Informality is ubiquitous in the labor markets of developing countries, and requiring that firms formally register, pay taxes, and provide employee benefits stipulated in labor regulations to reduce such informality is challenging. However, a matched survey on employer-employee preferences...

Using a choice experiment among 2,000 workers in Bangladesh, we to elicit willingness to pay (WTP) for specific job benefits typically associated with formal employment. We find that workers value job stability the most; the average worker would be willing to forego a 27 percent increase in...

Workers in small businesses in low- and middle-income countries are exposed to significant risks of occupational accidents and illnesses. A safe and healthy workplace could improve the productivity and sustainability of the business. In this paper, we conduct a randomized controlled trial in...

The objective of this paper was to establish challenges and benefits on formalisation in South Africa using a qualitative approach. To meet the objective, 15 interviews were carried out with owners of small businesses that had just formalized in Johannesburg and Pretoria. This study contributes...

Increasing informality and inequality have been recognised as the two primary outcomes of the twenty-first century globalisation. With growing intensity of the two problems, the world seems to be returning to the nineteenth-century precarious conditions in the world of work. Absence of...

This research report explores the nature and character of home-based work and the more narrow concept of homework in Ghana. As labour statistics on home-based work and homework are absent, the research draws on interviews with 124 individuals working in agro-processing, arts and crafts, industry...

In spite of the rapid growth and importance of informal employment in Ghana, few studies have investigated the extent of coverage of labour standards application, as a form of labour market regulation. This paper investigates the extent of labour standards application in shaping the employment...

In spite of the rapid growth and importance of informal employment in Ghana, few studies have investigated the extent of coverage of labour standards application, as a form of labour market regulation. This paper investigates the extent of labour standards application in shaping the employment...