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Classifying Latin American Economies: A Degree of Informalisation Approach

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  • Colin C. Williams
  • Youssef Youssef

Abstract

Given the commonality of employment in the informal economy, this paper moves beyond classifying economies by the composition of their formal economies and instead classifies economies by their degree of informalisation. Analysing International Labour Organisation data on the varying level of employment in the informal economy across 16 Latin American economies, the outcome is to reveal a significant correlation between cross-national variations in the degree of informalisation and cross-national variations in GNP per capita, poverty and social contribution levels. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for theory and policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Colin C. Williams & Youssef Youssef, 2014. "Classifying Latin American Economies: A Degree of Informalisation Approach," International Journal of Business Administration, International Journal of Business Administration, Sciedu Press, vol. 5(3), pages 73-85, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:jfr:ijba11:v:5:y:2014:i:3:p:73-85
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    14. Colin C. Williams & Sara Nadin, 2012. "Tackling the hidden enterprise culture: Government policies to support the formalization of informal entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(9-10), pages 895-915, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Colin C. Williams & Abbi Kedir, 2018. "Explaining Cross-National Variations In The Prevalence Of Informal Sector Entrepreneurship: Lessons From A Survey Of 142 Countries," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(01), pages 1-22, March.
    2. Colin C. Williams & Friedrich Schneider, 2016. "Measuring the Global Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16551.
    3. Michael J. Pisani, 2021. "New Age Informality: Hispanics and the Sharing Economy," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Colin C. Williams & Abbi M. Kedir, 2019. "Explaining cross-country variations in the prevalence of informal sector competitors: lessons from the World Bank Enterprise Survey," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 677-696, September.

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