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The informal economy represents two-thirds of worldwide employment (OECD 2009) and contributes more than 40% of global GDP (Schneider et al. 2010). It is an especially significant feature of urban labour markets in the Global South, having been a persistent phenomenon in all regions, and expanding in the wake of economic growth in Latin America and Asia in recent decades (OECD 2009). Governmental policies toward the informal economy have taken various forms based on several theoretical approaches (Chen et al. 2001, WIEGO 2014). These range from repressive policies that perceive informal entrepreneurship as a drag on economic growth and poverty reduction, to those promoting their legalisation to foster economic development and others encouraging informal workers’ organisation to resist capitalist forms of exploitation. More recently, strongly supportive municipal initiatives have been put in place to increase informal productivity. This study aims to understand the rationality behind, and the impact and limitations of this emerging supportive policy approach aimed at improving the livelihoods of informal entrepreneurs. It analyses these practices using a mixed-methods approach (ethnography complemented with statistical analysis), on the basis of primary data drawn from 97 face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions, together with a randomised questionnaire survey of 906 workers conducted with the collaboration of a team of field assistants across three informal subsectors in Santiago de Chile: waste-pickers, street vendors and home-based enterprises. In light of the evidence, I argue that granting informal entrepreneurs the right to succeed through municipal support effectively promotes the social and economic inclusion of vulnerable populations. Municipal policy support, in the form of training, capitalisation, access to markets and organisation, can be key to speeding up the growth of enterprises otherwise condemned to stagnation or limited expansion. As part and parcel of this argument, I contend that supporting informal entrepreneurs is vital in a situation in which informal entrepreneurship typically becomes a ‘one way street’ in the absence of decent employment alternatives in the lower tiers of the formal economy. My thesis also suggests that understanding formal-informal linkages can benefit from a selective amalgamation of divergent theoretical approaches, as these two markets operate both in integration (as per structuralist and legalist perspectives), a structure commonly described as exploitative, and separately in a parallel network of informal enterprises (as per dualist perspectives), described as a fairer alternative for informal enterprises to trade products. In light of my findings, I offer concrete suggestions for further improving the nature of municipal policies and the necessity for higher-level supportive approaches to fully unlock the informal economy’s potential.
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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'The informal economy'
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Onoshchenko, Olga. "Tackling the informal economy in Ukraine." Thesis, University of Sheffield, 2012. http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2858/.
Weston, Alia. "Creativity in the informal economy of Zimbabwe." Thesis, Kingston University, 2012. http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/24838/.
Mubarak, Marwan M. Mirghani. "Sudan : the urban informal economy and migration." Thesis, University of East Anglia, 2006. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.430702.
Igudia, E. O. "The Nigerian informal economy : a regional analysis." Thesis, Nottingham Trent University, 2014. http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/81/.
Phala, Terrance Madiseng. "Constraints and opportunities in the informal economy." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1019809.
Vuletin, Guillermo Javier. "Essays on capital controls and the informal economy." College Park, Md. : University of Maryland, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1903/7333.
Rossis, Nicholas Michael. "The informal economy in Lebanon : dangers and benefits." Thesis, Durham University, 2011. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/733/.
Tengüz, Alper Selman. "Strategies of the state towards the informal economy." Hamburg Kovač, 2008. http://d-nb.info/995316791/04.
Dyantyi, Unathi Sisikelelwe. "Revitalisation of the informal township economy in Mdantsane." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/15611.
Smith, Collin E. "The underground economy : estimation techniques and policy implications." Thesis, McGill University, 1991. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=60089.
Park, Hyun Kyu. "Empirical analysis of disguised relationships between formal economy firms and informal economy enterprises." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/277907.
Hecker, Paul Simon 1984. "Relações entre a economia informal e as políticas econômicas e sociais no Brasil = Relations between Brazilian economic and social policies and the informal economy." [s.n.], 2011. http://repositorio.unicamp.br/jspui/handle/REPOSIP/286040.
Porto, Selomi Bermeguy, and 92991746348. "Cooperativismo, alternativa ou ilusão?: um estudo de caso com os trabalhadores informais inseridos no ramo alimentício de salgados nos municípios de Tabatinga e Benjamin Constant, Amazonas." Universidade Federal do Amazonas, 2017. https://tede.ufam.edu.br/handle/tede/6452.
Balsky, Tanya. "Efficient measurement of the informal economy in urban areas." CONNECT TO ELECTRONIC THESIS, 2007. http://dspace.wrlc.org/handle/1961/4169.
Lloyd, Ainsley Marie. "THE INFORMAL HOUSING ECONOMY IN CUBA: PROSPECTS FOR PRIVATIZATION." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/192536.
McHugh-Russell, Liam Sean M. "Beyond protection: an informal economy perspective on labour law." Thesis, McGill University, 2014. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=121466.
Bühn, Andreas. "Informal Economic Activities." Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2010. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-39326.
Kahyalar, Neslihan. "Three empirical essays on the informal economy : the Turkish case." Thesis, Swansea University, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.678357.
Adamu, Nenadi. "Young people and the informal economy : understanding their pathways and decision-making within the economy." Thesis, University of Bedfordshire, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10547/621890.
Bashe, Akhona Carol. "The formalization of the informal sector economy : Panacea or Chimera?" Diss., University of Pretoria, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/23264.
Crawford, Seth. "The Political Economy of Medical Marijuana." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/12986.
Sampaio, José Filipe Leite. "A Economia Informal na perspectiva do IRS." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/6591.
Ishihara, Satoshi. "The informal economy of Kibera, Kenya : the study of the interplay between culture and political economy." Thesis, SOAS, University of London, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.407917.
Kim, Jundong. "The underground economy, political regimes, and economic growth : international evidence /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 2001. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p3025630.
Balkin, Steven, Alfonso Morales, and Joseph Persky. "Utilizing the Informal Economy: The Case of Chicago's Maxwell Street Market." University of Arizona, Mexican American Studies and Research Center, 1994. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/219191.
Monge, Zegarra Alvaro Germán. "The demand side of the shadow economy : essays on informal consumption." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2015. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/54511/.
Thieme, Tatiana Adeline. "Trash and toilets : 'hustling' and the informal economy in Mathare, Kenya." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.619035.
Ofori, Benjamin O. "The Urban Street Commons Problem: Spatial Regulation in the Urban Informal Economy." Ohio : Ohio University, 2007. http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?ohiou1180940316.
Rogers, Lesley A. "The role of the informal economy in community based economic development : the local exchange trading system example." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42008.
Tika, Ali Abduallah. "The role of the informal economy in Libya's development: A case study of the informal food sector in Misrata." University of the Western Cape, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/5852.
Morales, Piñero Jesús Enrique. "Essays on Macroeconomic Theory: Technology Adoption, the Informal Economy, and Monetary Policy." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/4074.
Sarmistha, Uma. "Ties that bind : a study of the rural informal economy in India." Thesis, Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/1687.
High, Mette Marie. "Dangerous fortunes : wealth and patriarchy in the Mongolian informal gold mining economy." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2008. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.612381.
Paviera, Carmelo. "Three studies on institutional entrepreneurship in the informal economy : a grounded theory approach." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/31448.
Shale, Moliehi Thuto. "Resilience and risk in the informal economy: a study in the regulation of flooding." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16925.
Jones, Daniel Edward. "Power of the informal : smallholder charcoal production in Mozambique." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/23654.
Iosifides, Theodoros. "Recent foreign immigration and the labour market in Athens." Thesis, University of Sussex, 1997. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.360526.
Tuc, Mis Sine. "Informal Sector Wage Gap In Turkey." Master's thesis, METU, 2011. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613741/index.pdf.
Chivangue, Andes Adriano. "Mukhero em Moçambique : Análise das Lógicas e Práticas do Comércio Informal." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/4620.
Navarrete-Hernández, Pablo. "From survival to social mobility : supporting the informal economy in Santiago de Chile." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2017. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3643/.
Sakai, Roberta Yoshie. "A ocupação da área central pelo comércio ambulante: negociações e produção do espaço urbano." Universidade de São Paulo, 2011. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/18/18142/tde-27082012-163631/.
Kockel, Ulrich. "Political economy, everyday culture and change : a case study of informal economy and regional development in the West of Ireland." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.303140.
Timm, Suzall. "Modalities of regulation In the informal economy: a study of waste collectors in Cape Town." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16789.
Smith, Marquin E. "Social justice vulnerabilities and marginalised communities: A case study of day labourers in Mbekweni." University of Western Cape, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7686.
Duncan, Charleen Lucille. "Townships to CBD: The project of ten informal traders in the formal economy of Cape Town, Western Cape." University of the Western Cape, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/7261.
Akiyode, Akolade. "Spaces of the informal economy : reimagining street trading through accessibility distribution analyses in Lagos." Thesis, Cardiff University, 2017. http://orca.cf.ac.uk/109875/.
Young, Graeme William. "Informal vending and the state in Kampala, Uganda." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/274999.
Phalane, Manthiba Mary. "Gender, structural adjustment and informal economy sector trade in Africa : A case study of women workers in the informal sector of North West Province, South Africa." Thesis, University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus), 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10386/608.
Nóbrega, Ricardo André Avelar da. "Os limites da flexibilização e informalidade na produção e trabalho contemporâneos: imigração laboral boliviana e a indústria de vestuário de São Paulo." Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 2013. http://www.bdtd.uerj.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=8649.
Costa, Marisa Lúcia da. "Pobreza e resiliência: contributo para o estudo sobre os efeitos do trabalho das Zungueiras de Benguela na economia familiar." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/12776.
2024 represents tough times in Mzansi’s informal economy, finds new report. Image: File
2024 represents tough times in Mzansi’s informal economy – report
New report finds citizens participating in Mzansi’s informal economy are battling to access even basic necessities. Here are the stats …
Defined narrowly as citizens who don’t pay tax to the South African Revenue Service (SARS) , Mzansi’s informal economy is really struggling in 2024. According to TimesLive , half of adult South Africans in Mzansi’s informal economy are struggling to afford basics like food and electricity.
Of course, this gap will only worsen with Eskom’s recent 12.8% tariff hikes , and the fact that South African Social Security Agency grants are not keeping pace with inflation. The South African recently reported that consumer inflation in 2024 sits at roughly 6% and is therefore outpacing SASSA grant increases of just 4.8% .
MZANSI’S INFORMAL ECONOMY IN 2024
Now, a new report by FinMark Trust reveals the pressing financial challenges of those in Mzansi’s informal economy. In 2024 there are fewer jobs and the number of low-income earners is only increasing .
- 40% of adults are resorting to borrowing money to buy food
- 20-million adults have gone without electricity because they cannot afford it.
Living expenses (groceries, energy, transportation and communication) account for 85% of monthly income:
- Groceries – 30.4% .
- Energy – 11.5% .
- Transportation – 9.1% .
- Communication – 8.8% .
- Home maintenance, rental and rates – 8.5% .
WORRYING FIGURES
Jabulani Khumalo, senior data and analytics specialist at FinMark Trust says it is ‘highly burdensome’ that more than 10% of household income goes towards energy. Therefore, two out of every five individuals reported their homes were without electricity this year.
Moreover, people stuck in Mzansi’s informal economy are relying on credit to pay bills:
- 35% are active credit consumers (15.6-million individuals).
- 40% of these people are borrowing money just to purchase food.
- In 20 years, Mzansi’s labour force has shrunk from 47% (2003) to 39% in 2023.
- Mzansi’s informal economy has seen a decrease in employment from 32% (2003) to 20% in 2023.
- This off-the-books sector accounts for 19% of Mzansi’s total adult population.
- Citizens earn, on average, a personal monthly income of R4 199 , outpacing national minimum wage.
- Moreover, the number of individuals receiving SASSA grants has increased from 10 million (37%) in 2003 to 28 million (68%) in 2023.
NO RETIREMENT PLANS
Out of approximately 30-million adults in South Africa, 86% do not have a retirement plan or savings of any sort. Therefore, the uptake of medical assistance and retirement products has decreased from 17% to 12% in the last 20 years. Of which, funeral insurance continues to be the most popular type of insurance. 48% of the adult population hold such a policy.
NEXT READ: Minister announces amended SASSA social grants
Are you a member in Mzansi’s informal economy and are things as difficult as this report makes out? Be sure to share your thoughts with our audience in the comments section below. And don’t forget to follow us @TheSANews on X and The South African on Facebook for the latest updates.
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Informal economy (IE) encompasses a huge diversity of phenomena that vary in composition and size within economies and across regions. Although estimating the size of informality is challenging, there is a wide consensus that the IE is the most important source of employment in developing countries and it also has a significant role in ...
1 INTRODUCTION. The informal sector has wide-ranging impacts on the economic and social development of developing and less developed countries and it has become a central issue in development discourses (Arvin-Rad et al., 2010; Elbahnasawy et al., 2016; La Porta & Shleifer, 2014).The informal economy that comprises small and medium enterprises and relates to economic activities outside of ...
Millions of the country's population that use the informal economy as a livelihood strategy struggled to sustain their livelihoods because of COVID-19 as per figure 1. Cities, towns and business ...
The paper concludes that informal economy in developing countries should be analyzed as social and historical processes rather than a sector that emerges as a result of crisis. What is needed is a ...
This paper proposes a framework for measuring the informal economy that is consistent with internationally agreed concepts and methodology for measuring GDP. Based on the proposed framework, the informal economy "comprises production of informal sector units, production of goods for own final use, production of domestic workers, and production generated by informal employment in formal ...
This article reviews the economic literature on informality, its causes, and its consequences for development. It covers a comprehensive body of research that ranges from well-identified experimental studies to equilibrium macro models, and which more recently includes structural models that integrate both micro and macro effects. The results available in the literature indicate that lowering ...
the informal economy sector in South Africa constitutes the fulcrum of LED, and the overall economy of local communities. This is particularly important because the informal economy accounts for 18 percent of the employed population of South Africa. For instance, the street trading sector exclusively ensures that more than an
The informal economic sector needs to be better integrated and managed into the urban economy rather than efforts to reform it. The lesson from the actions of informal workers and reaction of the government of Ghana reveals that the government could have lessened the socio-economic impact of the pandemic if informal workers had a better social ...
1. Introduction. The issue of taxation of the 'informal economy' Footnote 1 in developing and transition countries has received increasing attention in recent years. This paper seeks to review existing debates, draw attention to new thinking about whether and how to strengthen informal sector taxation, and highlight recent innovations and efforts from a state-oriented perspective.
The informal economy represents two-thirds of worldwide employment (OECD 2009) and contributes more than 40% of global GDP (Schneider et al. 2010). It is an especially significant feature of urban labour markets in the Global South, having been a persistent phenomenon in all regions, and expanding in the wake of economic growth in Latin America and Asia in recent decades (OECD 2009).
The informal economy, comprising activities that have market value and would add to tax revenue and GDP if they were recorded, is a globally widespread phenomenon. According to the International Labour Organization, about 2 billion workers, or 60 percent of the world's employed population ages 15 and older, spend at least part of their time ...
The size of the informal economy in the early 2000s is found to vary considerably—from a low of around 15 percent of measured GDP for The Bahamas to a high of over 70 percent of measured GDP for Paraguay. The relative contribution of each underlying factor to the overall size of the informal economy is also estimated for each country.
Measurement of the informal economy can be undertaken through direct as well as indirect methods. The former uses voluntary survey of visibly non-regulated economic agents and tax audit reports which seek to assess differentials in declared and actual income. Examples of the latter method are the monetary approach to informal economy
Informal sector or economy, sometimes also titled shadow, hidden, black, parallel, second or underground economy (or sector) is de ned by Hart (2008) as a set of economic activities that takes place outside the framework of bureaucratic public and private sector establish-
Women in the informal economy: Precarious labour in South Africa . Makoma Mabilo . Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Political Science) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University . Supervisor: Prof. A. Gouws .
In this paper MIMIC model is applied to study the size and causes of informal economy in Ethiopia and it covered from 1980 to 2016. This study tried to estimate the size of informal economy in Ethiopia and analyze what caused it to exist and expand. Informal economy in Ethiopia is very high and the average size of it is 43.3%. The highest
Honors International Economics Thesis 5.3.13 Abstract: Building on previously existing literature relating to the impact of legal structure on a country's economy, this paper looks at how the distinction of common versus civil law tradition ... the informal economy is framed as the result of being forced out of the formal sector, due to
Abstract and Figures. Despite availability of ample empirical evidence regarding the role the urban informal sector plays in the economy of low income households in developing countries in general ...
Women in the Informal Economy. This brief examines a range of governance experiments from emerging countries: covering both top-down and bottom-up initiatives for women's empowerment in the informal economy. It also considers ways to improve the sustainability of women-owned businesses in the informal sector.
Majority of informal economy workers across the globe are women (Tinuke, Citation 2012). ... Their thesis espouses that "society has a false belief that women are by nature less intellectually and physically capable than men" (Tong, Citation 2009). The angle this approach takes, seems to appreciate the value and potentials of women and ...
The thesis, Gender, Structural Adjustment and Informal Economy Sector Trade in Africa: A Case Study of Women Workers in the Informal Sector of North West Province, South Africa, comprises of five chapters{PRIVATE } CHAPTER 1 is mainly introductory and deals specifically with the general orientation of the study as outlined in the background and ...
Objective 2: To determine the nature and extent of the informal economy in Zimbabwe. This objective was reached through consulting literature in Chapter 2 (sub-section 2.5) and the empirical study in Chapter 3 (sub-section 3.7). The key findings derived are presented below:
Abstract: After more than two decades of democracy, South Africa is still faced with challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality. The informal sector is one that presents opportunities for making a positive contribution towards solving social problems that South Africa is faced with. While the informal sector is large and offers ...
Mzansi's informal economy has seen a decrease in employment from 32% (2003) to 20% in 2023. This off-the-books sector accounts for 19% of Mzansi's total adult population.