Bodor, AndrasGatti, RobertaAngel-Urdinola, Diego F.Silva, Joana2014-09-022014-09-022014-08-26978-0-8213-9535-6https://hdl.handle.net/10986/19905Economic growth has been sustained for many years pre-crisis in the region, but this has not resulted in the creation of an adequate number of jobs and has succeeded, at best, in generating low-quality, informal jobs. The report addresses one margin of exclusion: informal employment and the vulnerabilities and lack of opportunities associated with it. The report analyzes the constraints that prevent informal workers from becoming formal and discusses policy options to effectively address these constraints. This report looks at informality through a human development angle and focuses particularly on informal employment. Informality is a complex phenomenon, comprising unpaid workers and workers without social security or health insurance coverage, small or micro-firms that operate outside the regulatory framework and large registered firms that may partially evade corporate taxes and social security contributions. The first section provides a detailed profile of informal workers in the region. The second section describes the characteristics of informality in micro-firms that operate outside the regulatory framework and in larger firms that do not fully comply with social security contribution requirements and tax obligations. The third section presents informality and the firm. The fourth section focuses on informality: choice or exclusion? The fifth section discusses policy options for effectively expanding coverage of health insurance and pension systems and promoting the creation of better quality jobs.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTINGACTIVE LABORACTIVE LABOR MARKETACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMSAGE GROUPAGE GROUPSALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTANNUAL LEAVEASYMMETRIC INFORMATIONAVERAGE WAGEAVERAGE WAGESBARGAININGBARGAINING POWERBARRIERS TO ENTRYBENEFICIARIESCAPITAL REQUIREMENTSCIVIL SERVICECOLLECTIVE AGREEMENTSCOMPLIANCE COSTSCORPORATE TAX RATECORPORATE TAX RATESCOUNTRY COMPARISONSCREATING OPPORTUNITIESCROSS-SECTIONAL DATADEBTDISCUSSIONSDISMISSALDISTORTED INCENTIVESDRIVERSEARLY RETIREMENTEARNINGECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC POLICIESECONOMIC RISKSECONOMIC SLOWDOWNECONOMIC THEORYECONOMICSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL LEVELEMPLOYABILITYEMPLOYEEEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT COMPOSITIONEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT LIKELIHOODEMPLOYMENT OUTCOMESEMPLOYMENT OUTLOOKEMPLOYMENT PATTERNSEMPLOYMENT PROTECTION LEGISLATIONEMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIPEMPLOYMENT SECURITYEMPLOYMENT SIZEEMPLOYMENT STATUSENTERPRISE PERFORMANCEENTREPRENEURSHIPEXTERNALITIESFEMALE EMPLOYMENTFINANCIAL CRISISFINDING EMPLOYMENTFINDING JOBSFIRM ENTRYFIRM LEVELFIRM SIZEFIXED COSTSFORMAL LABOR MARKETGOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONGOVERNMENT REVENUEGROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCTHEALTH INSURANCEHIGH WAGEHOLDINGHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTINCOMEINCOME SECURITYINCOME SUPPORTINDIRECT LABOR COSTSINFORMAL ECONOMIESINFORMAL ECONOMYINFORMAL EMPLOYMENTINFORMAL SECTORINNOVATIONINSTITUTIONAL BARRIERSINSURANCE DESIGNINTERNAL RATE OF RETURNINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATIONINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINVESTINGINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTMENT INSTRUMENTSJOB CREATIONJOB DURATIONJOB LOSSJOB SEARCHJOB SEARCH ASSISTANCEJOB SECURITYJOBSLABOR CONTRACTSLABOR COSTLABOR DEMANDLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR LAWSLABOR LEGISLATIONLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOR MARKET REFORMLABOR MARKET REGULATIONLABOR MARKET REGULATIONSLABOR MARKETSLABOR MOBILITYLABOR PRODUCTIVITYLABOR REGULATIONSLABOR SUPPLYLABOURLEVEL PLAYING FIELDLIVING STANDARDSLOCAL CURRENCYMALE WORKERSMARKET SEGMENTATIONSMINIMUM CAPITAL REQUIREMENTSMINIMUM WAGEMINIMUM WAGESMONETARY FUNDNATURAL RESOURCESNEW ENTRANTSNPLOCCUPATIONAL RISKSOCCUPATIONSOLD-AGE PENSIONON-THE-JOB TRAININGPENSION REFORMPENSION SYSTEMPENSION SYSTEMSPENSIONSPOLITICAL ECONOMYPRIVATE EMPLOYMENTPRIVATE ENTERPRISEPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE INVESTMENTSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR JOBSPRIVATE SECTOR WORKERSPRIVATE SECTORSPRODUCTIVE FIRMSPROPERTY TAXESPROTECTING WORKERSPUBLIC EMPLOYMENTPUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENTPUBLIC SECTOR JOBPUBLIC SECTOR JOBSPUBLIC SERVICESREGULATORY AUTHORITIESREGULATORY BARRIERSREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREGULATORY SYSTEMREMUNERATIVE EMPLOYMENTRENTSRETIREMENTRETURNSREVENUE SOURCESRISK MANAGEMENTRURAL EMPLOYMENTSAFETYSAFETY NETSAFETY NETSSALARIED WORKERSSAVINGSSAVINGS BEHAVIORSAVINGS SCHEMESSEGMENTATIONSSELF EMPLOYMENTSERVICE SECTORSSEVERANCE PAYSOCIAL INSURANCE SYSTEMSOCIAL INSURANCE SYSTEMSSOCIAL NETWORKSSOCIAL POLICIESSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SECURITYSOCIAL SERVICESSTABLE JOBSTAXTAX OBLIGATIONSTAXATIONTOTAL EMPLOYMENTTRADE UNIONSTRAINING PROGRAMSTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORTTRIPARTITEUNEMPLOYEDUNEMPLOYED WORKERSUNEMPLOYMENTUNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITSUNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCEUNEMPLOYMENT RATEUNEMPLOYMENT RATESUNPAID WORKERSURBAN WORKERSWAGE DISTRIBUTIONWAGE EMPLOYMENTWAGE FLOORSWAGE GAPWAGE RIGIDITIESWITHDRAWALWORKERWORKERSWORKING CONDITIONSWORKING HOURSWORKING POORYOUNG WORKERS10.1596/978-0-8213-9535-6