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http://hdl.handle.net/10419/57811
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| Title: | | Revealed informal activity  |
| Authors: | | Dimova, Ralitza Gang, Ira N. Landon-Lane, John |
| Issue Date: | | 2011 |
| Series/Report no.: | | Arbeiten aus dem Osteuropa-Institut Regensburg, Arbeitsbereich Wirtschaft, Migration und Integration 296 |
| Abstract: | | What does it mean to be in the informal sector? Many characterizations have been used in the literature, for example, firms that are unregistered or employ a small workforce or firms/economic enterprises that do not have access to formal capital markets. But many people participate in both formal and informal activities, while classification of partici-pation is often based on primary employment. This creates limitations to the analytical power of existing measures of informality. We develop a method for assigning house-holds to the informal sector by inferring informal sector activity using income and ex-penditure surveys. We apply this method to the case of Bulgaria using LSMS income and expenditure surveys before and after a significant economic reform and compare it to those made using other indicators of informal sector activity. Our work shows that the informal sector acts as a buffer for households during periods of crisis when formal sector employment opportunities are limited. It shows the limitations of alternative styl-ized measures of informality in assessing the vulnerability of households involved in the informal sector, especially during periods of extreme economic hardship. |
| Document Type: | | Working Paper |
| Appears in Collections: | | Working Papers, Osteuropa-Institut Regensburg (OEI)
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