This paper studies the trends and cycles of informal employment. It first presents a theoretical model where the size of informal employment is determined by the relative costs and benefits of informality and the distribution of workers' skills. In the long run, informal employment varies with...

Using individual-level data for 35 countries, Gatti, Paternostro, and Rigolini investigate the microeconomic determinants of attitudes toward corruption. They find women, employed, less wealthy, and older individuals to be more averse to corruption. The authors also provide evidence that social...

Is informal employment a safety net or a growth engine? To address this question, this paper studies the trends and cycles of informal employment. It first presents a theoretical model of long- and short-run behavior of informal labor. Then it analyzes these relationships empirically, using the...

Despite large deregulation efforts, informal economic activity still represents a large share of GDP in many developing countries. In this paper we look at incentives to reduce informal activity when capitalists in the formal sector regulate entry. We consider a dual economy with a formal sector...

Too often, academics and policy makers interpret formality as a binary choice and formalization as an irreversible process. Yet, formalization has many facets and shades on the business and labor fronts, and firms may not be able or willing to formalize all at once. This paper explores the joint...

Foreword -- Acknowledgements -- The roaring 2000's in Latin America and the Caribbean and the left behind -- Chronic poverty : concepts and measures -- Five facts about chronic poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean -- Drivers of chronic poverty -- From diagnosis to policies : design...

Tras decadas de estancamiento, la poblacion de clase media en America Latina y el Caribe ha aumentado en un 50%-de aproximadamente 100 millones de personas en 2003 a 150 millones (o un 30% de la poblacion del continente) en 2009. Durante este periodo, el porcentaje de la poblacion pobre...

El emprendimiento es un determinante fundamental del crecimiento y la creacion de empleo. Pese a que los emprendedores abundan en America Latina y el Caribe, las empresas de la region son mas pequenas y menos propensas a crecer e innovar que las de otras regiones. El crecimiento de la...