Informal Work in Latin America: Competing Perspectives and Recent Debates

Abstract

During the ‘lost decade’ of the 1980s, informal work and self‐employment emerged as the most prevalent forms of work throughout Latin America. In response to the economic crisis, the majority of Latin American countries adopted a series of sweeping neoliberal reforms designed to open nations to trade and investment, promote export‐led growth, and generate employment, ultimately reducing the incidence of informal work. Despite the widespread adherence to the neoliberal model and implementation of structural adjustment reforms during the past quarter century, informal work has not diminished and in much of Latin America the odds of finding ‘decent work’ are no better today than during the economic crisis of the 1980s. In light of this seeming paradox, this article offers an overview of the recent debates and controversies surrounding informal work in Latin America. Drawing on recent research, as well as reports and policy documents from key international organizations, I pose and attempt to answer four core questions: What counts as informal work? Who works informally in Latin America? Why do men and women throughout Latin America increasingly resort to informal work? What role does informal work play as a livelihood strategy in Latin America and how has this role changed in recent years?

The hidden costs of informal work: lack of social protection and subjective well-being in Colombia

“…Informal work, defined as paid-work outside the regulatory framework, covers about three-quarters of the global workforce (International Labor Organization 2012), and it is particularly concentrated in the developing world (Biles 2009;Sánchez and Alvarez 2011).…”

Land Tenure Systems in Kisumu City; The Formal-Informal Dichotomy

“…in contrast, the wider Kisumu region is ranked among the poorer regions in Kenya with an average poverty index of 48% against a national average of 29% (UN-Habitat, 2005). 10.54km2 of land for city expansion from the peri-urban zones that were predominantly rural in character. The annexed land was never planned and urbanization that continue to occur there is largely informal in character.…”

Re-thinking informal entrepreneurship: Commercial or social entrepreneurs?

“…For these neo-liberals, therefore, informal entrepreneurs are rational economic actors casting off the bureaucratic shackles of an over-regulated state (e.g., De Soto, 1989) and choosing to work in the informal economy to avoid the costs, time and effort of formal registration (Biles, 2009;De Soto, 1989Maloney, 2004;Packard, 2007;Perry and Maloney, 2007;Small Business Council, 2004).…”