中国非正规部门指数的设计与测算——兼论非正规部门与经济增长关系

文章基于2008版国民经济核算体系新框架,利用统计指数理论和综合评价技术从投资、消费、就业、金融四个方面设计并测算我国非正规部门指数。在此基础上,探讨了非正规部门与经济增长的内在联系。研究结果显示,我国非正规部门年均增长快于同期经济增长;非正规部门的"低抗风险性、低政府规制"的特征增加了非正规部门增长的不稳定性;非正规部门与经济增长之间存在协整关系,不论从长期还是短期看,当期非正规部门与经济增长均存在正向关系,但影响程度较弱。     

Trade liberalization,production organization and informal sector of the developing countries

The paper provides an explanation of recent empirical evidence on fragmentation and the expansion of the informal sector in India. We argue that as the prospect of getting a better price in the international market increases, the producers in the formal sector act more like merchants and subcontract production activities to the producers in the informal sectors. Expanding production in the informal sector allows the firm to take advantage of a growing export market. Our theoretical model explains such organizational change in terms of allocation of monitoring effort between marketing and production. The existence of a low-wage informal sector facilitates division of labor and specialization in the formal segment.     

Young Entrepreneurs in the Mobile Telephony Sector in Ghana: From Necessities to Aspirations

Despite increasing research interest in the mobile telephony sector, only a few studies have devoted attention to informal businesses in the sector. Using qualitative field data collected on young mobile telephony entrepreneurs in Accra, this paper argues that despite the businesses being ‘informal’, they cannot be dismissed as ‘necessity’ enterprises unworthy of support. On the contrary, many young entrepreneurs have aspirations which are influencing their desire to stay in business. The article thus questions the bifurcated nature of entrepreneurial motivations, using the burgeoning mobile telephony sector as a case study, and draws out implications for policy support for youth-run businesses in the informal sector generally.     

试论非正规就业对完善城市社会保障制度的影响

经济转型期间 ,我国城市劳动力市场处于分割状态 ,城市存在正规和非正规两大部门 ,非正规就业因此产生。由于体制性原因和经济性原因 ,非正规就业在我国将长期存在。但是 ,非正规就业者的社会保障权益却普遍缺失。从多方面分析了在城市劳动力市场长期分割的背景下 ,非正规就业对完善城市社会保障制度的影响     

Trade liberalization and informality nexus: Evidence from Pakistan

This study investigates the impact of trade openness on informal sector employment during the drastic 1988s trade reforms of Pakistan. It is generally perceived that increased external competition in less developed countries results in as an expansion in informal sector, which has less compliance with labor market regulations. Using micro-level data of Pakistan, we study the adjustments in the employment of informal sector due to trade openness. We find that informality and trade openness are associated. In Pakistan, trade reforms have given rise to employment in the informal sector. Our findings are robust to different trade-related measures. A substantial flexibility in labor market is required to benefit from the gains of liberalization.     

Safety of motorized two-wheeler riders in the formal and informal transport sector

Abstract

Road fatalities are largely preventable problem with large socioeconomic impact. Due to the rapidly increasing population, transport systems and road infrastructure have not met the demand. The use of motorized two-wheeler vehicles has increased, as informal transport. However, evidence on their safety is scarce. The aim of this article is to examine the safety and social equity issues in MTW in the informal transport sector. Factors can be used to explain traffic collisions in MTW in the formal/informal transport sectors: design, rider behavior, road design, enforcement, and regulation of the informal transport sector. Evidence suggests that MTWs could be a common related to pedestrian fatalities. Informal transport drivers are typically poor, uneducated, young men who due to lack of other employment options move into the informal sector. Their vehicles are old, unmaintained and have a lack of protective equipment for themselves and their passengers. Young, male drivers speed, take risks and not use protective equipment. Users of informal transport live in the poorer peripheries of cities, which, have limited, inefficient or unaffordable public transport. The provision of transport has therefore become an often unrecognized, important social equity issue and studies are urgently needed on MTW in the informal transport sector.     

Foreign Wage Premium,Gender and Education: Insights from Vietnam Household Surveys

This paper investigates the differential impacts of foreign ownership on wages for different types of workers (in terms of educational background and gender) in Vietnam using the Vietnam Household Living Standards Surveys of 2002 and 2004. Whereas most previous studies have compared wage levels between foreign and domestic sectors using firm‐level data (thus excluding the informal sector), one advantage of using the Living Standards Surveys in this paper is that the data allow wage comparison analyses to extend to the informal wage sector. A series of Mincerian earnings equations and worker‐specific fixed effects models are estimated. Several findings emerge. First, foreign firms pay higher wages relative to their domestic counterparts after controlling for workers' personal characteristics. Second, the higher the individual workers' levels of education, the larger on average are the wage premiums for those who work for foreign firms. Third, longer hours of work in foreign firm jobs relative to working in the informal wage sector are an important component of the wage premium. Finally, unskilled women experience a larger foreign wage premium than unskilled men, reflecting the low earning opportunities for women and a higher gender gap in the informal wage sector.     

Financial services spillover effects on informal economic activity: evidence from a panel of 20 European countries

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the spillover effects of the financial services sector development on the size of informal economic activity in the case of the European Union (EU) countries. The results from panel data analysis show that there exists an inverted U-shaped relationship between financial services and informal economic activity in the EU; that is, at the initial levels of the financial development, the reaction of informal economic activity is positive while it becomes negative at the further stages of the financial development in the EU. Thus, this study finds that financial services sector is a major contributor to changes in the volume of informal economic activity in the EU countries.     

Liability of informality and firm participation in global value chains

Building on imprinting theory, we formalize the construct ‘liability of informality’, arguing that firms that start operating in the informal sector but later move to the formal sector are less likely to participate directly, and more likely to participate indirectly, in global value chains (GVCs) than those that start out as registered businesses. We further argue that the amount of time spent in the informal sector emphasizes these effects. Using World Bank Enterprise Survey data from 112 developing and emerging economies, we show that informality leaves a strong blueprint on firms, which tends to persist over time.     

Petty services,profit‐led growth and rural–urban migration in a developing economy

This paper develops a structuralist urban dual economy model for a developing economy consisting of a capitalist formal sector and a “petty” or informal service sector. The petty service sector plays an important role in wage determination and capital accumulation in the formal sector. The urban dual economy is situated in the midst of a rural area endowed with generous amount of surplus labour. The rural area augments urban labour supply over time through rural–urban migration. The paper, therefore, incorporates rural–urban migration within a structuralist framework and highlights its implication for growth and structural change in urban spaces of developing economies riddled with persistent formal–informal duality.     

Space for the informal tourism economy

ABSTRACT

In developing countries, many informal economy service providers obtain their livelihoods from tourism, and occupy and share public spaces to do so. As such, these actors must develop ‘rules in use’ that allow them to work alongside other providers, both formal and informal, in these shared spaces. These actors engage in coopetition, a mix of cooperation and competition, with each other. This paper provides a case study of informal sector service providers in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to examine how these actors access resources and interact. Snowball sampling was adopted to identify actors and 47 in-depth interviews with pedicab drivers and street vendors were conducted and supplemented with naturalistic observation. Results indicate the public spaces occupied by the informal sector may be classified as common pool resources, collective goods, or semi-private goods. Further, the interaction among the actors in these public spaces is based on the types of, and capacity in, providing goods and services, and trust generated from the actors’ interactions. This research identified the formal and informal ‘rules in use’ that govern the behaviours of the actors related to the use of spaces. Suggestions for how informal economy actors can manage such spaces to enhance their livelihoods are provided.     

城市正规就业与非正规就业收入差距及影响因素贡献——基于收入不平等的分解

本文使用CHNS 1997-2006的调查数据实证研究了城镇正规就业与非正规就业之间的收入差距及影响因素。收入不平等分解结果表明,正规就业与非正规就业之间存在显著的工资收入差距,但随着经济发展和劳动力市场供求的转变,两类就业者由于就业类别差异导致的"收入差异"呈缩减的趋势;受教育水平和工作经验等人力资本特征是两类就业者决定工资的主要影响因素,也是他们之间工资收入差距变化的主要贡献因素。     

Information Sharing and Financial Sector Development in Africa

This study investigates the effect information sharing has on financial sector development in 53 African countries for the period 2004 to 2011. Information sharing is measured with private credit bureaus and public credit registries. Hitherto unexplored dimensions of financial sector development are employed, namely: financial sector dynamics of formalization, informalization, and non-formalization. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The following findings are established. Information-sharing bureaus increase (reduce) formal (informal/non-formal) financial sector development. In order to ensure that information-sharing bureaus improve (decrease) formal (informal/non-formal) financial development, public credit registries should have between 45.45 and 50% coverage while private credit bureaus should have at least 26.25% coverage.     

Economic Sectors in Egypt and Their Managerial Implications

Abstract

This study uses ethnographic data collection methods to investigate entrepreneurial sectors and types in Egypt. First, three sectors-formal, informal, and state controlled-were identified. Their characteristics and business practices were discussed. In the formal sector relationships rely on a set of impersonally defined relationships and transactions maximize benefits based on rational decision making. The bazaar sector transactions are numerous and rely on personal relationships. The state controlled sector is bureaucratic and aims to minimize competition. Second, the role of Egypt's Small Enterprise Credit Program in assisting entrepreneurs in the informal sector was discussed. Last, the managerial implications were presented.     

How entrepreneurship ecosystem influences the development of frugal innovation and informal entrepreneurship

This article critically analyses how the entrepreneurial ecosystem and institutional environment influences the development of frugal innovation and informal entrepreneurship. There is a dearth of empirical research on African entrepreneurship ecosystems and complementors that produce innovations in the informal sector. We address this gap, by examining why and how informal businesses operate and evolve. Based on a qualitative approach, interviewing 20 business owners in Nigeria, two focus groups meeting with 5 and 7 business associations leaders, respectively, we examine the role of institutional environments, how entrepreneurs operate and overcome the barriers to entrepreneurship. The results reveal a model of determinants of frugal innovation and informal entrepreneurship ecosystem comprising formal/informal rules, access to market, and family as important elements that act as a means to effective knowledge flows, networking, capital, and resources sharing.     

Greenfield Entry Strategy of Multinational Enterprises in the Emerging Markets: Influences of Institutional Distance and International Trade Freedom

This article addresses greenfield entry strategy of multinational enterprises in emerging markets by analyzing the influences of formal and informal institutional distance as well as international trade freedom. The empirical analysis is based on a sample of 263 greenfield market entries in manufacturing sector undertaken by Finnish firms during 1990–2013. The study results revealed that high formal and informal institutional distances led to the preference of greenfield JVs. The study also found that high level of international trade freedom moderates the influences of formal and informal institutional distances on greenfield entry strategy.     

Small and Medium Enterprises Across the Globe

This paper analyzes the relationship between the relative size of the small and medium enterprise (SME) Sector and the business environment in 76 countries. The paper first describes a new and unique cross-country database that presents consistent and comparable information on the contribution of the SME sector to total employment in manufacturing and GDP across different countries. We then relate the importance of SMEs and the informal economy to indicators of different dimensions of the business environment. We find that several dimensions of the business environment, such as lower costs of entry and better credit information sharing are associated with a larger size of the SME sector, while higher exit costs are associated with a larger informal economy.      

The welfare impacts of a revenue-neutral switch from tariffs to VAT with intermediate inputs and a VAT threshold

The debate about replacing tariffs with value-added tax (VAT) in developing countries has paid little attention to the role of VAT as an input tax on the informal sector and has overlooked the usefulness of changing the VAT threshold in a revenue-neutral switch from tariffs to VAT. This paper contributes to the literature by addressing these two issues via a heterogeneous firm model of a small open economy with endogenous firm entry and VAT compliance. The results found indicate that the VAT collected on intermediate inputs consumed by the informal sector not only reduces the benefits of evading VAT, but also diminishes the production distortion between the formal and the informal sectors. The use of a change in the VAT threshold to offset lost tariff revenue leads to welfare gains; however, the source of such gains is different from that of a change in the VAT rate. While an increase in the VAT rate expands informality, a revenue-equivalent decrease in the VAT threshold reduces informality. These novel results suggest that the VAT threshold plays an important role in the design of revenue-neutral tax reforms.     

Determinants of Russia's Informal Economy: The Impact of Corruption and Multinational Firms

Based on the electricity consumption approach, this study examined empirically (among other determinants) the impact of corruption and multinational firms (MNEs) on the relative size of the informal economy in Russia's regions in 1995–2012. Strong evidence is provided of the positive effect of corruption on the informal regional economies. The significant role of MNEs and regulation in curbing informal activities is revealed. A larger informal economic sector is observed in regions with a higher number of local firms and unemployment. An integrated strategy of dealing with corruption and informal businesses is suggested to be more effective in reducing informal practices.     

Multinational mining enterprises and artisanal small-scale miners: From confrontation to cooperation

In many developing countries, multinational enterprises (MNEs) in mining operate alongside fast-growing communities of informal artisanal, small-scale miners. This has led to direct conflict and competition for mineral resources. This paper introduces the Salience and Institutional Analysis and Design framework as a means to analyze the MNE strategies used to address informal miners across different governance levels in the gold mining sector of Ghana and discusses the implications of these strategies for sustainability. We identify the emergence of a cooperative strategy with informal miners as a sustainable alternative to the political strategy of reliance on the state to protect tenure.