Informality, Growth, and Development in Africa

Mbaye, Ahmadou Aly; Benjamín, Nancy

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687114.013.11

Cited by 6 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Fox and Sohnesen (2013) also find that the creation of informal household enterprises is the common resort for non-agricultural employment for those who lack education or who are geographically disadvantaged. Mbaye and Benjamin (2014) point out the role of the urban informal sector in absorbing rural migrants. Another characteristic of the informal sector is the strong female presence: 60% of working women in the developing world are in the informal sector.…”

Section: Inclusion Of Disadvantaged Groupsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Most of the responses in the literature are working definitions, and refer to a spectrum of firm characteristics defining different degrees of informality. One issue facing researchers is that for several variables of interest --the informal sector's weight in the national economy, its role in economic growth and productivity, the impact of the investment climate --the estimations obtained from one study to another can vary greatly depending on the definition used (Mbaye and Benjamin, 2014). A second issue concerns the attempt to define criteria that are relevant to the realities of both developed and developing countries, which actually have strong differences.…”

Section: Concept and Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whatever the criteria used, it is difficult to define the informal sector in a dichotomized manner (Benjamin and Mbaye, 2014). The criteria of size, registration, payment of taxes, etc.…”

Section: B Informality As a Continuum Of Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In their assessment of the main conclusions of studies of informality in Africa, Mbaye and Benjamin (2014) note especially: the dominant share of the informal sector in African economies to a degree that is greater than anywhere else. In sub-Saharan Africa, the informal sector comprises 50-70 percent of total output and 60 to 90 percent of non-farm employment.…”

Section: Recent Studies By Region: Low-income Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This mutual interest in reforms should be exploited, and such collaboration is more likely to succeed than a unilateral push for new tax revenues from the informal sector. (Mbaye and Benjamin, 2014) The main positive contribution of the small informal sector is that it provides employment and incomes and thereby alleviates poverty. But the incomes in the informal sector are generally low and lowproductivity of the small informal sector suggests limited scope for improvement.…”

Section: B West Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Informal Economy and the World Bank

Beegle¹,

Benjamín²,

Recanatini³

et al. 2014

Policy Research Working Papers

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The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

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Section: Inclusion Of Disadvantaged Groupsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Concept and Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whatever the criteria used, it is difficult to define the informal sector in a dichotomized manner (Benjamin and Mbaye, 2014). The criteria of size, registration, payment of taxes, etc.…”

Section: B Informality As a Continuum Of Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Recent Studies By Region: Low-income Countriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B West Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Informal Economy and the World Bank

Beegle¹,

Benjamín²,

Recanatini³

et al. 2014

Policy Research Working Papers

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Leveraging digital technologies to boost productivity in the informal sector in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Nguimkeu

Okou

2021

Review of Policy Research

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In many developed countries, automation has stoked fears of job losses by less-skilled workers. In Sub-Saharan Africa, by contrast, the adoption of low-skill-biased digital technologies complementary to informal workers offers the potential of a poverty-reducing trajectory by enabling productivity and creating more job opportunities. While informality is pervasive in Sub-Saharan African economies, building pathways to full formalization in the region has had limited success to date. Instead of focusing on formalization as an imperative policy goal, more realistic short to medium term policies should leverage low-skill-biased digital technologies to upgrade the skills of workers and enhance the productivity of firms in the informal sector. Moreover, more productive informal firms will likely seek to formalize if they perceive a positive tradeoff with the gains of being formal, arising from a conducive business environment mixing proper regulations, opportunities, and incentives. This paper summarizes what we know on digital technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa, and highlights their role as catalysts for productivity enhancement, job creation, entrepreneurship, access to credit, and financial inclusion in the informal sector. It also documents key challenges faced by governments in harnessing the benefits and risks of digitization for the informal sector and suggests a blueprint to help policymakers in Sub-Saharan Africa address them.

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