Reforming and Performing the Informal Economy: Constitutive Effects of the World Bank's Anti-informality Practices in Kosovo

Danielsson, Anna

doi:10.1080/17502977.2015.1137393

Cited by 12 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 45 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…Anecdotal evidence of corruption and informality in post-conflict Kosovo lends credence to this alternative hypothesis (Belloni & Strazzari, 2014;Danielsson, 2016). Capussela (2015, p. 188), for instance, argues that 'patronage in Kosovo primarily takes the form of granting employment in the public sector to groups connected to the factions of the elite, so as to link their future income to the maintenance of power by such factions'.…”

Section: Mining Policy and Politics In Post-conflict Kosovomentioning

confidence: 99%

Election cycles and mining-sector governance in post-conflict Kosovo

Uberti

Pugh

Lami

et al. 2019

Post-Communist Economies

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Political business cycles are typically linked to the manipulation of fiscal or monetary policy instruments. In a recent paper, Imami, Lami and Uberti (ILU, 2018) argue that opportunistic politicians may also choose to manipulate non-fiscal/non-monetary policy instruments. Here, we extend ILU's study using time-series data on mining-sector licensing from post-conflict Kosovo (2001-2018). We find robust evidence that is consistent with electoral opportunism in the allocation of mining permits, despite the checks-and-balance mechanisms introduced by Kosovo's international administrators in an attempt to reduce the politicisation of licensing. That said, the cycle effect is only observed prior to scheduled, as opposed to early, elections. Disaggregating the data by license type, in addition, we find that the observed election cycle is driven primarily by the manipulation of licenses for the mining of construction materials. We argue that, in the context of post-conflict Kosovo, this is the category of licenses whose strategic manipulation offers the greatest pay-off to the incumbent. The results raise some questions about the feasibility of fighting political opportunism (and, relatedly, corruption) by establishing formal check-and-balance mechanisms.

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Section: Mining Policy and Politics In Post-conflict Kosovomentioning

confidence: 99%

Election cycles and mining-sector governance in post-conflict Kosovo

Uberti

Pugh

Lami

et al. 2019

Post-Communist Economies

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“…The “informal economy” is a topical issue in many academic disciplines (e.g. Cling et al , 2014; Polese and Morris, 2015; Danielsson, 2016). In some fields, this marks a recent development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Informal economies and scholastic epistemocentrism: a reflexive rethinking

Danielsson

2017

IJSSP

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine three explanatory perspectives in the academic literature on informal economies that seek to account for agents’ engagement in informal economic practices. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology to interrogate the existing perspectives and to provide a conceptual rethinking of informal economies and informal economic practices. Findings The paper reveals an inherent scholastic epistemocentrism in the established perspectives. By privileging either an objectivist or a subjectivist viewpoint, these accounts do not examine the practical knowledge and logic that constitute agents’ knowledgeable engagement in informal economic practices. By making use of Bourdieu’s thinking tools of “field”, “capital” and “the habitus”, the paper offers a conceptual rethinking of informal economic practices as the product of a dialectic relationship between socially objectivated structures and subjective representations and experiences. Originality/value The paper introduces a reflexive rethinking of informality that draws on but also develops an emergent literature on informal economic practices as relational and context bound.

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“…Despite a long history of formalization policies in the developing countries (Sepulveda and Syrett, 2007), the feasibility of formalizing the informal economy (Chen, 2007) and the benefits of formalization for business sustainability are yet not known (Ramani et al, 2013). As most of the literature on formalization generally focuses on strengthening formal mechanisms and structures that encourage formalization (ILO, 2009), the contextual and nuanced nature of the informal sector in terms of its appeal, its inter-linkages with the formal sector as well as its constraints to formalization is often overlooked (Al-Dajani and Marlow, 2013;Harriss-White, 2017;Danielsson, 2016).…”

Section: Formalization Of Women's Entrepreneurial Activities In the Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Formalizing women entrepreneurs in Kathmandu, Nepal

Karki

Xheneti

2018

IJSSP

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Purpose -Women's economic empowerment through entrepreneurship is increasingly being recognised as significant to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, women entrepreneurship in developing countries is characterised by an overrepresentation in the informal economy and exposure to high levels of gender disparities. The aim of this paper is to explore whether formalization of women's entrepreneurial activities in the informal economy supports SDGs through ensuring empowerment and equality.Design/Methodology/Approach -The research adopts a qualitative research design to explore the empowerment outcomes of the formalization of women's entrepreneurial activities in the informal economy of Kathmandu, Nepal. Data were collected through interviews with 30 women entrepreneurs engaged in a mix of formal and informal entrepreneurial activities.Findings -By using Mayoux's (1998) framework of empowerment at the individual, household and community level, the findings show the variation in empowerment outcomes as a result of women's diverse motivations for engaging in entrepreneurship. Whilst informal entrepreneurial activities improve women's confidence and life aspirations, they have limited potential in lifting women out of poverty and enable them to significantly challenge gender relations in the society. Formalization does further empower women at the household and community level but this is primarily the case of younger and more educated women.Originality/value -The research contributes to the debates on entrepreneurship as 'emancipation' and more specifically, on whether formalization contributes to the SDGs by furthering gender equality and empowerment. Formalization policies need to acknowledge the heterogeneity of women entrepreneurs.

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Reforming and Performing the Informal Economy: Constitutive Effects of the World Bank's Anti-informality Practices in Kosovo

Cited by 12 publications

References 45 publications

Election cycles and mining-sector governance in post-conflict Kosovo

Election cycles and mining-sector governance in post-conflict Kosovo

Informal economies and scholastic epistemocentrism: a reflexive rethinking

Formalizing women entrepreneurs in Kathmandu, Nepal

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