IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp5978.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Firm Heterogeneity, Informal Wage and Good Governance

Author

Listed:
  • Kar, Saibal

    (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta)

  • Marjit, Sugata

    (Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta)

Abstract

We provide an analysis of enforcement policies applicable to formal sector in dual labor markets. We use a framework with heterogeneous firms, endogenous determination of informal wage and politically dictated enforcement strategies. Firms which operate both in the formal and informal sectors do very little to increase employment when faced with the opportunity of hiring workers in the informal labor market. Thus enforcement of labor laws and other regulations should not have aggregate employment effects, particularly when workers are productively homogeneous. For firms operating exclusively in the informal sector, the outcome is different. Such features determine the stringency of enforcement in a market characterized by firms with varying levels of productivity. For example, in case of firms with relatively high levels of productivity, enforcement has to be stricter than in the case with relatively low productivity firms. Taxing the more productive seems to be the optimal strategy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kar, Saibal & Marjit, Sugata, 2011. "Firm Heterogeneity, Informal Wage and Good Governance," IZA Discussion Papers 5978, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5978
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp5978.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marjit, Sugata & Ghosh, Sudeep & Biswas, Amit, 2007. "Informality, corruption and trade reform," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 777-789, September.
    2. Marjit, Sugata, 2003. "Economic reform and informal wage--a general equilibrium analysis," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 371-378, October.
    3. Marcouiller, Douglas & Young, Leslie, 1995. "The Black Hole of Graft: The Predatory State and the Informal Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 630-646, June.
    4. Koujianou Goldberg, Pinelopi & Pavcnik, Nina, 2003. "The response of the informal sector to trade liberalization," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 463-496, December.
    5. Elhanan Helpman, 2006. "Trade, FDI, and the Organization of Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(3), pages 589-630, September.
    6. Kanbur, Ravi, 2009. "Conceptualising Informality: Regulation and Enforcement," IZA Discussion Papers 4186, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Sugata Marjit & Vivekananda Mukherjee & Martin Kolmar, 2006. "Poverty, taxation and governance," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 325-333.
    8. Saul Estrin & Tomasz Mickiewicz, 2012. "Shadow Economy and Entrepreneurial Entry," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 559-578, November.
    9. Rauch, James E., 1991. "Modelling the informal sector formally," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 33-47, January.
    10. Esfahani, Hadi Salehi & Mookherjee, Dilip, 1995. "Productivity, contracting modes, and development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 203-231, April.
    11. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    12. Sugata Marjit & Saibal Kar & Hamid Beladi, 2007. "Trade Reform and Informal Wages," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 313-320, May.
    13. Chaudhuri, Sarbajit & Mukhopadhyay, Ujjaini, 2009. "Revisiting the Informal Sector: A General Equilibrium Approach," MPRA Paper 52135, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    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. Elena Podrecca & Gianpaolo Rossini, 2015. "International Factor Mobility, Wages and Prices," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 683-694, August.
    2. 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.
    3. Saibal Kar & Sarmistha Banerjee, 2022. "Pollution Abatement and Production Outsourcing in India," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 83-97, March.
    4. Saibal Kar, 2016. "Do economic reforms hurt or help the informal labor market?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 263-263, June.
    5. Marjit, Sugata & Mishra, Suryaprakash & Mitra, Sandip, 2021. "Tax evasion by tax deferment: Sham litigation with an informal credit market," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    6. Sugata Marjit & Biswajit Mandal, 2016. "International Trade, Migration and Unemployment – The Role of Informal Sector," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 8-22, March.
    7. Marjit, Sugata & Das, Gouranga G., 2023. "Where have all Tech Layoffs gone? A Model of Two Worker Types with Outsourcing," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1338, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    8. Sudeshna Mitra & Kausik Gupta, 2017. "Fragmentation, Skill Formation And International Capital Mobility," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 65(02), pages 335-350, March.
    9. Dutta, Nabamita & Kar, Saibal & Stivers, Adam, 2023. "Does Economic Freedom Moderate Perceived Corruption for Firms in India?," IZA Discussion Papers 16484, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Saibal Kar & Meghna Dutta, 2018. "Outsourcing and Productivity During Economic Crisis: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Firms," Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, , vol. 17(2), pages 168-182, December.
    11. Sugata Marjit & Gouranga G. Das, 2023. "Where Have All Tech Layoffs Gone? A Model of Two Worker Types with Outsourcing," CESifo Working Paper Series 10686, CESifo.
    12. Beladi, Hamid & Dutta, Meghna & Kar, Saibal, 2016. "FDI and Business Internationalization of the Unorganized Sector: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 340-349.
    13. Beladi Hamid & Oladi Reza, 2017. "Technology Diffusion and Trade Liberalization," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 17(2), pages 1-15, April.
    14. Mandal, Biswajit, 2009. "Would Recession Induce More Intermediation in the Corrupt Informal Sector?," MPRA Paper 19930, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 10 Jan 2010.

    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. Marjit, Sugata & Kar, Saibal, 2012. "Informal sector and the developing world: relating theory and evidence to India," MPRA Paper 103445, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Dutta, Nabamita & Kar, Saibal & Roy, Sanjukta, 2013. "Corruption and persistent informality: An empirical investigation for India," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 357-373.
    3. Marjit, Sugata & Mandal, Biswajit, 2010. "Extortion and Informal Sector in a Small Open Economy," MPRA Paper 25044, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Sugata Marjit & Biswajit Mandal, 2016. "International Trade, Migration and Unemployment – The Role of Informal Sector," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 8-22, March.
    5. Saibal KAR & Biswajit MANDAL & Sugata MARJIT & Vivekananda MUKHERJEE, 2020. "Seeking Rent In The Informal Sector," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(1), pages 151-164, March.
    6. Mukherjee, Soumyatanu, 2016. "Technology, trade and ‘urban poor’ in a general equilibrium model with segmented domestic factor markets," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 400-416.
    7. Dennis Becker, 2018. "Heterogeneous firms and informality: the effects of trade liberalization on labour markets," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 70(1), pages 47-72.
    8. Saibal Kar, 2016. "Do economic reforms hurt or help the informal labor market?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 263-263, June.
    9. Heid, Benedikt, 2014. "Preferential Trade Agreements, Unemployment, and the Informal Sector," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100376, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Sugata Marjit & Suryaprakash Mishra, 2021. "Optimum Size of the Informal Credit Market - A Political Economy Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 9252, CESifo.
    11. Marjit, Sugata & Kar, Saibal, 2007. "Labor productivity growth, informal wage and capital mobility: A general equilibrium analysis," MPRA Paper 23912, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2008.
    12. Shrimoyee Ganguly & Rajat Acharyya, 2021. "Trade liberalization, export quality, and three dimensions of wage inequality," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 2157-2179, November.
    13. Maiti, Dibyendu & Bhattacharyya, Chandril, 2020. "Informality, enforcement and growth," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 259-274.
    14. Dibyendu Maiti & Sugata Marjit, 2011. "Subcontracting, R&D And Labour Productivity: A Theoretical Explanation," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1-24, September.
    15. Dibyendu S. Maiti & Arup Mitra, 2010. "Skills, Informality and Development," Working Papers id:3115, eSocialSciences.
    16. Mukherjee, Soumyatanu & Zafar, Sameen, 2014. "Technological progress with segmented factor markets and welfare implications for the urban poor," MPRA Paper 55297, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Beladi, Hamid & Dutta, Meghna & Kar, Saibal, 2016. "FDI and Business Internationalization of the Unorganized Sector: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 340-349.
    18. Timothy McQuade & Stephen Salant & Jason Winfree, 2012. "Regulating an Experience Good Produced in the Formal Sector of a Developing Country when Consumers Cannot Identify Producers," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 512-526, November.
    19. Pablo Acosta & Gabriel Montes-Rojas, 2014. "Informal Jobs and Trade Liberalisation in Argentina," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(8), pages 1104-1118, August.
    20. Nataraj, Shanthi, 2011. "The impact of trade liberalization on productivity: Evidence from India's formal and informal manufacturing sectors," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 292-301.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage; informal labor; heterogeneous firms; labor regulations; enforcement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

    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:iza:izadps:dp5978. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.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.