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Porta, Rafael La - 2011

We examine the productivity of informal firms (those that are not registered with the government) in 24 African countries using field work and World Bank firm level data. We find that productivity jumps sharply if we compare small formal firms to informal firms, and rises rapidly with the size...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012461836

The Unofficial Economy and Economic Development

Porta, Rafael La - 2008

In developing countries, informal firms (those that are not registered with the government) account for about half of all economic activity. We consider three broad views of the role of such firms in economic development. According to the romantic view, these firms would become the engine of...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012464127

Entry and Exit of Informal Firms and Development

McCaig, Brian; Pavcnik, Nina - National Bureau of Economic Research - 2021

Non-farm informal businesses comprise the majority of the firm distribution in developing countries. We document novel stylized facts about entry and exit of informal, non-farm firms using nationally representative panel data over 15 years and across regions with varying levels of local economic...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012599276

Firm Trade Exposure, Labor Market Competition, and the Worker Incidence of Trade Shocks

Carballo, Jeronimo; Mansfield, Richard - National Bureau of Economic Research - 2025

This paper examines how the composition of firm exposure and competition among imperfectly substitutable workers mediate the earnings, welfare, and unemployment incidence of changes in the international trade environment. We merge LEHD job match records with firm-level import and export records...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10015326474

The Informal Sector

de Paula, Áureo - 2007

This paper investigates the determinants of informal economic activity. We present two equilibrium models of informality and test their implications using a survey of 48,000+ small firms in Brazil. We define informality as tax avoidance; firms in the informal sector avoid tax payments but suffer...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012465160

Campaign Connections

Bazzi, Samuel; Labanca, Claudio - National Bureau of Economic Research - 2023

This paper explores the labor market returns to working on a victorious political campaign. Using unique administrative data from Brazil, we track the earnings and employment of campaign workers before and after close elections spanning nearly 20 years. We identify sizable returns to working for...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014287384

Economic Transformation in Africa from the Bottom Up : Evidence from Tanzania

Diao, Xinshen - 2016

At roughly 4% per annum, labor productivity in Tanzania has grown more rapidly over the past 12 years than at any other time in recent history. Employment growth has also been strong keeping up with population growth at roughly 2.5 percent per annum; the bulk of employment growth (90%) has been...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012455791

Estimating the Footprint of Artisanal Mining in Africa

Christensen, Darin; Carleton, Tamma A.; Rolf, Esther; … - National Bureau of Economic Research - 2025

in Africa using machine learning models that integrate geographic features and satellite imagery. We find ASM is more …

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10015398099

Informality and Development

Porta, Rafael La - 2014

We establish five facts about the informal economy in developing countries. First, it is huge, reaching about half of the total in the poorest countries. Second, it has extremely low productivity compared to the formal economy: informal firms are typically small, inefficient, and run by poorly...

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012458461

Historical Legacies and African Development

Michalopulos, Stelios - 2018

As Africa's role on the global stage is rising, so does the need to understand the shadow of history on the continent …'s economy and polity. We discuss recent works that shed light on Africa's colonial and precolonial legacies. The emerging corpus … Africa's post-independence maladies, we first review works that uncover the lasting legacies of colonial investments in …

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10012480929