Formal and Informal Sectors in China and India: An Accounting-Based Approach

This paper discusses the estimation of a social accounting matrix that distinguishes between formal and informal activities for China and India for 2000 and 1998-99 respectively. Wage shares for the formal/informal employment for China and net domestic product shares for the formal/informal sectors for India are being applied as weights to the input-output tables and flow of funds tables provided by official statistics. While some estimation techniques used in this paper remain vulnerable to criticism, the proposed methodology is a first step towards an integrated approach to account for the dualism of many economies in the developing world. The results are important data input for any policy-driven CGE model for developing countries.