Work and Wellbeing in Informal Economies: The Regulative Roles of Institutions of Identity and the State

Harriss‐White, Barbara

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2009.10.011

Cited by 101 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Meanwhile, Harris-white argued that in understanding informality, what matters are the boundaries where state regulation starts and ends and not necessarily the intrinsic characteristics of activities but rather the boundaries of state regulation, that determine the degree of informality [18]. As such, Harris-white distinguishes between two kinds of informality; the first one consists of firms that are minimally or completely not registered and fall below a particular country's taxation threshold or labour regulation, something he calls Small-Scale Informality (SSI).…”

Section: Informality: From Theory To Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Harris-white further argues that this type of informality is highly differentiated, consisting of the self-employed and wage workers, of which some act entrepreneurially and make savings while others eke out survival under conditions of distress. The second type of informality identified by Harris-White takes place in and around firms that are registered but it is outside the ambit of formal regulation [18]. This involves firms that ignore formal laws.…”

Section: Informality: From Theory To Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Amidst conflicting conceptions, this paper adopts the concept of 'informality' to mean the larger part of the economy which is unregistered and lies outside the regulative control of the state focusing on "selfemployment in unregistered or unincorporated small enterprises" [18]. Therefore, what can be observed in the conceptualization of informality is the existence of SMEs.…”

Section: Informality: From Theory To Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Urban Informality and Small Scale Enterprise (SME) Development in Zambia: An Exploration of Theory and Practice

Mubita¹,

Munalula²,

Mundia³

et al. 2017

JBE

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This paper describes the evolution, dynamics and challenges of SMEs in Zambia's informal economy. It also investigates the various government initiatives towards the promotion and development of Small-Scale Enterprises and their associated challenges. Additionally, it focuses on how entrepreneurs find 'room to maneuver' despite the challenges that they face while operating in the informal economy. The paper employed desk review methodology involving a review of secondary data which was qualitatively analysed. Situated within the Informalisation approach, the paper reveals that the process of informality in urban areas in Zambia was mainly driven by the implementation of Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) in the early 1990s. Thus, the changing political, economic and social arrangements following the implementation of SAPs with their associated effects such as increased poverty, destitution and reduced formal sector employment led to the growth of SMEs and the urban informal economy as people sought other sources of livelihoods. The paper also shows that informal SMEs in Zambia are heterogeneous, dealing with the production of goods and services whose prime objective is employment creation and the generation of income to individuals concerned. Though diverse, economic activities of SMEs are mainly distributed around the traditional economic sectors that rely on the use of low technology and social networks; whose orientation is towards the local and less prosperous segments of the market. Some of the challenges that SMEs in Zambia face include; financial, market and infrastructure constraints. Furthermore, SMEs also lack access to information; adequate management, entrepreneurial and technical skills. As a result, there have been government policy related efforts attempting to assist Small-Scale Enterprises such as through the Small Industries Development Act, The Commercial, Trade and Industrial Policy, Small Enterprises Development Act, and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Policy. These aim(ed) at providing infrastructure, business development support services, training, capacity building through entrepreneurship development and access to finance, markets among others. However, government efforts have been hampered by challenges that include among them; corruption, lack of coordination, poor targeting, funding instability, lack of implementation systems and political interference. Despite inadequacies in government efforts, Small-Scale Enterprises have continued to function through the use of other means such as relying on social networks, collective means through local associations and cooperation as well as through the establishment of informal networks with politicians.

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Section: Informality: From Theory To Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Informality: From Theory To Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Informality: From Theory To Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Urban Informality and Small Scale Enterprise (SME) Development in Zambia: An Exploration of Theory and Practice

Mubita¹,

Munalula²,

Mundia³

et al. 2017

JBE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There may also be significant holes in social safety nets based on informal institutions (Casson et al, 2010;Harriss-White, 2010). Many empirical studies have found that certain subpopulations -commonly including the poorest households or discriminated groups -are often excluded from informal insurance networks and there is limited, if any, risk pooling with others in their community (Dercon, 2005;Morduch, 2006;Amoukou and Wautelet, 2007;Msuya et al, 2007).…”

Section: Vulnerabilities Adaptive Capacities and Social Protectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Securing Livelihoods in Africa: Towards Multi-scalar Policy Frameworks

Lapeyre

2013

Eur J Dev Res

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In a context marked by growing informal employment and acute vulnerabilities, breaking out of informality is increasingly seen as a major development challenge in Africa. This article analyses the adaptive capacities of informal economy actors. It emphasizes the need to explore crossscale influences on adaptive capacities to secure and improve livelihoods. The adaptability of the informal economy can be influenced by factors such as the macroeconomic context, access to financial, technological and information resources, infrastructure, social protection schemes and the institutional environment within which adaptations occur. This article provides a critical review of current policy debate on the informal economy and stresses the need to reformulate questions of policy intervention in a way that expands informal economy actors' options for securing livelihoods rather than constrain them.Dans un contexte marque´par une informalisation massive de l'emploi et des vulne´rabilite´s croissantes, la question de la sortie de l'informalite´s'affirme comme un de´fi majeur pour le de´veloppe-ment de l'Afrique. Cet article analyse les capacite´s adaptatives des acteurs de l'e´conomie informelle. Il insiste sur la ne´cessite´de prendre en compte les influences des diffe´rents niveaux -local, re´gional, national et global -sur ces capacite´s afin de se´curiser et d'ame´liorer les conditions de vie. Ces capacite´s adaptatives peuvent eˆtre affecte´es par le contexte macroe´conomique, l'acce`s aux ressources financie`res, aux technologies et a`l'information, les infrastructures, les syste`mes de protection sociale et l'environnement institutionnel dans le cadre desquels les adaptations prennent place. L'article pre´sente une analyse critique du de´bat sur l'e´conomie informelle. Il met en avant le besoin de reformuler cette question de l'intervention des politiques publiques a`partir d'une perspective base´e sur la re´alite´des pratiques dans l'e´conomie informelle et le dialogue social. Ce changement de regard implique de mieux comprendre comment les politiques de de´veloppement peuvent renforcer les capacite´s des acteurs de l'e´conomie informelle a`se´curiser leurs conditions de vie plutoˆt que de les contraindre.

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“…and 15 percentage points higher, respectively, than for the rest of the population in -2010(Himanshu and Sen 2013, and SC and ST households are much more likely to face barriers to access to credit and human capital acquisition and are less likely to be owners/managers of non-family firms than other social groups (Thorat and Newman 2010). Thus, districts with high SC/ST presence are less likely to see the mobility of family firms to non-family firms.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving out of the bottom of the economy? Constraints to firm transition in the Indian informal manufacturing sector

Raj

Sen

2016

IZA J Labor Develop

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The predominant type of firms in developing countries is small family firms and the self-employed in the informal sector. Very few family firms make the transition to larger firms employing non-family labour. In this paper, we examine the reasons for the low presence of firms employing non-family labour in the informal sector, using a firm-level data set drawn from nationally representative repeated cross-sectional surveys of the Indian informal manufacturing sector. We find that the key constraint to firm transition is firm capabilities, followed by the level of urbanisation, access to electricity and roads, and human capital, with financial constraints playing a lesser role. JEL codes: O17, L25, D22

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Work and Wellbeing in Informal Economies: The Regulative Roles of Institutions of Identity and the State

Cited by 101 publications

References 15 publications

Urban Informality and Small Scale Enterprise (SME) Development in Zambia: An Exploration of Theory and Practice

Urban Informality and Small Scale Enterprise (SME) Development in Zambia: An Exploration of Theory and Practice

Securing Livelihoods in Africa: Towards Multi-scalar Policy Frameworks

Moving out of the bottom of the economy? Constraints to firm transition in the Indian informal manufacturing sector

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