Originally articulated in the 1970s,10 the concept of the informal economy has long been related to scholarship in the spheres of labour markets, macroeconomic policy and economic development, as well as more critically oriented examinations of the lives and livelihoods of the poor. [...] As Islam (2020) warns, ‘one runs the risk of impairing wages and working conditions in the quest to improve the business climate and reduce the size of the so-called shadow economy’ (see the discussion of ‘do no harm’ principles in relation to policy-making on the informal economy below). [...] The article opens with a summary of the first-ever global estimates of the size and composition of informal employment and the links between informal employment and poverty. [...] Well over half of the global workforce and the vast majority of the workforce in developing countries work in the informal economy, and in countries around the world new forms of informal employment are emerging. [...] Policy debates regarding regulation and formalisation of the informal economy This section examines the contours of the overarching policy debates regarding regulation of the informal economy in the Global South.
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Table of Contents
- Its potential for contributing to inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic transformation in the Global South 1
- Christopher Ward 1
- September 2024 1
- Key messages 1
- About this publication 3
- About the author 3
- Executive summary 6
- 1 Introduction 9
- Overview 9
- Organisation of the report 11
- 2 Theories definitions and 12
- Background and overview 12
- Historical schools of thought regarding the 13
- Competing paradigms in the contemporary 14
- Duelling definitions of the informal economy 17
- Box 1 Annotated bibliography for Section 2.1 18
- Determinants of the informal economy 22
- Box 2 Annotated bibliography for Section 2.2 24
- Policy debates regarding regulation and 30
- Box 3 Annotated bibliography for Section 2.3 33
- 3 The informal economys 41
- The informal economy and environmental 41
- 3.1.1 The informal economy and inclusive green growth 41
- 3.1.2 Green firms eco-innovation and co-production of 42
- 3.1.3 Environmental impacts of the informal economy 43
- Box 4 Annotated bibliography for Section 3.1.1 44
- 3.1.2 44
- 3.1.4 Macro-level associations between informal economy 52
- Box 5 Additional resources for Section 3.1.4 55
- Productivity and innovation in the informal 57
- 3.2.1 Categorising and quantifying entrepreneurial 58
- 3.2.2 Entrepreneurial activity and formalinformal linkages 59
- 3.2.3 Policy prescriptions and debates 60
- Box 6 Annotated bibliography for Section 3.2 60
- Social protection for informal economy actors 69
- 3.3.1 Conceptualising the need for social protection for 69
- 3.3.2 Policy prescriptions and debates 70
- 3.3.3 Covid-19 and the evolution of social protection 70
- Box 7 Annotated bibliography for Section 3.3 71
- References 81
- Appendix 1 Search terms 95
