Studies on formal-informal interactions in the labor markets of developing countries claim that economic reform increases the level of informal activity. Although the extent of such claims differs across countries, it is generally believed that reform is likely to depress informal wage by...

Studies on formal-informal interactions in the labor markets of developing countries claim that economic reform increases the level of informal activity. Although the extent of such claims differs across countries, it is generally believed that reform is likely to depress informal wage by...

The evidence is mixed on whether informal labor in developing countries benefits from trade and labor market reforms. Reforms lead to higher wages and improved employment conditions in the informal sector in some cases, and to the opposite effect in others. At a cross-country level, lifting...

The openness to international trade and capital movements of industrialized countries has increased substantially during the recent decades. At the same time, most of these countries experienced a rise in income dispersion. Against this background, the paper analyzes empirically whether the...

The openness to international trade and capital movements of industrialized countries has increased substantially during the recent decades. At the same time, most of these countries experienced a rise in income dispersion. Against this background, the paper analyzes empirically whether the...

This volume was prepared by Sebastian Benz while he was working at the Ifo Institute. It was completed in December 2013 and accepted as a doctoral thesis by the Department of Economics at the University of Munich. It includes five self-contained chapters. All chapters discuss different...

This study analyzes the impact of conditional cash transfer program Bolsa Familia in the occupational composition Brazilian labor market. The methodology relies on a discontinuity in the program elegibility rule regarding children's age to attain the identification of a LATE parameter. The...

This study analyzes the impact of conditional cash transfer program Bolsa Familia in the occupational composition Brazilian labor market. The methodology relies on a discontinuity in the program elegibility rule regarding children's age to attain the identification of a LATE parameter. The...

This article analyzes informal labor in Colombia in recent years. Starting from discussing the concept of informal labor in structuralism theory and institutionalism theory, the empirical strategies applied to the Colombian case are analyzed. Because informal labor has been related to the...