaging the informal economy in discussions on the green economy, a more informed policy and planning environment may ensue, resulting in more socially equitable and environmentally sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The informal economy is considered among the most important factors because of its direct relationship with environmental degradation. The main contribution of the paper is to investigate empirically the causal relationship between economic growth and CO 2 emissions in the presence of the informal economy for Tunisia, during the period 1980–2009. This study is conducted on the basis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis (EKC). We found a monotonically increasing relationship between total GDP (the sum of the formal and informal economy) and CO 2 emissions as well as between formal GDP and CO 2 emissions. Thus there is no evidence that supports the EKC hypothesis for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By employing a cointegrated VECM model specification and accounting for structural breaks, we found that there exist co-integration relationships between the variables. Applying the technique to Granger causality, in both short and long-run, unidirectional causality from formal economic growth to CO 2 emissions, while demonstrating bidirectional causality between CO 2 emissions and TGDP. This implies that informal economy can be boosted at the cost of the environment. Thus, we propose policy recommendations directed at reducing the size of the informal sector and GHG emissions without affecting economic growth. Such suggestions consist chiefly in: implementing regulatory policy instruments to reduce CO 2 emissions, increasing the probability of tax audits, compelling informal firms, and finally, applying a minimum of regulations in the formal sector, instead of multiplying them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]