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Do economic reforms hurt or help the informal labor market?

Author

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  • Saibal Kar

    (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, and Presidency University, India, and IZA, Germany)

Abstract

The evidence is mixed on whether informal labor in developing countries benefits from trade and labor market reforms. Reforms lead to higher wages and improved employment conditions in the informal sector in some cases, and to the opposite effect in others. At a cross-country level, lifting trade protection boosts informal-sector employment. The direction and size of the impacts on informal-sector employment and wages are determined by capital mobility and the interactions between trade and labor market reforms and public policies, such as monitoring the formal sector. To guarantee best practice policymakers need to take these interdependencies into account.

Suggested Citation

  • Saibal Kar, 2016. "Do economic reforms hurt or help the informal labor market?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 263-263, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:y:2016:n:263
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marjit, Sugata, 2003. "Economic reform and informal wage--a general equilibrium analysis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 371-378, October.
    2. Marcouiller, Douglas & Young, Leslie, 1995. "The Black Hole of Graft: The Predatory State and the Informal Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 630-646, June.
    3. 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.
    4. Fields, Gary S., 1975. "Rural-urban migration, urban unemployment and underemployment, and job-search activity in LDCs," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 165-187, June.
    5. McKenzie, David & Seynabou Sakho, Yaye, 2010. "Does it pay firms to register for taxes? The impact of formality on firm profitability," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 15-24, January.
    6. Sugata Marjit & Saibal Kar, 2012. "Firm Heterogeneity, Informal Wage and Good Governance," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 527-539, November.
    7. Kar, Saibal & Marjit, Sugata, 2009. "Urban informal sector and poverty," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 631-642, October.
    8. Fields, Gary S., 2005. "A welfare economic analysis of labor market policies in the Harris-Todaro model," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 127-146, February.
    9. Sarbajit Chaudhuri & Ujjaini Mukhopadhyay, 2010. "Revisiting the Informal Sector," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-1-4419-1194-0, December.
    10. Chaudhuri, Sarbajit & Mukhopadhyay, Ujjaini, 2009. "Revisiting the Informal Sector: A General Equilibrium Approach," MPRA Paper 52135, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    Cited by:

    1. Khurrum S. Mughal & Friedrich G. Schneider & Faheem Aslam & Alishba Tahir, 2021. "Money Multiplier Bias Due to Informal Sector: An Extension of the Existing Money Multiplier," South Asian Journal of Macroeconomics and Public Finance, , vol. 10(2), pages 139-157, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic reforms; informal labor; governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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