While several studies have documented the expansion of the informal sector and its detrimental impact on development, few have noted that informality and wage inequality tend to move together. Using Mexico as a case study, I show that between 1987 and 2002 wage inequality within informal workers...

This paper examines the earnings penalties and premiums associated with different types of employment in 73 countries. Workers are divided into four categories: non-professional own-account workers, employers and own-account professionals, informal wage employees, and formal wage employees....

According to the existing literature, informality rates for Russia vary in a wide range from slightly more than 5 to nearly 30%. The question arises: what are the causes and consequences of such a huge variation? Using RMLS data for 2009 the author investigates the degree of congruence between...

Levy (2008) has suggested that the expansion of non-targeted social programs could be inducing an increase in economic informality in countries like Mexico. This hypothesis, however, assumes the existence of integrated and competitive labor markets in the economy. In this work we test this...

This paper analyzes the participation path of workers in the formal and informal sectors throughout their lives and their pension eligibilities, as well as how the social security scheme can change the aforementioned participation path. High levels of informality have impacts on the benefits...

We estimate wage differentials across different segments of the Mexican urban labor market. We use a panel sample of individuals which allows us to control for workers' observable and non-observable characteristics, by focusing on wage changes reported by individuals who move from one sector to...

This paper defines informal sector employment and decomposes the difference in earnings between formal and informal sector employees in Tajikistan for 2007. Using quantile regression decomposition technique proposed by JAE, 20:445-465, 2005 and considering self-selection of individuals into...

This study uses the nationally representative Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS) to identify systematic differences in earnings returns to human capital endowments for formal and informal sector workers in rural and urban Mexico. Returns to experience are critical in explaining the large urban...

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the determinants of informal sector activity with a special focus on informal self-employment opposed to informal wage employment. For this purpose we build a theoretical framework to show the important role of education in occupational choice. To...

The main objective of this paper is to highlight the determinants of informal sector activity with a special focus on informal self-employment opposed to informal wage employment. For this purpose we build a theoretical framework to show the important role of education in occupational choice. To...