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Gross Worker Flows in the Presence of Informal Labor Markets. The Mexican Experience 1987-2002

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Mariano Bosch
William Maloney

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Abstract

This paper applies recent advances in the study of labor market dynamics to a representativedeveloping country with a large unregulated of "informal" sector, Mexico. It finds, first, that theformal salaried sector shows the same procyclical job finding rate and mildly countercyclicalseparation behavior identified in the recent US literature by Shimer (2005a) and Hall (2005). Theunregulated informal sector, however, shows reasonable acyclicality in the job finding ratecoupled with sharp countercyclical movements in the job separation rate, consistent withstandard small firm dynamics and Davis and Haltiwanger (1992 and 1999). The differentialbehavior of regulated and unregulated sectors, and the finding of relative wage rigidity in theformer, sheds suggestive light on the roots of countercyclical job finding behavior in the US.Second, the patterns of worker transitions between all sectors, formal and informal correspond tothe job-to-job dynamics observed in the US and not to the traditional idea of informalityconstituting the inferior sector of a segmented market. That said, the counter cyclical job findingin the formal sector combined with the acyclical job finding in informality does lead to the latterabsorbing relatively more labor during downturns, even as its increased separation rates drivemovements in unemployment.

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Paper provided by Centre for Economic Performance, LSE in its series CEP Discussion Papers with number dp0753.

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Date of creation: Oct 2006
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Related research
Keywords: Gross worker flows; Labor market dynamics; Informality; Developing Countries;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
J6 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Dale T. Mortensen & Éva Nagypál, 2005. "More on Unemployment and Vacancy Fluctuations," IZA Discussion Papers 1765, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Robert E. Hall, 2005. "Employment Efficiency and Sticky Wages: Evidence from Flows in the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 11183, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Mazumdar, Dipak, 1976. "The urban informal sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 4(8), pages 655-679, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. James J. Heckman & Christopher J. Flinn, 1982. "New Methods for Analyzing Structural Models of Labor Force Dynamics," NBER Working Papers 0856, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Robert Shimer, 2005. "The Cyclical Behavior of Equilibrium Unemployment and Vacancies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 25-49, March. [Downloadable!]
  6. Michael Pries & Richard Rogerson, 2005. "Hiring Policies, Labor Market Institutions, and Labor Market Flows," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(4), pages 811-839, August.
  7. Yashiv, Eran, 2005. "Evaluating the Performance of the Search and Matching Model," CEPR Discussion Papers 5363, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Dunne, T. & Roberts, M.J. & Samuelson, L., 1988. "The Growth And Failure Of U.S. Manufacturing Plants," Papers 1-87-5, Pennsylvania State - Department of Economics.
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  9. Denis Fougere & Thierry Kamionka, 1992. "Un modéle markovien du marché du travail," Annales d'Economie et de Statistique, ADRES, issue 27, pages 06, Juillet-S. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Robert Shimer, 2005. "The cyclicality of hires, separations, and job-to-job transitions," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Jul, pages 493-508. [Downloadable!]
  12. Maloney, William F, 1999. "Does Informality Imply Segmentation in Urban Labor Markets? Evidence from Sectoral Transitions in Mexico," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 275-302, May.
  13. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-70, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Christopher J. Flinn & James J. Heckman, 1982. "Models for the Analysis of Labor Force Dynamics," NBER Working Papers 0857, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Antman, Francisca & McKenzie, David J., 2005. "Earnings mobility and measurement error : a pseudo-panel approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3745, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  16. Robert E. Hall, 2005. "Employment Efficiency and Sticky Wages: Evidence from Flows in the Labor Market," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(3), pages 397-407, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. John Kennan, 2005. "Private Information, Wage Bargaining and Employment Fluctuations," 2005 Meeting Papers 555, Society for Economic Dynamics. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Eran Yashiv, 2006. "Evaluating the Performance of the Search and Matching Model," IZA Discussion Papers 1931, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  19. Maloney, William F., 2004. "Informality Revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1159-1178, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Robert Shimer, 2007. "Reassessing the Ins and Outs of Unemployment," NBER Working Papers 13421, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Steven J. Davis & R. Jason Faberman & John Haltiwanger, 2005. "The Flow Approach to Labor Markets: New Data Sources, Micro-Macro Links and the Recent Downturn," IZA Discussion Papers 1639, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Bosch, Mariano & Maloney, William, 2008. "Cyclical movements in unemployment and informality in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4648, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Fiess, Norbert M. & Fugazza, Marco & Maloney, William F., 2008. "Informality and Macroeconomic Fluctuations," IZA Discussion Papers 3519, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Norbert Fiess & Marco Fugazza, 2008. "Trade Liberalisation and Informality: New stylized facts," Working Papers 2008_34, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow. [Downloadable!]
  4. Bosch, Mariano & Maloney, William F., 2008. "Cyclical Movements in Unemployment and Informality in Developing Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 3514, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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