IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jintdv/v12y2000i8p1069-1085.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Coping strategies in developed and developing societies: the workings of the informal economy

Author

Listed:
  • Madeleine Leonard

    (Dept of Sociology and Social Policy, Queen's University of Belfast, UK)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the persistence and significance of informal economic activity in both the developed and developing world. Drawing on empirical work carried out in Belfast, the paper suggests that many similarities exist between the informal economic activities of people on low incomes in Belfast and the poor in developing countries. The paper illustrates these connections through an examination of three aspects of the informal economy: reciprocity between households, informal self-employment and informal paid employment. By examining the variety of ways in which people at the lower end of the economic scale attempt to secure their economic livelihoods in the absence of formal employment opportunities, the paper demonstrates the global nature of the informal economy. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Madeleine Leonard, 2000. "Coping strategies in developed and developing societies: the workings of the informal economy," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(8), pages 1069-1085.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:12:y:2000:i:8:p:1069-1085
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.696
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/jid.696
    File Function: Link to full text; subscription required
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/jid.696?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Helzi Noponen, 1991. "The Dynamics of Work and Survival for the Urban Poor: A Gender Analysis of Panel Data from Madras," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 233-260, April.
    2. Cole, William E. & Fayissa, Bichaka, 1991. "The urban subsistence labor force: Toward a policy-oriented and empirically accessible taxonomy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 779-789, July.
    3. Portes, Alejandro & Blitzer, Silvia & Curtis, John, 1986. "The urban informal sector in Uruguay: Its internal structure, characteristics, and effects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 14(6), pages 727-741, June.
    4. Assaad, Ragui, 1993. "Formal and informal institutions in the labor market, with applications to the construction sector in Egypt," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 925-939, June.
    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. Graham Tipple, 2006. "Employment and work conditions in home-based enterprises in four developing countries: do they constitute ‘decent work’?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 20(1), pages 167-179, March.
    2. Ashley Gunter & Kenneth Manuel, 2016. "A role for housing in development: Using housing as a catalyst for development in South Africa," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 31(1-2), pages 312-321, February.
    3. Tilman Brück, 2003. "Coping Strategies in Post-War Rural Mozambique," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 384, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. N. S. Chiteji, 2002. "Promises kept: enforcement and the role of rotating savings and credit associations in an economy," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 14(4), pages 393-411.

    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. Pius B. Simon, 1998. "Informal Responses to Crises of Urban Employment: An Investigation into the Structure and Relevance of Small-scale Informal Retailing in Kaduna, Nigeria," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 547-557, August.
    2. Lay, Jann & Wiebelt, Manfred, 2001. "Towards a dual education system - a labour market perspective on poverty reduction in Bolivia," Kiel Working Papers 1073, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Yasir Khan & Attiya Yasmin Javid, 2015. "The Impact of Formal and Informal Institutions on Economic Performance: A Cross-Country Analysis," PIDE-Working Papers 2015:130, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
    4. Milan Žák & Petr Vymětal, 2006. "Institucionální aspekty nové komparativní ekonomie: ČR a EU [Institutional aspects of new comparative economy: Czech republic and European union]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2006(5), pages 583-609.
    5. Osman, Adam & Speer, Jamin D. & Weaver, Andrew, 2022. "Connections, Referrals, and Hiring Outcomes: Evidence from an Egyptian Establishment Survey," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 342-355.
    6. Garrett, James, 2004. "Living life," FCND discussion papers 171, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Assaad, Ragui & Tunali, Insan, 2002. "Wage formation and recurrent unemployment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 17-61, February.
    8. Henley, Andrew & Arabsheibani, G. Reza & Carneiro, Francisco G., 2009. "On Defining and Measuring the Informal Sector: Evidence from Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 992-1003, May.
    9. Haddad, Lawrence James & Peña, Christine & Nishida, Chizuru & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Slack, Alison T., 1996. "Food security and nutrition implications of intrahousehold bias," FCND discussion papers 19, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Caroline Krafft & Ragui Assaad, 2018. "Do More Productive Firms Pay Workers More? Evidence from Egypt," Working Papers 1222, Economic Research Forum, revised 18 Sep 2018.
    11. Chandra, Amanda Jennifer & Diehl, Jessica Ann, 2019. "Urban agriculture, food security, and development policies in Jakarta: A case study of farming communities at Kalideres – Cengkareng district, West Jakarta," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Alberto Chong & Mark Gradstein, 2004. "Desigualdad, instituciones e informalidad," Research Department Publications 4378, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    13. Haouas, Ilham & Heshmati, Almas, 2015. "The Impact of Arab Spring on Hiring and Separation Rates in the Tunisian Labour Market," IZA Discussion Papers 8809, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Henley, Andrew & Arabsheibani, Reza & Carneiro, Francisco G., 2006. "On Defining and Measuring the Informal Sector," IZA Discussion Papers 2473, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Proeger Till & Rupieper Li Kathrin, 2019. "Asymmetrische Information auf dem Handwerksmarkt – eine qualitative Analyse," Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 68(2), pages 149-182, August.
    16. Petr Vymětal & Milan Žák, 2005. "Instituce a výkonnost [Institutions and performance]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2005(4), pages 545-566.
    17. Vanderstraeten, Johanna & van Witteloostuijn, Arjen & Matthyssens, Paul, 2020. "Organizational sponsorship and service co-development: A contingency view on service co-development directiveness of business incubators," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    18. Rupieper, Li Kathrin & Proeger, Till, 2018. "Asymmetrische Information auf dem Handwerksmarkt – eine qualitative Analyse," ifh Working Papers 15/2018, Volkswirtschaftliches Institut für Mittelstand und Handwerk an der Universität Göttingen (ifh).
    19. Clement, Floriane & Ishaq, Saba & Samad, Madar & Acharya, N. Sreedhar & Radha, A. Venkata & Haileslassie, A. & Blummel, M. & Dey, A. & Khan, M. A. & Shindey, D. N. & Mit, R., 2010. "Improving water productivity, reducing poverty and enhancing equity in mixed crop-livestock systems in the Indo-Gangetic Basin: CPWF project report 68," IWMI Research Reports H043549, International Water Management Institute.
    20. Takao FUKUCHI, 1998. "A Simulation Analysis Of The Urban Informal Sector," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 36(3), pages 225-256, September.

    More about this item

    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:wly:jintdv:v:12:y:2000:i:8:p:1069-1085. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/5102/home .

    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.