Understanding the Determinants of Economic Informality in Paraguay

Pisani, Michael J.; Rivarola, Fernando G. Ovando

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-24393-7

Cited by 6 publications

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“…While mundane, many businesses begin life informally. In emerging markets, operating informally may be more common than operating formally (Pisani and Ovando Rivarola, ). In developed economies, informal business operations and willing consumers of informal goods (McCrohan and Sugrue, ) may be widespread though they remain a minority of all business entities (Portes, Castells, and Benton, ).…”

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confidence: 99%

Informality and Latino‐Owned Businesses: A National Portrait of Unregistered Latino‐Owned Businesses

Pisani

Morales

2020

Social Science Quarterly

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Objective This study provides the first nationally representative portrait of unregistered (informal) Latino‐owned businesses (LOBs) in the United States. Methods We employ data from the 2018 Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Survey of 4,024 U.S. LOBs. We estimate the determinants of unregistered LOBs through a set of independent variables derived from entrepreneur demographics/firm characteristics utilizing a binomial logistic regression to predict the odds of group membership between (un)registered LOBs. Results Approximately one‐third of LOBs across the United States operate as unregistered enterprises. We find that LOB firm registration is associated with higher levels of education of the entrepreneur and larger size of the LOB. We uncover further links between entrepreneur acculturation and gender, and firm product offering and clientele ethnicity, with firm registration. Conclusion For the first time, we are able to establish a quantitative baseline for informality and firm registration among LOBs using a nationally representative sample.

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Informality and Latino‐Owned Businesses: A National Portrait of Unregistered Latino‐Owned Businesses

Pisani

Morales

2020

Social Science Quarterly

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“…Those economies with the smallest informal sectors are also the most developed (Schneider & Bajada, 2005); hence a prolonged period of real economic growth may be the most effective method of downsizing informality across sectors. In the short term, however, emerging and developing country governments may reduce the enforcement costs and policing problems associated with large informal sectors and actors through a redefinition of the sector based upon a minimum economic floor connected to sales and the number of employees (Pisani & Ovando, 2019). In essence, this policy choice would make currently illegal practices for many, legal for smaller enterprises freeing up scarce government enforcement resources for more critical concerns as well as acknowledging existing and accepted practice.…”

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Challenges to Formality from Formal Firms Behaving Informally: Evidence from Central America

Pisani

2021

Econ. y Admin.

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This research explores the competitive environment for urban formal sector firms competing against peer formal sector firms behaving informally in Central America. Explored is the upper bound of the formal-informal continuum in a regional economic environment of persistent and widespread economic informality where formal firms may employ informal tactics to gain competitive advantage versus their formal competitors. The 2010 World Bank Enterprise Surveys form the basis for empirical analyses. The results suggest formal firms utilizing informal practices is widespread and is influenced by firm maturity, firm location, industry sector, firm legal status, firm organization, ownership composition, regulatory environment, international quality certification, web presence, entry into global markets, and firm size.

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“…Aldashev and Danzer (2020) focus on the returns to Russian and Kazakh languages in Kazakhstan before and after the fall of the Soviet Union in two cities and find mixed language premia and penalties for bilinguals suggesting that in-country regional differences matter. In bilingual Paraguay, households that speak Guaraní at home earn substantially less, have fewer social benefits (including formal sector work), and are less likely to be entrepreneurs, than households that speak Spanish at home (Pisani & Ovando, 2019).…”

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The economic returns to language in Belize: evidence from the 2000 census

Pisani,

Pisani

2023

Econ. y Admin.

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English is the official language of Belize used in the conduct of official government business and as the standard in public education. However, English is not the primary language spoken in Belizean households nor in the conduct of local business transactions. Belize is a polyglot nation inclusive of European-based languages, native languages, and creole languages. In this paper, we demonstrate the economic returns to language acquisition and usage in Belize using census 2000 data. Our results indicate that Belize primarily rewards the ability to communicate in English and Spanish. Other language skills are also important, such as the ability to speak German, to speak Maya and English or Spanish, and the ability to speak in combination Creole-Spanish-English. There is a severe wage penalty associated with the speaking of Maya and Garifuna. Other non-language endogenous and exogenous variables are also explored.

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Understanding the Determinants of Economic Informality in Paraguay

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Informality and Latino‐Owned Businesses: A National Portrait of Unregistered Latino‐Owned Businesses

Informality and Latino‐Owned Businesses: A National Portrait of Unregistered Latino‐Owned Businesses

Challenges to Formality from Formal Firms Behaving Informally: Evidence from Central America

The economic returns to language in Belize: evidence from the 2000 census

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