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MARCH 2009


                         Policy Brief
                       ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT




                       Is Informal Normal?
                       Toward More and Better Jobs
Is informal            Introduction
employment             The financial and economic crisis that began in 2008 has far-reaching
normal?
                       implications for employment around the world. The slowdown in economic
                       activity can be expected to raise unemployment, reduce international
Why do people          labour mobility and lead to an increase in informal employment. These
work informally?       developments will critically affect poverty levels and income distributions.

What problems are      Informal employment refers to jobs or activities in the production and
associated with        commercialisation of legal goods and services that are not registered or
informal work?         protected by the state. Informal workers are excluded from social security
                       benefits and the protection afforded by formal labour contracts. The
Is informal            majority of them cannot opt for scarce better jobs in the formal sector.
employment linked      Others voluntarily opt out of the formal system. For them, the savings
to poverty?            from being completely or partly informal – no social security contributions,
                       no tax payments, no binding labour regulations, and more freedom for
How can we address     business activities – outweigh the benefits accrued through registration and
the challenges         compliance. The prevalence of informal employment in the developing world
posed by informal      is striking. Even before the current crisis, over half of non-agricultural jobs
employment?            there could be considered informal.

                       The share of informal employment activities tend to increase during
For further
                       economic turmoil, since informal work can act as a buffer when people are
information
                       laid off in the formal sector. Despite offering a fallback option to sustain
                       livelihoods, informal employment comes at a cost. First and foremost,
For further reading    informal work is vulnerable. In times of crisis, informal workers are exposed
                       to a likely depression of wages due to the inflow of laid-off workers from
Where to contact us?   the formal sector and return migrants. They are also the first to lose their
                       jobs. Second, the potential increase of informal employment locks workers
                       into vulnerable situations. Lack of formal social protection in the face of
                       health and occupational risks, and no protection of labour rights, puts many
                       informal workers at a higher risk of poverty that they would otherwise be and
                       might substantially increase poverty levels.

                       This Policy Brief examines the phenomenon of informal employment and
                       its impact on individuals and society, particularly in the context of a global
                       economic downturn. n




© OECD 2009
Policy Brief
                      IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS




Is informal           Informal employment is the norm, not the exception, in many parts of the
employment            world: More than half of all jobs in the non-agricultural sectors of developing
normal?               countries – over 900 million workers – can be considered informal. If
                      agricultural workers in developing countries are included, the estimates rise
                      to some two billion people. Informality is thus a reality for two-thirds of the
                      global labour force. In some regions, including sub-Saharan Africa and South
                      Asia, over 80 per cent of non-agricultural jobs are informal. On top of this,
                      the majority of agricultural jobs are also informal, including those of self-
                      employed farmers as well as the great majority of day and casual labourers.

                      When informal employment was first acknowledged in the 1970s, discussions
                      on the subject focused on a small set of low-income countries. Inefficient
                      public institutions, cumbersome registration processes and a general
                      distrust of the government – all factors that spur the creation of a market
                      outside a country’s formal structures – were seen as the sure signs of under-
                      development. It is often assumed that these factors, and hence informal
                      employment, would disappear in the course of economic development.

                      The reality does not warrant such optimism. Informal work is increasingly
                      the norm, not least in middle-income countries, and it is sizeable even in
                      some high-income countries. In some cases, the share of jobs performed
                      outside a country’s formal structures may be more than half of all non-
                      agricultural jobs, and up to 90 per cent if agricultural jobs are included. The
                      prevalence of informal employment has stagnated and even increased despite
                      economic growth. In Southeast Asia and Latin America, on average, economic
                      growth over the past 20 years was accompanied by increasing, not falling,
                      rates of informal employment.

                      Most informal workers in the developing world are self-employed and work
                      independently or own and manage very small enterprises. Informality is
                      often a means to lower labour costs. As a response to greater international


Figure 1.             Share of informal employment in total non-agricultural employment

SHARE OF INFORMAL     Sub-Saharan Africa
EMPLOYMENT IN TOTAL
NON-AGRICULTURAL
                      South and East Asia
EMPLOYMENT

                            Latin America


                                West Asia


                             North Africa


                      Transition countries


                                             0              20                 40         60             80             100

                      Note: The box chart shows the range of informal employment as share of total non-agricultural
                      employment by region, based on the latest available observation for each country. The edges of each box
                      correspond to the upper and lower quartiles, with the vertical line inside indicating the median value for
                      each region. The ‘whiskers’ outside the box show the upper and lower adjacent values of the data. The
                      outlier value in Latin America is Haiti.


2 n © OECD 2009
Policy Brief
                           IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS




                       competition and an unaffordable business environment, some statutory
                       protections for workers in the formal sector, including in some OECD
                       countries, might begin be whittled away, creating, in effect, an informal work
                       force. For example, in what has come to be known as false self-employment,
                       individuals sub-contract themselves every day to the same employer –
                       voluntarily or not – and thus operate as self-employed contractors in order to
                       bypass the legal requirements of a normal working relationship. n


Why do people          There are various types of informal employment, which makes it difficult
work informally?       to assess this complex phenomenon. Levels of informal employment vary
                       widely across countries, reaching the highest shares in sub-Saharan Africa,
                       where close to 80% of all employed people work informally, followed by
                       Southeast Asia and Latin America.

                       Informal employment can be a result of both people being excluded from
                       formal jobs and people voluntarily opting out of formal structures. In many
                       middle-income countries, for example, incentive structures drive individuals
                       and businesses out of the formal sector. In Latin America, formal workers
                       are often required to pay for a mandatory bundle of benefits, some of which
                       they do not even want. Likewise, many businesses opt out of the formal
                       structure because inefficiencies in business registration and social security
                       administration inflate the costs of remaining in the formal economy.

                       Economic development also plays an important role in determining the
                       prevalence of informal employment. Episodes of rapid economic expansion
                       often coincide with sharp increases in informal work. However, sustainable
                       economic development can help to reduce levels of informal employment.
                       Long-term, increasing per capita income, for example, is clearly associated
                       with lower levels of informal employment.




Figure 2.                                                                                                                                                  Share of informal employment
                                                           Real GDP per capita (World Penn Tables)
                                                                                                                                                           in total non-agricultural employment
INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT
AND GDP IN LATIN                                            Latin America                                                                                            South-East Asia
                                            58                                          6.2                                                           75                                            3.9
AMERICA AND
SOUTHEAST ASIA                              57                                          6.0                                                                                                         3.7
                                                                                              Real GDP per capita (‘000 $PPP)




                                                                                                                                                      70
                                                                                                                                                                                                          Real GDP per capita (‘000 $PPP)




                                            56                                                                                                                                                      3.5
                                                                                        5.8
                                                                                                                                Informal employment




                                            55
                      Informal employment




                                                                                        5.6                                                           65                                            3.3
                                            54
                                                                                        5.4                                                                                                         3.1
                                            53                                                                                                        60
                                                                                        5.2                                                                                                         2.9
                                            52
                                                                                                                                                      55
                                            51                                          5.0                                                                                                         2.7

                                            50                                          4.8                                                           50                                            2.5
                                                 1990-94       1995-99      2000-07                                                                        1985-89      1990-94        1995-99


                       Source: Based on un-weighted averages of countries in Is Informal Normal? Toward More and Better Jobs,
                       OECD, 2009.




                                                                                                                                                                                                  © OECD 2009 n 3
Policy Brief
                    IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS




                    But informal employment is not merely a facet of underdevelopment that
                    holds economic growth down. In some countries, the use of informal
                    channels may indeed have positively affected economic development. If
                    cumbersome registration procedures and other administrative red tape
                    undermine the creation of formal businesses, for example, informal working
                    conditions may help to encourage entrepreneurial behaviour. A good example
                    of this is found in South Africa, where, by avoiding formal structures, such as
                    route concessions, licence requirements and safety regulations, entrepreneurs
                    have created a multi-million-dollar business in mini-buses.

                    In other instances, the use of informal structures may be driven less by a
                    voluntary decision than by necessity. For many people, informal employment
                    is an important livelihood strategy and plays a critical role in alleviating
                    poverty and social hardship. However, informal work leaves people without
                    adequate social protection and traps them in unproductive and precarious
                    jobs. In these cases, the lack of formal structures is a reason for, not the
                    solution to, lagging economic development. n


What problems are   Many people depend on informal employment for a living, but informal work
associated with     has serious consequences for both individuals and society. Beyond earning
informal work?      levels, informal employment makes basic rights vulnerable and difficult to
                    defend. As such, it can be a major cause of poverty in other ways besides
                    income. Most of those who work informally are insufficiently protected from
                    the various risks to which they are exposed: illness or health problems,
                    unsafe working conditions and possible loss of earnings. This is particularly
                    important for the poor, whose labour is by far their most significant asset.

                    For society as a whole, pervasive informal employment undermines the
                    ability of the state to ensure that workers have fair working conditions,
                    including appropriate working hours and safety regulations, and that they
                    receive adequate pay. Persistently high levels of informal employment reduce
                    fiscal revenues and the ability to develop social security systems based on
                    taxes and contributions. They also imply an inadequate use of available
                    human resources as informal jobs are believed to be associated with a loss of
                    efficiency and productivity.

                    In addition, the size and composition of informal employment influence
                    the growth pattern of an economy. It is unclear whether or not informal
                    employment represents a drag on productivity or could, at least temporarily,
                    be an engine of growth. For example, many observers argue that a high
                    degree of informal employment may reduce the competitiveness of an
                    economy, since informal firms prefer to stay small, have less access to inputs,
                    and cannot engage in formal business relationships, all factors that reduce
                    their productivity. Others emphasise that in emerging economies, such as
                    China, informal employment allows the necessary flexibility to produce
                    innovative entrepreneurs who boost growth. Whatever the validity of these
                    two opposing views – small firms characterised by low-productivity vs.
                    innovative entrepreneurs with high levels of flexibility – it is widely accepted




4 n © OECD 2009
Policy Brief
                     IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS




                     that informal employment is an important issue to which policy makers
                     must respond. n


Is informal          In spite of its growing importance even in some OECD countries, informal
employment linked    employment remains particularly problematic in developing countries. The
to poverty?          majority of the 1.7 billion poor living on less than two dollars a day depend
                     almost exclusively on their labour for survival, emphasising the importance
                     of employment for poverty reduction and economic development.

                     A general lack of formal employment and the limited coverage and
                     effectiveness of social security systems imply that the poor often have to
                     undertake any type of work simply to sustain themselves and their families.
                     Dismissed workers frequently have to accept the first available job, even if it
                     is of a lower quality than the one they have just lost.

                     Certain groups, such as young people and women, require specific attention,
                     as they are over-represented among the informally employed. Women seem
                     to be disproportionately involved in the most vulnerable forms of informal
                     employment. Until recently, researchers and policy makers concentrated
                     chiefly on gender differences in labour-market participation and the barriers
                     that women face in employment. Although this remains an important
                     concern, a second aspect of labour-market outcomes should be added: gender
                     differences in the quality of jobs and inequality of access to good, secure and
                     well-paid jobs. Understanding why women are over-represented in informal
                     work is of primary importance for designing more effective policies that allow
                     a country’s workforce, including women, to engage in productive activities.

                     Even though informal employment is pervasive in many low and middle-
                     income countries, it is not an acceptable foundation for sound and sustainable
                     development. However, simply abolishing micro-enterprises or informal wage
                     work is not a viable policy response. On the contrary, such measures would
                     result in significant social costs and represent a huge challenge for public
                     expenditure. n


How can we address   Despite the fact that informal employment can be a shock-absorber in times
the challenges       of economic crisis, it is not a substitute for policies addressing the increased
posed by informal    risk of poverty in the current recession. Informal work does offer temporary
employment?          job prospects, but a rise in the level of informal employment would not be
                     good news for developing countries. Given its association with low-quality,
                     high-risk jobs and insufficient social protection, a growing informal sector
                     might well be accompanied by a substantial increase in the level of poverty in
                     a country.

                     Still, informal employment can be expected to influence labour markets for
                     many years to come. Governments should face this reality and incorporate
                     this understanding into their policy making. Many reforms in the past have
                     failed to deliver successful results, largely because they were not specifically
                     targeted to the different types of informal work that exist. It is important




                                                                                          © OECD 2009 n 5
Policy Brief
                  IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS




                  to find the right balance between guaranteeing social protection for those
                  who are excluded from formal structures and encouraging those who
                  have voluntarily left the formal sector to return to it. The focus of policy
                  interventions should rest on providing jobs that are more productive and offer
                  adequate social protection.

                  Mainstream policy recommendations remain part of the necessary policy
                  mix. Macroeconomic stability, structural policies aimed at creating formal
                  jobs and easing mobility, and poverty-alleviation policies that provide risk-
                  management and social protection for the poor are desirable. But business-
                  as-usual will not do. Linking employment, growth and poverty-reduction also
                  requires providing tools to reduce risk for those informal workers in danger of
                  falling into poverty and easing mobility between formal and informal work.

                  The first step toward reducing levels of informal employment is to reinforce
                  the advantages of working in the formal sector. People who have chosen to
                  leave the formal sector must be given incentives to rejoin it. Benefits should
                  be linked to social contributions, while administrative procedures, such as
                  business and workers’ registration, should be simplified. Apart from positive
                  incentives, reducing informal employment also requires strengthening
                  enforcement mechanisms. However, policies need to address those who have
                  no choice but to work informally. These people need a different approach
                  from those who voluntarily opt out of the formal sector. Poverty-alleviation
                  programmes can provide some assistance to those whose options for entering
                  the labour market are limited. Sustainable poverty-reduction also requires
                  interventions to increase the earning capacity of informal workers.

                  A better understanding of the complexity of informal employment and a more
                  nuanced approach to addressing the specific needs of informal workers are
                  urgently needed. Informal employment comprises different phenomena that
                  require distinct policy approaches. A critical first step is to identify the types
                  of informal employment present in each particular country. A three-pronged
                  strategy can then be adapted to the specific situation in a country:

                  1. For the world’s poor, working informally is often the only way to participate in
                     the labour market. Policies should thus try to unlock these people from their
                     low-productivity activities, enable them to be more productive and provide
                     them with opportunities to climb the social ladder. Specific recommendations
                     include active labour-market policies, such as training and skill-development
                     programmes, that re-open the doors to the formal sector.

                  2. If informal employment is a deliberate choice to avoid taxes or administrative
                     burdens, governments should aim to establish efficient formal structures
                     that encourage people to join or rejoin the formal market. Countries should
                     aim to introduce formal structures that can offer the same, or higher,
                     levels of the flexibility and efficiency that informal channels may provide.
                     In this way, informal workers, who frequently have strong innovation and
                     growth potential, can more effectively contribute to a country’s overall
                     competitiveness. Targeting those who voluntarily opt out of the formal sector
                     also involves establishing credible enforcement mechanisms. This entails



6 n © OECD 2009
Policy Brief
               IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS




                 spending more resources on labour inspections, for example, that will help
                 identify law breakers and increase compliance with a country’s rules and
                 regulations.

               3. In many low-income countries, informal employment is mainly a consequence
                  of insufficient job creation in the formal economy. While employment levels in
                  the world have largely followed the growth in working-age populations, there
                  is a need for a general push for more employment opportunities within the
                  formal sector. Governments should support small businesses in complying
                  with formal requirements and encourage large companies to create formal
                  employment opportunities.

               Targeted policies can do much to reduce the level of informal employment
               in a country, but they are no substitute for trust. A thriving informal sector
               is, above all, an expression of a lack of trust in public institutions, a negative
               perception of the role of the state, and limited understanding of the benefits
               derived from social security. It is basically a sign of a broken social contract.
               Restoring that contract requires a change in people’s attitudes and beliefs.
               More innovative policies, such as information campaigns on the benefits of
               formal work and the risks of informal employment, can prompt that kind
               of change. n


For further    For further information regarding this Policy Brief, please contact:
information    Johannes Jütting, e-mail: Johannes.jutting@oecd.org, tel: +33 1-45-24-87-25; or
               Juan de Laiglesia, e-mail: juan.delaiglesia@oecd.org, tel : +33 1-45-24-93-82.




                                                                                      © OECD 2009 n 7
The OECD Policy Briefs are available on the OECD’s Internet site:
                                        www.oecd.org/publications/Policybriefs



                                        ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT



For further reading                     Jütting, J. and Laiglesia, J. R. De (2009), Is Informal Normal? Towards More
                                        and Better Jobs in Developing Countries, OECD Development Centre,
                                        ISBN 978-92-64-05923-8, € 24, 163 pages.

                                        Jütting, J., Parlevliet, J. and Xenogiani, T. (2008), Informal Employment –
                                        Reloaded, IDS Bulletin, Vol. 39, pp. 28-37.

                                        OECD (2008), OECD Employment Outlook 2008, ISBN 978-92-64-046324-0,
                                        € 80, 368 pages.

                                        OECD (2007), Development Centre Studies: Informal Institutions: How Social
                                        Norms Help or Hinder Development, ISBN 978-92-64-03906-3, € 35, 174 pages.

                                        OECD (2008), Report on Informal Employment in Romania, Working Paper
                                        No. 271.




                            OECD publications can be purchased from our online bookshop:
                                               www.oecd.org/bookshop
       OECD publications and statistical databases are also available via our online library:
                                      www.SourceOECD.org

Where to contact us?
OECD HEADQUARTERS              GERMANY                  JAPAN                          MEXICO                        UNITED STATES
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Tel.: (33) 01 45 24 81 67      D-10117 BERLIN           2-2-1 Uchisaiwaicho,           Colonia: Polanco              WASHINGTON DC. 20036-4922
Fax: (33) 01 45 24 19 50       Tel.: (49-30) 288 8353   Chiyoda-ku                     C.P. 11560 MEXICO, D.F.       Tel.: (1-202) 785 6323
E-mail: sales@oecd.org         Fax: (49-30) 288 83545   TOKYO 100-0011                 Tel.: (00.52.55) 9138 6233    Fax: (1-202) 785 0350
Internet: www.oecd.org         E-mail:                  Tel.: (81-3) 5532 0021         Fax: (00.52.55) 5280 0480     E-mail:
                               berlin.centre@oecd.org   Fax: (81-3) 5532 0035          E-mail:                       washington.contact@oecd.org
                               Internet:                E-mail: center@oecdtokyo.org   mexico.contact@oecd.org       Internet: www.oecdwash.org
                                                                                                                                                     41 2009 01 1 P4




                               www.oecd.org/berlin      Internet: www.oecdtokyo.org    Internet:                     Toll free: (1-800) 456 6323
                                                                                       www.oecd.org/centrodemexico

                   The OECD Policy Briefs are prepared by the Public Affairs Division, Public Affairs and Communications
                            Directorate. They are published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General.


© OECD 2009

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Is informal normal?

  • 1. MARCH 2009 Policy Brief ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT Is Informal Normal? Toward More and Better Jobs Is informal Introduction employment The financial and economic crisis that began in 2008 has far-reaching normal? implications for employment around the world. The slowdown in economic activity can be expected to raise unemployment, reduce international Why do people labour mobility and lead to an increase in informal employment. These work informally? developments will critically affect poverty levels and income distributions. What problems are Informal employment refers to jobs or activities in the production and associated with commercialisation of legal goods and services that are not registered or informal work? protected by the state. Informal workers are excluded from social security benefits and the protection afforded by formal labour contracts. The Is informal majority of them cannot opt for scarce better jobs in the formal sector. employment linked Others voluntarily opt out of the formal system. For them, the savings to poverty? from being completely or partly informal – no social security contributions, no tax payments, no binding labour regulations, and more freedom for How can we address business activities – outweigh the benefits accrued through registration and the challenges compliance. The prevalence of informal employment in the developing world posed by informal is striking. Even before the current crisis, over half of non-agricultural jobs employment? there could be considered informal. The share of informal employment activities tend to increase during For further economic turmoil, since informal work can act as a buffer when people are information laid off in the formal sector. Despite offering a fallback option to sustain livelihoods, informal employment comes at a cost. First and foremost, For further reading informal work is vulnerable. In times of crisis, informal workers are exposed to a likely depression of wages due to the inflow of laid-off workers from Where to contact us? the formal sector and return migrants. They are also the first to lose their jobs. Second, the potential increase of informal employment locks workers into vulnerable situations. Lack of formal social protection in the face of health and occupational risks, and no protection of labour rights, puts many informal workers at a higher risk of poverty that they would otherwise be and might substantially increase poverty levels. This Policy Brief examines the phenomenon of informal employment and its impact on individuals and society, particularly in the context of a global economic downturn. n © OECD 2009
  • 2. Policy Brief IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS Is informal Informal employment is the norm, not the exception, in many parts of the employment world: More than half of all jobs in the non-agricultural sectors of developing normal? countries – over 900 million workers – can be considered informal. If agricultural workers in developing countries are included, the estimates rise to some two billion people. Informality is thus a reality for two-thirds of the global labour force. In some regions, including sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, over 80 per cent of non-agricultural jobs are informal. On top of this, the majority of agricultural jobs are also informal, including those of self- employed farmers as well as the great majority of day and casual labourers. When informal employment was first acknowledged in the 1970s, discussions on the subject focused on a small set of low-income countries. Inefficient public institutions, cumbersome registration processes and a general distrust of the government – all factors that spur the creation of a market outside a country’s formal structures – were seen as the sure signs of under- development. It is often assumed that these factors, and hence informal employment, would disappear in the course of economic development. The reality does not warrant such optimism. Informal work is increasingly the norm, not least in middle-income countries, and it is sizeable even in some high-income countries. In some cases, the share of jobs performed outside a country’s formal structures may be more than half of all non- agricultural jobs, and up to 90 per cent if agricultural jobs are included. The prevalence of informal employment has stagnated and even increased despite economic growth. In Southeast Asia and Latin America, on average, economic growth over the past 20 years was accompanied by increasing, not falling, rates of informal employment. Most informal workers in the developing world are self-employed and work independently or own and manage very small enterprises. Informality is often a means to lower labour costs. As a response to greater international Figure 1. Share of informal employment in total non-agricultural employment SHARE OF INFORMAL Sub-Saharan Africa EMPLOYMENT IN TOTAL NON-AGRICULTURAL South and East Asia EMPLOYMENT Latin America West Asia North Africa Transition countries 0 20 40 60 80 100 Note: The box chart shows the range of informal employment as share of total non-agricultural employment by region, based on the latest available observation for each country. The edges of each box correspond to the upper and lower quartiles, with the vertical line inside indicating the median value for each region. The ‘whiskers’ outside the box show the upper and lower adjacent values of the data. The outlier value in Latin America is Haiti. 2 n © OECD 2009
  • 3. Policy Brief IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS competition and an unaffordable business environment, some statutory protections for workers in the formal sector, including in some OECD countries, might begin be whittled away, creating, in effect, an informal work force. For example, in what has come to be known as false self-employment, individuals sub-contract themselves every day to the same employer – voluntarily or not – and thus operate as self-employed contractors in order to bypass the legal requirements of a normal working relationship. n Why do people There are various types of informal employment, which makes it difficult work informally? to assess this complex phenomenon. Levels of informal employment vary widely across countries, reaching the highest shares in sub-Saharan Africa, where close to 80% of all employed people work informally, followed by Southeast Asia and Latin America. Informal employment can be a result of both people being excluded from formal jobs and people voluntarily opting out of formal structures. In many middle-income countries, for example, incentive structures drive individuals and businesses out of the formal sector. In Latin America, formal workers are often required to pay for a mandatory bundle of benefits, some of which they do not even want. Likewise, many businesses opt out of the formal structure because inefficiencies in business registration and social security administration inflate the costs of remaining in the formal economy. Economic development also plays an important role in determining the prevalence of informal employment. Episodes of rapid economic expansion often coincide with sharp increases in informal work. However, sustainable economic development can help to reduce levels of informal employment. Long-term, increasing per capita income, for example, is clearly associated with lower levels of informal employment. Figure 2. Share of informal employment Real GDP per capita (World Penn Tables) in total non-agricultural employment INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT AND GDP IN LATIN Latin America South-East Asia 58 6.2 75 3.9 AMERICA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA 57 6.0 3.7 Real GDP per capita (‘000 $PPP) 70 Real GDP per capita (‘000 $PPP) 56 3.5 5.8 Informal employment 55 Informal employment 5.6 65 3.3 54 5.4 3.1 53 60 5.2 2.9 52 55 51 5.0 2.7 50 4.8 50 2.5 1990-94 1995-99 2000-07 1985-89 1990-94 1995-99 Source: Based on un-weighted averages of countries in Is Informal Normal? Toward More and Better Jobs, OECD, 2009. © OECD 2009 n 3
  • 4. Policy Brief IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS But informal employment is not merely a facet of underdevelopment that holds economic growth down. In some countries, the use of informal channels may indeed have positively affected economic development. If cumbersome registration procedures and other administrative red tape undermine the creation of formal businesses, for example, informal working conditions may help to encourage entrepreneurial behaviour. A good example of this is found in South Africa, where, by avoiding formal structures, such as route concessions, licence requirements and safety regulations, entrepreneurs have created a multi-million-dollar business in mini-buses. In other instances, the use of informal structures may be driven less by a voluntary decision than by necessity. For many people, informal employment is an important livelihood strategy and plays a critical role in alleviating poverty and social hardship. However, informal work leaves people without adequate social protection and traps them in unproductive and precarious jobs. In these cases, the lack of formal structures is a reason for, not the solution to, lagging economic development. n What problems are Many people depend on informal employment for a living, but informal work associated with has serious consequences for both individuals and society. Beyond earning informal work? levels, informal employment makes basic rights vulnerable and difficult to defend. As such, it can be a major cause of poverty in other ways besides income. Most of those who work informally are insufficiently protected from the various risks to which they are exposed: illness or health problems, unsafe working conditions and possible loss of earnings. This is particularly important for the poor, whose labour is by far their most significant asset. For society as a whole, pervasive informal employment undermines the ability of the state to ensure that workers have fair working conditions, including appropriate working hours and safety regulations, and that they receive adequate pay. Persistently high levels of informal employment reduce fiscal revenues and the ability to develop social security systems based on taxes and contributions. They also imply an inadequate use of available human resources as informal jobs are believed to be associated with a loss of efficiency and productivity. In addition, the size and composition of informal employment influence the growth pattern of an economy. It is unclear whether or not informal employment represents a drag on productivity or could, at least temporarily, be an engine of growth. For example, many observers argue that a high degree of informal employment may reduce the competitiveness of an economy, since informal firms prefer to stay small, have less access to inputs, and cannot engage in formal business relationships, all factors that reduce their productivity. Others emphasise that in emerging economies, such as China, informal employment allows the necessary flexibility to produce innovative entrepreneurs who boost growth. Whatever the validity of these two opposing views – small firms characterised by low-productivity vs. innovative entrepreneurs with high levels of flexibility – it is widely accepted 4 n © OECD 2009
  • 5. Policy Brief IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS that informal employment is an important issue to which policy makers must respond. n Is informal In spite of its growing importance even in some OECD countries, informal employment linked employment remains particularly problematic in developing countries. The to poverty? majority of the 1.7 billion poor living on less than two dollars a day depend almost exclusively on their labour for survival, emphasising the importance of employment for poverty reduction and economic development. A general lack of formal employment and the limited coverage and effectiveness of social security systems imply that the poor often have to undertake any type of work simply to sustain themselves and their families. Dismissed workers frequently have to accept the first available job, even if it is of a lower quality than the one they have just lost. Certain groups, such as young people and women, require specific attention, as they are over-represented among the informally employed. Women seem to be disproportionately involved in the most vulnerable forms of informal employment. Until recently, researchers and policy makers concentrated chiefly on gender differences in labour-market participation and the barriers that women face in employment. Although this remains an important concern, a second aspect of labour-market outcomes should be added: gender differences in the quality of jobs and inequality of access to good, secure and well-paid jobs. Understanding why women are over-represented in informal work is of primary importance for designing more effective policies that allow a country’s workforce, including women, to engage in productive activities. Even though informal employment is pervasive in many low and middle- income countries, it is not an acceptable foundation for sound and sustainable development. However, simply abolishing micro-enterprises or informal wage work is not a viable policy response. On the contrary, such measures would result in significant social costs and represent a huge challenge for public expenditure. n How can we address Despite the fact that informal employment can be a shock-absorber in times the challenges of economic crisis, it is not a substitute for policies addressing the increased posed by informal risk of poverty in the current recession. Informal work does offer temporary employment? job prospects, but a rise in the level of informal employment would not be good news for developing countries. Given its association with low-quality, high-risk jobs and insufficient social protection, a growing informal sector might well be accompanied by a substantial increase in the level of poverty in a country. Still, informal employment can be expected to influence labour markets for many years to come. Governments should face this reality and incorporate this understanding into their policy making. Many reforms in the past have failed to deliver successful results, largely because they were not specifically targeted to the different types of informal work that exist. It is important © OECD 2009 n 5
  • 6. Policy Brief IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS to find the right balance between guaranteeing social protection for those who are excluded from formal structures and encouraging those who have voluntarily left the formal sector to return to it. The focus of policy interventions should rest on providing jobs that are more productive and offer adequate social protection. Mainstream policy recommendations remain part of the necessary policy mix. Macroeconomic stability, structural policies aimed at creating formal jobs and easing mobility, and poverty-alleviation policies that provide risk- management and social protection for the poor are desirable. But business- as-usual will not do. Linking employment, growth and poverty-reduction also requires providing tools to reduce risk for those informal workers in danger of falling into poverty and easing mobility between formal and informal work. The first step toward reducing levels of informal employment is to reinforce the advantages of working in the formal sector. People who have chosen to leave the formal sector must be given incentives to rejoin it. Benefits should be linked to social contributions, while administrative procedures, such as business and workers’ registration, should be simplified. Apart from positive incentives, reducing informal employment also requires strengthening enforcement mechanisms. However, policies need to address those who have no choice but to work informally. These people need a different approach from those who voluntarily opt out of the formal sector. Poverty-alleviation programmes can provide some assistance to those whose options for entering the labour market are limited. Sustainable poverty-reduction also requires interventions to increase the earning capacity of informal workers. A better understanding of the complexity of informal employment and a more nuanced approach to addressing the specific needs of informal workers are urgently needed. Informal employment comprises different phenomena that require distinct policy approaches. A critical first step is to identify the types of informal employment present in each particular country. A three-pronged strategy can then be adapted to the specific situation in a country: 1. For the world’s poor, working informally is often the only way to participate in the labour market. Policies should thus try to unlock these people from their low-productivity activities, enable them to be more productive and provide them with opportunities to climb the social ladder. Specific recommendations include active labour-market policies, such as training and skill-development programmes, that re-open the doors to the formal sector. 2. If informal employment is a deliberate choice to avoid taxes or administrative burdens, governments should aim to establish efficient formal structures that encourage people to join or rejoin the formal market. Countries should aim to introduce formal structures that can offer the same, or higher, levels of the flexibility and efficiency that informal channels may provide. In this way, informal workers, who frequently have strong innovation and growth potential, can more effectively contribute to a country’s overall competitiveness. Targeting those who voluntarily opt out of the formal sector also involves establishing credible enforcement mechanisms. This entails 6 n © OECD 2009
  • 7. Policy Brief IS INFORMAL NORMAL? TOWARD MORE AND BETTER JOBS spending more resources on labour inspections, for example, that will help identify law breakers and increase compliance with a country’s rules and regulations. 3. In many low-income countries, informal employment is mainly a consequence of insufficient job creation in the formal economy. While employment levels in the world have largely followed the growth in working-age populations, there is a need for a general push for more employment opportunities within the formal sector. Governments should support small businesses in complying with formal requirements and encourage large companies to create formal employment opportunities. Targeted policies can do much to reduce the level of informal employment in a country, but they are no substitute for trust. A thriving informal sector is, above all, an expression of a lack of trust in public institutions, a negative perception of the role of the state, and limited understanding of the benefits derived from social security. It is basically a sign of a broken social contract. Restoring that contract requires a change in people’s attitudes and beliefs. More innovative policies, such as information campaigns on the benefits of formal work and the risks of informal employment, can prompt that kind of change. n For further For further information regarding this Policy Brief, please contact: information Johannes Jütting, e-mail: Johannes.jutting@oecd.org, tel: +33 1-45-24-87-25; or Juan de Laiglesia, e-mail: juan.delaiglesia@oecd.org, tel : +33 1-45-24-93-82. © OECD 2009 n 7
  • 8. The OECD Policy Briefs are available on the OECD’s Internet site: www.oecd.org/publications/Policybriefs ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT For further reading Jütting, J. and Laiglesia, J. R. De (2009), Is Informal Normal? Towards More and Better Jobs in Developing Countries, OECD Development Centre, ISBN 978-92-64-05923-8, € 24, 163 pages. Jütting, J., Parlevliet, J. and Xenogiani, T. (2008), Informal Employment – Reloaded, IDS Bulletin, Vol. 39, pp. 28-37. OECD (2008), OECD Employment Outlook 2008, ISBN 978-92-64-046324-0, € 80, 368 pages. OECD (2007), Development Centre Studies: Informal Institutions: How Social Norms Help or Hinder Development, ISBN 978-92-64-03906-3, € 35, 174 pages. OECD (2008), Report on Informal Employment in Romania, Working Paper No. 271. OECD publications can be purchased from our online bookshop: www.oecd.org/bookshop OECD publications and statistical databases are also available via our online library: www.SourceOECD.org Where to contact us? OECD HEADQUARTERS GERMANY JAPAN MEXICO UNITED STATES 2, rue André-Pascal OECD Berlin Centre OECD Tokyo Centre OECD Mexico Centre OECD Washington Center 75775 PARIS Cedex 16 Schumannstrasse 10 Nippon Press Center Bldg Av. Presidente Mazaryk 526 2001 L Street N.W., Suite 650 Tel.: (33) 01 45 24 81 67 D-10117 BERLIN 2-2-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Colonia: Polanco WASHINGTON DC. 20036-4922 Fax: (33) 01 45 24 19 50 Tel.: (49-30) 288 8353 Chiyoda-ku C.P. 11560 MEXICO, D.F. Tel.: (1-202) 785 6323 E-mail: sales@oecd.org Fax: (49-30) 288 83545 TOKYO 100-0011 Tel.: (00.52.55) 9138 6233 Fax: (1-202) 785 0350 Internet: www.oecd.org E-mail: Tel.: (81-3) 5532 0021 Fax: (00.52.55) 5280 0480 E-mail: berlin.centre@oecd.org Fax: (81-3) 5532 0035 E-mail: washington.contact@oecd.org Internet: E-mail: center@oecdtokyo.org mexico.contact@oecd.org Internet: www.oecdwash.org 41 2009 01 1 P4 www.oecd.org/berlin Internet: www.oecdtokyo.org Internet: Toll free: (1-800) 456 6323 www.oecd.org/centrodemexico The OECD Policy Briefs are prepared by the Public Affairs Division, Public Affairs and Communications Directorate. They are published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General. © OECD 2009