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33 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Journal Article
Informal work in sub-Saharan Africa: Dead end or stepping-stone?Despite rapid economic growth in recent decades, informality remains a persistent phenomenon in the labor markets of many low- and middle-income countries...
Informality Labour market dynamics Sub-Saharan AfricaBook Chapter
Informalities, volatility, and precarious social mobility in urban slumsFrom the book: Social mobility in developing countries
Informality Slums Social mobilityPresentation
UNU-WIDER at WEAI Annual ConferenceThe 96th Western Economic Association International (WEAI) Annual Conference takes place online across 27 June to 1 July. This year’s programme includes a session chaired by Tim Gindling , Climbing the job ladder? Informal and formal work in a...
Blog
Ethnic diversity and informal employment in GhanaInformal activities are widespread in many developing countries. In many sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries informal economic activities account for more than one-third of economic output and more than two-thirds of employment...
Ethnic diversity Inequalities InformalityBlog
Precarious employment for youth in Egypt, Jordan, and TunisiaYouth (those aged 15–29) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) face notoriously precarious employment prospects...
Labour market outcomes Gender equality; Labour markets InformalityBlog
Precarization or protection? How labour policies influence the effects of globalization on informalityGlobalization has generally coincided with a rise in work outside the formal economy, intensifying job precarization — when high-quality, formal jobs that entitle workers to benefits are replaced by jobs which may not comply with regulations an...
Precarity Labour market outcomes InformalityBlog
Better measures of informality can improve poverty reduction policy
In a recent study , my co-authors and I propose a new way to measure informality by household, rather than by individual worker...
Informality Labour rights Labour market outcomesBlog
Ghana's lockdown hit vulnerable workers hard: What needs to happen next timeCoronavirus lockdowns brought the world to a standstill. Rules on hygiene and social distancing have reshaped daily life, schools and businesses had been closed, and gatherings banned...
COVID-19 Lockdown EmploymentWorking Paper
Towards sustainable livelihood in the Tanzanian informal economy: Facilitating inclusion, organization, and rights for street vendorsIn spite of having some intensive national strategies to address poverty, Tanzania lacks a coherent national strategy to ensure sustainable livelihoods for those working in its informal economy, of which street vending is an important sector...
Tanzania Livelihoods Informal sectorWorking Paper
Heterogeneous informality in Costa Rica and NicaraguaInformal work is often considered a place of employment for marginalized and vulnerable workers who have been rationed out of preferred formal work...
Informality Developing countries Costa RicaWorking Paper
Precarization or protection? The impact of trade and labour policies on informalitySeveral episodes of market-oriented reforms in developing countries have been accompanied by a significant rise in work outside of the formal economy...
Brazil Informality TradeWorking Paper
Motherhood and flexible jobs: Evidence from Latin American countriesWe study the causal effect of motherhood on labour market outcomes in Latin America by adopting an event study approach around the birth of the first child based on panel data from national household surveys for Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay...
child penalty event study female labour supplyWorking Paper
The labour market impact of COVID-19 lockdowns: Evidence from GhanaIn this paper, we provide causal evidence of the impact of stringent lockdown policies on labour market outcomes at both the extensive and intensive margins, using Ghana as a case study...
COVID-19 Lockdown EmploymentWorking Paper
Welfare and the depth of informality: Evidence from five African countriesThis study explores the relationship between household poverty and depth of informality by proposing a new measure of informality at the household level...
Informality Measurement PovertyWorking Paper
Job quality and labour market transitions: Evidence from Mexican informal and formal workersIn this paper we analyse informal work in Mexico, which accounts for the majority of employment in the country and has grown over time...
Informal work job quality Labour market dynamicsWorking Paper
Informality, labour transitions, and the livelihoods of workers in Latin AmericaThis paper studies the incidence and heterogeneity of labour informality in six Latin American countries—Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru...
Informality Occupational turnover Education