Using a stochastic frontier production function at the raion (county) level of aggregation, Rostov Oblast rural economy's formal economic growth 2009-2013 is analyzed in conjunction with satellite luminosity data capturing both the formal and informal economy. Satellite luminosity data reveal a...

This study considers those wage earners who are covered by a social security program as part of the formal sector and those wage earners who are not covered by any social security program as part of the informal sector. Using 1994 Household Expenditure Survey, I first examine how individuals are...

This study considers covered and uncovered wage earners and the self-employed. The analysis is carried out for men and women workers separately. 1994 Turkish Household Expenditure Survey is used first to examine how individuals are selected into the covered and uncovered wage earner and the...

The aim of this paper is to analyze the function of the informal sector in employment, its relationship to urban employment, with illustrative evidence from Colombia. The analysis is done for the period 1984 - 2000, which includes phases of boom and economic crisis as well as the implementation...

In the aftermath of sovereign default of August 1998, the hypothesis of virtual economy in Russia developed by Gaddy and Ickes has gained popularity. The hypothesis states that the country has not moved towards free-market economy but developed a system of implicit price subsidization similar to...

In Venezuela, the informal sector has increased its participation in the labor market remarkably. Poverty levels of workers in the informal sector are higher than in the formal sector of the economy. Given the structure of the Venezuelan economy and the global trends, it is very unlikely that...

This paper presents theory and evidence on the determinants of the size of the informal sector. We propose a simple theoretical model in which the informal sector`s size is negatively related to institutional quality and positively related to income inequality. These predictions are then...

We study how the shadow economy affects pollution and how this effect depends on corruption levels in public administration. Production in the shadow economy allows firms to avoid environmental regulation policies; a large informal sector may be accompanied by higher pollution levels. Our...

PurposeThis paper evaluates critically the assumption that the main reason for acquiring domestic services from the off-the-books economy is to save money. MethodologyData is reported from an Internet survey of 5,500 people living in households with one or more members in employment in the city...

Mirroring the representation of informal workers in a third world context as displaying entrepreneurial qualities, recent years have witnessed the emergence of a similar view of the informal sector in western nations as a hidden enterprise culture. Until now, however, few attempts have been made...