Informality, growth, and development in Africa

Abstract

Typescript prepared by Minna Tokkari at UNU-WIDER. UNU-WIDER gratefully acknowledges the financial contributions to the research programme from the governments of Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER) was established by the United Nations University (UNU) as its first research and training centre and started work in Helsinki, Finland in 1985. The Institute undertakes applied research and policy analysis on structural changes affecting the developing and transitional economies, provides a forum for the advocacy of policies leading to robust, equitable and environmentally sustainable growth, and promotes capacity strengthening and training in the field of economic and social policy-making. Work is carried out by staff researchers and visiting scholars in Helsinki and through networks of collaborating scholars and institutions around the world.

Debunking Eurocentrism in Organizational Communication Theory: Marginality and Liquidities in Postcolonial Contexts

“…The informal economy includes a breadth of economic activities, enterprises, and jobs that are unregulated by the state (Women in Informal Employment Globalizing and Organizing, 2018). In West Africa, the largest and most dynamic sectors are informal (Benjamin & Mbaye, 2014). Despite their notable role in the informal economy, marginal organizational actors are absent in organizational communication theory.…”

Defining informality vs mitigating its negative effects

“…For example, when tax and social security obligations are linked to firm size, firms have an incentive to underreport the number of their employees or the level of sales or profits, or a single employer may create numerous firms, each falling below the threshold for reporting or taxation. Applying the legal or firm-size definitions would identify these firms as informal, but in reality they act more like large firms in terms of their resources, investment decisions, and management [7].…”

Investigating into the Employment and Income Inequality Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Several studies call into question the hopeful "Africa Rising" narrative (Obeng-Odoom, 2015;Nega & Schneider, 2016). Despite the rapid economic growth over the past decade, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) still faces numerous employment and inequality challenges (Benjamin & Mbaye, 2014;Noman & Stigitz, 2017;Seguino, 2020). Employment and income equality are two sides of the same coin where employment provides income to satisfy basic necessities, empowers citizens, increases social cohesion, helps to alleviate poverty and reduces the income inequality gap (Lugo, 2007).…”

“…Little attention has been devoted to the role of employment for a more equitable income distribution in SSA. The region has a burgeoning informal sector, where the unstable and vulnerable nature of work contributes to greater inequality (Benjamin & Mbaye, 2014;ILO, 2016).…”