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“Determinants of Micro Firm Informality in Mexican States 2008-2012”

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  • Antonio Baez-Morales

    () (Department of Econometrics. University of Barcelona)

Abstract

Informality has been given adverse associations as a result of its economic and social consequences in developed and developing countries. The latter group of countries has been the most affected in terms of low productivity, unprotected workers and the erosion of institutional credibility. Although the determinants of informality have been studied before, the research conducted on micro firms in a developing country has been less notable. In this paper, Mexico is taken as case study due to its high level of micro firm informality and the heterogeneity among Mexican states. The aim of this paper is to analyse the determinants of micro firm informality by state, using different public sources, such as the Encuesta Nacional de Micronegocios (ENAMIN, or the National Micro Firm Survey), the Instituto Nacional de Estadisica (INEGI, or the National Institute for Statistics) and the Secretaría de Economía (SE, or the Secretariat for Economics). Econometric panel data models were estimated for a sample of 32 states over the 2008-2012 period. Furthermore, this paper uses different definitions of informality to check the robustness of the results. The empirical evidence obtained allows us to conclude that, although economic factors are the main causes of informality, variables such as corruption and education have an important role to play.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Baez-Morales, 2015. "“Determinants of Micro Firm Informality in Mexican States 2008-2012”," AQR Working Papers 201509, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised Apr 2015.
    • Handle: RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201509
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Sean Dougherty & Octavio Escobar, 2013. "The Determinants of Informality in Mexico's States," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1043, OECD Publishing.
    2. Áureo de Paula & Jose A. Scheinkman, 2010. "Value-Added Taxes, Chain Effects, and Informality," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 195-221, October.
    3. Baltagi, Badi H & Griffin, James M, 1984. "Short and Long Run Effects in Pooled Models," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 25(3), pages 631-645, October.
    4. Michael J. Pisani & José A. Pagán, 2004. "Sectoral Selection and Informality: a Nicaraguan Case Study," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(4), pages 541-556, November.
    5. Gemechu Ayana Aga & Barry Reilly, 2011. "Access to credit and informality among micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 313-329.
    6. Melanie Khamis, 2012. "A Note On Informality In The Labour Market," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(7), pages 894-908, October.
    7. Aureo de Paula & Jose A. Scheinkman, 2009. "“Value Added Taxes, Chain Effects and Informality†, Second Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 09-041, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 09 Nov 2009.
    8. Sonia Di Giannatale & Gibrán Ramírez-Abarca & Ricardo Smith, 2013. "Estimating the Effects of Formality on Mexican Informal Microfirms. A Joint Multivariate Approach," Economía Mexicana NUEVA ÉPOCA, , vol. 0(4, Cierre), pages 441-463.
    9. Nicola Brandt, 2011. "Informality in Mexico," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 896, OECD Publishing.
    10. Masatlioglu Yusufcan & Rigolini Jamele, 2008. "Informality Traps," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-24, December.
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    Keywords

    Business surveys; microenterprises; informal economy; entrepreneurship; developing countries; institutions. JEL classification: E26; O17; L26;

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