What are the Policy Implications of the Informal Sector Becoming the Informal Economy?
by ALTMAN, M., 2007Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
Altman considers the meaning of informality and related policy implications. She sees the concept of the ‘informal sector’, which often refers to micro, unregistered enterprise, as a narrow construct that is not really a sector at all. Instead, Altman is concerned with the character of precariousness in the broader workforce. ‘Informality’ is seen to entail…
read more >>Formal / Informal Linkages in South Africa: Some Considerations
by VALODIA,I., 2006Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
Informal employment in South Africa grew from 965,000 to just over 2.3-million workers between 1997 and 2005, rising from about 10% to 18% of the employed workforce. Notwithstanding the difficulties and debates about data issues, it is widely accepted that informal employment grew rapidly in the late 1990s, and stabilised in the 2000s. In this…
read more >>Informal Employment In South Africa
by VALODIA,I., 2007Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
Employment policy in South Africa has paid limited attention to the informal economy. From the early 1990s, the informal economy grew substantially, and yet still accounts for a small proportion of employment relative to other developing countries. The co-existence of high unemployment and a small informal economy is poorly understood in SA. Valodia explores the…
read more >>Organising Capabilities of Steet Traders Particularly Women
by MOTALA, S, 2008Agenda, 22:78, 208-219
In August 2008, Heads of State of the South African Development Community (SADC) adopted the SADC Gender and Development Protocol aimed at advancing gender equality across all spheres of life. Gender-blind economic policy making in South Africa and elsewhere is responsible for exposing women to low paid and hazardous employment, without income security or protection….
read more >>Formal-Informal Economy Linkages and Unemployment in South Africa
by DAVIES, R. & THURLOW, J., 2009Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
South Africa’s high involuntary unemployment and small informal sector are attributed to an underperforming formal sector and barriers to entry into the informal sector. Davies and Thurlow examine the economy-wide linkages between the formal and informal economies, while accounting for different types of informal activities. A multi-region, empirically calibrated computable general equilibrium (CGE) model is…
read more >>Formal-Informal Economy Linkages
by ALTMAN, M., 2008Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
The term informal sector, informal economy, ‘second economy’ and informality is often used interchangeably. Altman defines ‘informality’ to entail precariousness, in that the activity operates beyond bureaucratic rules or regulations. This is an important concept for poor working people. Focusing policy on structural solutions to reduce precariousness in household livelihoods is particularly important in a…
read more >>Formal/Informal Linkages in South Africa: Some Considerations
by VALODIA, I., 2006Research Report, Employment Growth & Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council
To know how the economy might meet the target of halving unemployment by 2014, the Employment Scenarios project investigated how the informal sector might grow. How much of the employment target is likely to be reached through growth in the informal economy? Is the informal sector likely to continue growing in the period leading up…
read more >>Exploring Economic Behaviour in South Africa’s Informal Economy
by VALODIA, I., DAVIES, R., THURLOW, J. & ALTMAN, M, 2008Research report prepared by the Employment, Growth and Development Initiative, Human Sciences Research Council for Conflict and Governance Facility (CAGE), October 2007
“This report contributes to a larger project of the Human Sciences Research Council, the School of Development Studies and IFPRI, which seeks to understand the competitive behaviour of informal firms in a growing economy. The main components of the project are a background conceptual paper; a social accounting matrix (SAM) that explores the relationship between…
read more >>Informal Traders Survey Questionnaire
by VALODIA, I, DAVIES, R,ALTMAN, M & THURLOW, J, 2008This is the Informal Traders Survey, deployed in support of the paper: Exploring Economic Behaviour in South Africa’s Informal Economy. It is provided as a research tool.
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