Publication:
On Defining and Measuring the Informal Sector
dc.contributor.author | Henley, Andrew | |
dc.contributor.author | Arabsheibani, G. Reza | |
dc.contributor.author | Carneiro, Francisco G. | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2012-06-18T20:14:20Z | |
dc.date.available | 2012-06-18T20:14:20Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2006-03 | |
dc.description.abstract | A range of alternative empirical definitions of informal activity have been employed in the literature. Choice of definition is often dictated by data availability. Different definitions may imply very different conceptual understandings of informality. In this paper the authors investigate the degree of congruence between three definitions of informality based on employment contract registration, social security protection, and the characteristics of the employer and employment using Brazilian household survey data for the period 1992 to 2001. The authors present evidence showing that 64 percent of the economically active population are informal according to at least one definition, but only 40 percent are informal according to all three. Steady compositional changes have been taking place among informal workers, conditional on definition. The econometric analysis reveals that the conditional impact of particular factors (demographic, educational attainment, and family circumstances) on the likelihood of informality varies considerably from one definition to another. The results suggest growing heterogeneity within the informal sector. Therefore, the authors argue that informal activity may be as much associated with entrepreneurial dynamism as with any desire to avoid costly contract registration and social protection. However, the authors confirm there is no a priori reason for entrepreneurial activity to be unprotected. Consequently definitions of informality based on occupation and employer size seem the most arbitrary in practice even if conceptually well-founded. | en |
dc.identifier | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/03/6634942/defining-measuring-informal-sector | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/8342 | |
dc.language | English | |
dc.publisher | World Bank, Washington, DC | |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | Policy Research Working Paper; No. 3866 | |
dc.rights | CC BY 3.0 IGO | |
dc.rights.holder | World Bank | |
dc.rights.uri | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ | |
dc.subject | CENTRAL AMERICAN | |
dc.subject | COLLECTIVE BARGAINING | |
dc.subject | COLLEGE GRADUATES | |
dc.subject | COMPETITIVE PRESSURES | |
dc.subject | CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT | |
dc.subject | DISABILITY | |
dc.subject | DISMISSAL | |
dc.subject | DISMISSALS | |
dc.subject | DISPLACED WORKERS | |
dc.subject | DISPLACEMENT | |
dc.subject | DOMESTIC WORKERS | |
dc.subject | ECONOMIC GROWTH | |
dc.subject | EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT | |
dc.subject | EMPLOYEE | |
dc.subject | EMPLOYERS | |
dc.subject | EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS | |
dc.subject | EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP | |
dc.subject | EMPLOYMENT STATUS | |
dc.subject | ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY | |
dc.subject | FIRING | |
dc.subject | FIRING COSTS | |
dc.subject | FIRM SIZE | |
dc.subject | FLEXIBLE HOURS | |
dc.subject | FLEXIBLE HOURS OF WORK | |
dc.subject | FORMAL LABOR MARKET | |
dc.subject | HOURS OF WORK | |
dc.subject | HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS | |
dc.subject | HOUSEHOLD INCOME | |
dc.subject | HOUSEHOLD SURVEY | |
dc.subject | HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS | |
dc.subject | ILLEGAL EMPLOYMENT | |
dc.subject | ILLITERACY | |
dc.subject | INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT | |
dc.subject | INFORMAL SECTOR | |
dc.subject | JOB SATISFACTION | |
dc.subject | JOBS | |
dc.subject | LABOR CONTRACT | |
dc.subject | LABOR MARKET | |
dc.subject | LABOR MARKET REGULATION | |
dc.subject | LABOR MARKET REGULATIONS | |
dc.subject | LABOR REGULATION | |
dc.subject | LEGAL STATUS | |
dc.subject | LITERATURE | |
dc.subject | MATERNITY LEAVE | |
dc.subject | MINIMUM WAGE | |
dc.subject | OCCUPATION | |
dc.subject | OCCUPATIONAL CLASSIFICATION | |
dc.subject | OCCUPATIONS | |
dc.subject | OVERTIME | |
dc.subject | PAPERS | |
dc.subject | PREVIOUS STUDIES | |
dc.subject | PRINCIPAL ALTERNATIVE | |
dc.subject | PRIVATE SECTOR | |
dc.subject | PROBIT REGRESSIONS | |
dc.subject | PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYEES | |
dc.subject | PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT | |
dc.subject | PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS | |
dc.subject | RESEARCHERS | |
dc.subject | SELFEMPLOYMENT | |
dc.subject | SENIORITY | |
dc.subject | SOCIAL PROTECTION | |
dc.subject | SOCIAL SECURITY | |
dc.subject | STAFF | |
dc.subject | TEMPORARY WORKERS | |
dc.subject | TOTAL EMPLOYMENT | |
dc.subject | TURNOVER | |
dc.subject | UNEMPLOYMENT | |
dc.subject | UNEMPLOYMENT RATES | |
dc.subject | UNIONIZATION | |
dc.subject | WAGE DIFFERENTIAL | |
dc.subject | WORK IN PROGRESS | |
dc.subject | WORKER | |
dc.subject | WORKERS | |
dc.subject | WORKING | |
dc.title | On Defining and Measuring the Informal Sector | en |
dspace.entity.type | Publication | |
okr.crosscuttingsolutionarea | Jobs | |
okr.doctype | Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper | |
okr.doctype | Publications & Research | |
okr.docurl | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/03/6634942/defining-measuring-informal-sector | |
okr.globalpractice | Education | |
okr.globalpractice | Social Protection and Labor | |
okr.identifier.doi | 10.1596/1813-9450-3866 | |
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum | 000016406_20060303150551 | |
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum | 6634942 | |
okr.identifier.report | WPS3866 | |
okr.language.supported | en | |
okr.pdfurl | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2006/03/03/000016406_20060303150551/Rendered/PDF/wps3866.pdf | en |
okr.region.administrative | Latin America & Caribbean | |
okr.region.country | Brazil | |
okr.topic | Tertiary Education | |
okr.topic | Social Protections and Labor :: Labor Management and Relations | |
okr.topic | Social Protections and Labor :: Labor Markets | |
okr.topic | Social Protections and Labor :: Labor Standards | |
okr.topic | Work and Working Conditions | |
okr.topic | Education | |
okr.unit | Development Research Group (DECRG) | |
okr.volume | 1 of 1 | |
relation.isAuthorOfPublication | 2c308a64-886c-507e-98b9-54f74364d5c4 | |
relation.isSeriesOfPublication | 26e071dc-b0bf-409c-b982-df2970295c87 |
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