
41 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
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Journal Article
Using Legal Empowerment for Labour Rights in IndiaPart of Journal Special Issue Legal Empowerment and Group-Based Inequality
Working Paper
Job quality and labour market transitionsIn this paper we analyse informal work in Mexico, which accounts for the majority of employment in the country and has grown over time. We document that the informal sector is composed of two distinct parts: salaried informal employment and self...
Journal Special Issue
What sustains informalityThe special issue contributes significantly to critical issues related to the nature of informal employment and its determinants, how informal firms can grow their business and productivity, and the effects of labour market regulations and social...
Working Paper
The impact of COVID-19 on urban informal workers in MaputoInformal self-employed traders in developing countries are vulnerable to shocks as they often lack access to social insurance or formal finance. This study investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these urban traders in the capital of...
Working Paper
Trade sanctions and informal employmentThis paper examines how trade sanctions affect the allocation of workers across formal and informal employment. We analyse the case of the unexpected and unprecedented trade sanctions imposed on Iran in 2012. We use a difference-in-differences...
Blog
To die from hunger or the virus: An all too real dilemma for the poor in India (and elsewhere)
On March 24, in a speech to the nation, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, announced a 21-day lockdown. With only four hours’ notice, 1.3 billion...
Working Paper
Female labour supply and informal employment in EcuadorLow- and middle-income countries face a trade-off between raising tax revenue to strengthen social protection and creating incentives for the population to enter formal employment. However, empirical evidence on labour supply elasticities in the...
Working Paper
A new social contract inclusive of informal workersThis paper makes the case that current social contracts are often inadequate, irrelevant, or unjust for informal workers. It outlines three possible future scenarios: the bad old contract, an even worse contract, and a better new contract. Under the...
Working Paper
Transforming informal work and livelihoods in Costa Rica and NicaraguaWe divide workers into six work statuses: formal self-employed, upper-tier informal self-employed, lower-tier informal self-employed, formal wage-employed, upper-tier informal wage-employed, and lower-tier informal wage-employed. In both Costa Rica...
Blog
What does ‘promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth’ mean for everyday life?Erica stands under a rudimentary market stall in Accra, Ghana, selling fruits — she has done this every day for 10 years now. Like many women in the...
Book Chapter
Transforming informal work and livelihoods in Costa Rica and NicaraguaPart of Book The Job Ladder
Journal Article
Ethnic diversity and informal work in GhanaPart of Journal Special Issue What sustains informality