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Self-employment and poverty in developing countries

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  • Gary S. Fields

    (Cornell University, USA, and IZA, Germany)

Abstract

A key way for the world’s poor to escape poverty is to earn more for their labor. Most of the world’s poor people are self-employed, but because there are few opportunities in most developing countries for them to earn enough to escape poverty, they are working hard but working poor. Two key policy planks in the fight against poverty should be: raising the returns to self-employment and creating more opportunities to move from self-employment into higher paying wage employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary S. Fields, 2019. "Self-employment and poverty in developing countries," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 1-60, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:2019:n:60
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Pankaj C. Patel & Cornelius A. Rietveld & Jack I. Richter, 2022. "The relation between public assistance and self-employment in census tracts: a long-term perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 891-927, July.
    2. Eliane El Badaoui & Olivier Bargain & Prudence Magejo & Eric Strobl & Frank Walsh, 2023. "A Search Model with Self-Employment and Heterogeneity in Managerial Ability," Working Papers hal-04159859, HAL.
    3. Nghia Thi Thu Nguyen & Cheng-Tao Tang & Chun Yee Wong, 2021. "The Impacts of Social Enterprises on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Vietnam," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-13, September.
    4. Emmanuel Adu Boahen & Paul Adjei Kwakwa & Justice Boateng Dankwah, 2022. "Does gender make a difference in the performance of a small business enterprise? Evidence from a household survey data from Ghana," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(9), pages 1-26, September.
    5. Lechman, Ewa & Popowska, Magdalena, 2022. "Harnessing digital technologies for poverty reduction. Evidence for low-income and lower-middle income countries," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(6).
    6. KOUL NGWE MANGUELLE Maximilien, 2024. "Does the Accumulating Human Capital Determine the Decision to Work as Self-employed? Evidence from Cameroon," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(2), pages 5769-5793, June.
    7. Hee-Seung Yang & Booyuel Kim & Rony Rodriguez-Ramirez, 2022. "Does the Small Business Programme Benefit Self-Employed Workers? Evidence from Nicaragua," Working papers 2022rwp-207, Yonsei University, Yonsei Economics Research Institute.
    8. Dyah S. Pritadrajati & Anggita C. M. Kusuma & Sweta C. Saxena, 2020. "A Non-Healing Wound: Lasting Consequences Of Unemployment And Informal Self-Employment: An Empirical Evidence From Indonesia," Working Papers WP/09/2020, Bank Indonesia.
    9. Paul, Saumik & Thomas, Liam, 2020. "The Agricultural Productivity Gap and Self-Employment Bias in the Labor Income Share," IZA Discussion Papers 13415, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Abubakar Haruna & Zipporah Oyigbenu Elijah & Hussaina Abdullahi Yarima, 2022. "Youth Employment, Security and Poverty in Nigeria," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 6(10), pages 698-701, October.
    11. Mustafizur Rahman & Marzuka Md. Al-Hasan, 2019. "Women in Bangladesh Labour Market: Determinants of Participation, Gender Wage Gap and Returns to Schooling," CPD Working Paper 124, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
    12. Nawazuddin Ahmed & Dinesh K. Nauriyal, 2023. "Occupational and Educational Mobility Among Indian Muslims: Primary Survey-Based Evidence," Millennial Asia, , vol. 14(2), pages 228-259, June.
    13. Yerrabati, Sridevi, 2022. "Does vulnerable employment alleviate poverty in developing countries?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    14. Nguyen, Linh & Do, Huu-Luat, 2024. "Children's cognitive development: does parental wage employment matter?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    15. Gary S Fields, 2023. "The Growth–Employment–Poverty Nexus in Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 32(Supplemen), pages 147-163.
    16. Jack I. Richter & Pankaj C. Patel, 2022. "Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the hours lost by self-employed racial minorities: evidence from Brazil," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 769-805, February.
    17. Pritadrajati, Dyah S. & Kusuma, Anggita C.M. & Saxena, Sweta C., 2021. "Scarred for life: Lasting consequences of unemployment and informal self-employment," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 206-219.
    18. Ho, Sin Yu & Beri, Parfait Bihkongnyuy, 2024. "The impact of SME sector on economic growth in Africa," MPRA Paper 122552, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Magda Hassan & Jaideep Prabhu & Rajesh Chandy & Om Narasimhan, 2023. "When Bulldozers Loom: Informal Property Rights and Marketing Practice Innovation Among Emerging Market Microentrepreneurs," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(1), pages 137-165, January.
    20. Carlos Salas-Páez & Luis Quintana-Romero & Miguel A. Mendoza-González & José Álvarez-García, 2022. "Analysis of Job Transitions in Mexico with Markov Chains in Discrete Time," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-13, May.
    21. June Alexander & Claire Hutchinson & Greg Carey, 2024. "Empowering Physically Disabled People in Vietnam: A Successful Microenterprise Model," Disabilities, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    self-employment; poverty; labor earnings;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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