Distinction between Informal and Unorganized Sector: A Study of Total Factor Productivity Growth for Manufacturing Sector in India

Since its very onset, the concept and definition of the informal sector has been a subject of debate both at the national and international levels. Existing literature uses the terms ‘informal sector’ and ‘unorganized sector’ interchangeably. However, in India, the characteristics of enterprises in the informal and non-informal unorganized manufacturing sectors are different and, thus, it is not justifiable to consider the informal and unorganized sector interchangeably for the manufacturing sector. Thus, the objective of this paper is to test the hypothesis on whether or not the total factor productivity growth (TFPG) of the informal manufacturing sector is different from the non-informal unorganized manufacturing sector. TFPG is decomposed into technical efficiency change and technological change. Later, technical efficiency change is further decomposed by pure efficiency change and scale efficiency change. Results show that the average TFPG of the non-informal sector is higher than the informal sector. The informal sector heavily concentrates in own account small enterprises, whereas the non-informal unorganized sector concentrates only in directory manufacturing enterprises (DME). Due to large in size, DME avails the advantages of economies of scale, which, in turn, helps the units for more growth in terms of total factor productivity growth. The main reason for productivity decrease of the enterprises, besides technology regress and the lack of adequate investments, is the limitation of activities and scale along with the optimal allocation of resources. This study provides a basis on how policies can be designed for enhancing the total factor productivity growth of the informal sector.