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Regulation of entry, labor market institutions and the informal sector

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  • Ulyssea, Gabriel

Abstract

This paper develops a two-sector matching model that incorporates the main features of Latin American labor markets. It has an innovation in its matching structure that makes it more consistent with some key stylized facts of the informal sector in these countries. The model is numerically solved using Brazilian data and several policy simulations are performed. Reducing formal sector's entry cost significantly reduces the size of the informal sector and improves overall labor market performance. Increasing enforcement significantly reduces informality but has strong adverse effects on unemployment and welfare. Thus, the results indicate that the tradeoff between lower informal employment and higher unemployment rates is not present when one looks at policies that aim at reducing the costs of being formal, as opposed to policies that simply increase the costs of being informal.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Development Economics.

Volume (Year): 91 (2010)
Issue (Month): 1 (January)
Pages: 87-99

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Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:91:y:2010:i:1:p:87-99

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/devec

Related research

Keywords: Informal sector Institutions Labor market;

References

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  1. Christopher A. Pissarides, 2000. "Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, 2nd Edition," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262161877.
  2. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silane & Andrei Shleifer & Juan Botero, 2003. "The Regulation of Labor," NBER Working Papers 9756, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  3. James Albrecht & Lucas Navarro & Susan Vroman, 2006. "The Effects of Labor Market Policies in an Economy with an Informal Sector," Working Papers gueconwpa~06-06-06, Georgetown University, Department of Economics.
  4. Schneider, Friedrich & Klinglmair, Robert, 2004. "Shadow Economies around the World: What Do We Know?," IZA Discussion Papers 1043, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  5. Bosch, Mariano & Goni, Edwin & Maloney, William F., 2007. "The Determinants of Rising Informality in Brazil: Evidence from Gross Worker Flows," IZA Discussion Papers 2970, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  6. Boeri, Tito & Garibaldi, Pietro, 2006. "Shadow Sorting," CEPR Discussion Papers 5487, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Tito Boeri & Pietro Garibaldi, 2005. "Shadow Sorting," NBER Chapters, in: NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics 2005, pages 125-163 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  7. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & López-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2001. "The Regulation of Entry," CEPR Discussion Papers 2953, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  8. Gustavo Gonzaga, 2003. "Labor Turnover and Labor Legislation in Brazil," Journal of LACEA Economia, LACEA - LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION.
  9. Acemoglu, Daron, 2001. "Good Jobs versus Bad Jobs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 1-21, January.
  10. Auriol, Emmanuelle & Warlters, Michael, 2005. "Taxation Base in Developing Countries," Open Access publications from University of Toulouse 1 Capitole http://neeo.univ-tlse1.fr, University of Toulouse 1 Capitole.
  11. Zenou, Yves, 2008. "Job search and mobility in developing countries. Theory and policy implications," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 336-355, June.
  12. Friedrich Schneider & Dominik Enste, 2000. "Shadow Economies Around the World - Size, Causes, and Consequences," IMF Working Papers 00/26, International Monetary Fund.
  13. Ricardo Paes de Barros & Carlos Henrique Corseuil, 2001. "The Impact of Regulations on Brazilian Labor Market Performance," Research Department Publications 3124, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
  14. Koujianou Goldberg, Pinelopi & Pavcnik, Nina, 2003. "The response of the informal sector to trade liberalization," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 463-496, December.
  15. Dominik H. Enste & Friedrich Schneider, 2000. "Shadow Economies: Size, Causes, and Consequences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 77-114, March.
  16. James J. Heckman & Carmen Pages, 2000. "The Cost of Job Security Regulation: Evidence from Latin American Labor Markets," NBER Working Papers 7773, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  17. Fugazza, Marco & Jacques, Jean-Francois, 2004. "Labor market institutions, taxation and the underground economy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1-2), pages 395-418, January.
  18. Maloney, William F, 1999. "Does Informality Imply Segmentation in Urban Labor Markets? Evidence from Sectoral Transitions in Mexico," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 13(2), pages 275-302, May.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Meghir, Costas & Narita, Renata & Robin, Jean-Marc, 2012. "Wages and Informality in Developing Countries," Working Papers 109, Yale University, Department of Economics.
  2. Kar, Saibal & Saha, Shrabani, 2012. "Corruption, Shadow Economy and Income Inequality: Evidence from Asia," IZA Discussion Papers 7106, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  3. Benedikt Heid & Mario Larch & Alejandro Riaño, 2011. "Maquiladoras and Informality: A Mixed Blessing," CESifo Working Paper Series 3689, CESifo Group Munich.
  4. Charlot, Olivier & Malherbet, Franck & Ulus, Mustafa, 2013. "Unemployment Compensation and the Allocation of Labor in Developing Countries," GIAM Working Papers 13-3, Galatasaray University Economic Research Center.
  5. Andrew Kerr, 2012. "A Model of Comparative Advantage with Matching in the Urban Tanzanian Labour Market," CSAE Working Paper Series 2012-21, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
  6. Arbex, Marcelo & Galvao, Antonio F. & Gomes, Fábio Augusto Reis, 2010. "Heterogeneity in the Returns to Education and Informal Activities," Ibmec Working Papers wpe_216, Insper Working Paper, Insper Instituto de Ensino e Pesquisa.
  7. Arias-Vazquez, Francisco Javier & Azuara, Oliver & Bernal, Pedro & Heckman, James J. & Villarreal, Cajeme, 2010. "Policies to Promote Growth and Economic Efficiency in Mexico," IZA Discussion Papers 4740, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  8. Costas Meghir & Renata Narita & Jean-Marc Robin, 2013. "Wages and informailty in developing countries," CeMMAP working papers CWP08/13, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
  9. Olivier Bargain & Eliane El Badaoui & Prudence Kwenda & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2012. "The Formal Sector Wage Premium and Firm Size for Self-employed Workers," Working Papers 201207, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  10. Irineu E. Carvalho Filho & Marcello M. Estevão, 2012. "Institutions, Informality, and Wage Flexibility: Evidence from Brazil," IMF Working Papers 12/84, International Monetary Fund.
  11. Dibyendu Maiti & Arijit Mukherjee, . "Trade Liberalisation, Subcontracting and Unionised Wage," Discussion Papers 10/07, University of Nottingham, GEP.

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