IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000123/015814.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Taxonomía de la informalidad en América Latina

Author

Listed:
  • Cristina Fernández
  • Leonardo Villar

Abstract

El análisis de la informalidad en América Latina es complejo, no sólo por la dificultad para homologar conceptos y mediciones; sino también por divergencias en el tipo de informalidad que enfrentan los países. Mientras que, en algunos países como Chile y México, la informalidad tiende a ser el resultado de una decisión; en países como Colombia y Perú hay muchos trabajadores que son informales porque no cuentan con ninguna alternativa de trabajo, debido a su baja productividad o a las altas barreras de entrada al sector formal. Identificar la composición de la informalidad es fundamental a la hora de realizar recomendaciones de política para cada país. El aporte principal de este trabajo consiste en: (i) compatibilizar algunas cifras y conceptos del mercado laboral y generar una medida homogénea de informalidad, a partir de las encuestas de hogares de algunos países de América Latina (Perú, Colombia, Brasil, México, Argentina, Uruguay y Chile); (ii) estimar, en la medida de lo posible, y caracterizar la composición de la informalidad de acuerdo a los criterios establecidos por Fernández, Lilenstein, Oothusien y Villar (2016) para los países seleccionados y para el agregado de estos países, y (iii) analizar la pertinencia y efectividad de las políticas de formalización que se han implementado recientemente a la luz de esta taxonomía.

Suggested Citation

  • Cristina Fernández & Leonardo Villar, 2017. "Taxonomía de la informalidad en América Latina," Working Papers Series. Documentos de Trabajo 15814, Fedesarrollo.
  • Handle: RePEc:col:000123:015814
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/11445/3476
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James J. Heckman & Carmen Pagés, 2004. "Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number heck04-1, March.
    2. Alcaraz Carlo & Chiquiar Daniel & Salcedo Alejandrina, 2015. "Informality and Segmentation in the Mexican Labor Market," Working Papers 2015-25, Banco de México.
    3. Juan C. Botero & Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "The Regulation of Labor," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(4), pages 1339-1382.
    4. Matias Busso & Maria Victoria Fazio & Santiago Levy Algazi, 2012. "(In)Formal and (Un)Productive: The Productivity Costs of Excessive Informality in Mexico," Research Department Publications 4789, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    5. Jaime Saavedra & Mhmo Torero, 2004. "Labor Market Reforms and Their Impact over Formal Labor Demand and Job Market Turnover. The Case of Peru," NBER Chapters, in: Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean, pages 131-182, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Cristina Fernández & Leonardo Villar, 2016. "A Taxonomy of Colombia’s Informal Labor Market," Coyuntura Económica, Fedesarrollo, vol. 46(1), pages 15-50, June.
    7. repec:idb:brikps:82329 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Henley, Andrew & Arabsheibani, Reza & Carneiro, Francisco G., 2006. "On Defining and Measuring the Informal Sector," IZA Discussion Papers 2473, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    10. Loayza, Norman V. & Serven, Luis & Sugawara, Naotaka, 2009. "Informality in Latin America and the Caribbean," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4888, The World Bank.
    11. Rafael La Porta & Andrei Shleifer, 2008. "The Unofficial Economy and Economic Development," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 39(2 (Fall)), pages 275-363.
    12. Edwin A. Goñi Pacchioni, 2013. "Andemic Informality: Assessing Labor Informality, Employment and Income Risk in the Andes," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 82329 edited by Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), February.
    13. Cristina Fernandez & Leonardo Villar, 2017. "The Impact of Lowering the Payroll Tax on Informality in Colombia," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2017), pages 125-155, November.
    14. Rita Almeida & Pedro Carneiro, 2012. "Enforcement of Labor Regulation and Informality," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 64-89, July.
    15. Timothy W Guinnane & Susana Mart�nez-Rodr�guez, 2018. "Choice of Enterprise Form: Spain, 1886–1936," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(1), pages 1-26.
    16. Chiquiar, Daniel & Covarrubias, Enrique & Salcedo, Alejandrina, 2016. "Labor market consequences of trade openness and competition in foreign markets," Conference papers 332760, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    17. Loayza, Norman V., 1996. "The economics of the informal sector: a simple model and some empirical evidence from Latin America," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 129-162, December.
    18. Ms. Era Dabla-Norris & Ms. Gabriela Inchauste, 2007. "Informality and Regulations: What Drives Firm Growth?," IMF Working Papers 2007/112, International Monetary Fund.
    19. Matías Busso & Maria Victoria Fazio & Santiago Levy Algazi, 2012. "(In)Formal and (Un)Productive: The Productivity Costs of Excessive Informality in Mexico," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 75698, Inter-American Development Bank.
    20. Auerbach, Paula & Genoni, María Eugenia & Pagés, Carmen, 2005. "Social Security Coverage and the Labor Market in Developing Countries," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1111, Inter-American Development Bank.
    21. Fabio Bertranou & Roxana Maurizio, 2012. "Semi‐conditional cash transfers in the form of family allowances for children and adolescents in the informal economy in Argentina," International Social Security Review, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 65(1), pages 53-72, January.
    22. World Bank, 2015. "Governance Reforms of State-Owned Enterprises," World Bank Publications - Reports 22749, The World Bank Group.
    23. Markandya, Anil & González-Eguino, Mikel & Escapa, Marta, 2013. "From shadow to green: Linking environmental fiscal reforms and the informal economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(S1), pages 108-118.
    24. Gasparini Leonardo & Leonardo Tornaroli, 2009. "Labor Informality in Latin America and the Caribbean: Patterns and Trends from Household Survey Microdata," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, September.
    25. Garganta, Santiago & Gasparini, Leonardo, 2015. "The impact of a social program on labor informality: The case of AUH in Argentina," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 99-110.
    26. World Bank, 2016. "World Development Indicators 2016," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 23969, December.
    27. Ms. Junko Koeda & Ms. Era Dabla-Norris, 2008. "Informality and Bank Credit: Evidence from Firm-Level Data," IMF Working Papers 2008/094, International Monetary Fund.
    28. Bernal Raquel, 2009. "The Informal Labor Market in Colombia: identification and characterization," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, September.
    29. Maloney, William F, 1999. "Does Informality Imply Segmentation in Urban Labor Markets? Evidence from Sectoral Transitions in Mexico," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 13(2), pages 275-302, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cristina Fernández, 2019. "Empleo y emprendimiento en Bogotá," Informes de Investigación 17931, Fedesarrollo.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bosch, Mariano & Maloney, William F., 2010. "Comparative analysis of labor market dynamics using Markov processes: An application to informality," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 621-631, August.
    2. Rafaela Bastidas & Nicolás Acosta, 2019. "Misallocation and manufacturing TFP in Ecuador: formal, semi-formal and informal firms," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 8(1), pages 1-29, December.
    3. Diego Restuccia & Richard Rogerson, 2017. "The Causes and Costs of Misallocation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 151-174, Summer.
    4. Baker, Andy & Velasco-Guachalla, Vania Ximena, 2018. "Is the Informal Sector Politically Different? (Null) Answers from Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 170-182.
    5. Andrés Ham & Darío Maldonado & Carlos Santiago Guzmán-Gutiérrez, 2019. "Tendencias recientes en la situación laboral de los jóvenes en Colombia: diagnóstico, desafíos y retos de política pública," Documentos de trabajo 17569, Escuela de Gobierno - Universidad de los Andes.
    6. Joshua Aizenman & Eduardo Cavallo & Ilan Noy, 2015. "Precautionary Strategies and Household Saving," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 26(5), pages 911-939, November.
    7. Matteo Bobba & Luca Flabbi & Santiago Levy, 2022. "Labor Market Search, Informality, And Schooling Investments," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(1), pages 211-259, February.
    8. Luz Adriana Florez, 2015. "The Search and Matching Equilibrium in an Economy with an Informal Sector: A Positive Analysis of Labour Market Policies," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, August.
    9. Lopez-Martin, Bernabe, 2019. "Informal Sector Misallocation," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(8), pages 3065-3098, December.
    10. Ham Andrés & Maldonado Darío & Guzmán-Gutiérrez Carlos Santiago, 2021. "Recent trends in the youth labor market in Colombia: Diagnosis and policy challenges," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-62, January.
    11. Alcaraz Carlo & Chiquiar Daniel & Salcedo Alejandrina, 2015. "Informality and Segmentation in the Mexican Labor Market," Working Papers 2015-25, Banco de México.
    12. Almeida, Rita K. & Poole, Jennifer P., 2017. "Trade and labor reallocation with heterogeneous enforcement of labor regulations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 154-166.
    13. Bazdresch Santiago, 2018. "Finance and Employment Formalization: Evidence from Mexico's ENIGH, 2000-2016," Working Papers 2018-14, Banco de México.
    14. Mariana Viollaz, 2018. "Enforcement of labor market regulations: heterogeneous compliance and adjustment across gender," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-28, December.
    15. David KUCERA & Leanne RONCOLATO, 2008. "Informal employment: Two contested policy issues," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 147(4), pages 321-348, December.
    16. Beatriz Muriel & Carlos Gustavo Machicado, 2012. "Employment and Labor Regulation: Evidence from Manufacturing Firms in Bolivia, 1988-2007," Development Research Working Paper Series 07/2012, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
    17. Albertini, Julien & Terriau, Anthony, 2019. "Informality over the life-cycle," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 182-202.
    18. Kaplan, David S., 2009. "Job creation and labor reform in Latin America," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 91-105, March.
    19. Viollaz, Mariana, 2016. "Enforcement of Labor Market Regulations: Heterogeneous Compliance and Adjustment across Gender," MPRA Paper 72000, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Stefan Pahl & Marcel P. Timmer, 2020. "Do Global Value Chains Enhance Economic Upgrading? A Long View," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(9), pages 1683-1705, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Informalidad; América Latina; Recomendaciones de política;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:col:000123:015814. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Patricia Monroy (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fedesco.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.