Is Informal Normal? Towards More and Better Jobs in Developing Countries
Employment has a key role to play in reducing poverty and improving well-being. In the context of the OECD Development Centre’s Programme of Work 2007-2008, this study sheds new light on an old topic: how can we deal better with the reality of labour markets in developing countries with a view to achieving the Millennium Development Goals? The study synthesises and builds on three country reports – Informal Employment in Romania; Internal Migration and Labour Markets in China; and Integrating the Employment and Social Development Agendas in Mexico. It also draws on insights from an international policy dialogue event on “Creating more and better jobs: What do we know, what can we do?”, jointly organised in Rabat, Morocco, by the OECD Development Centre and the World Bank in May 2008. The result is a report that makes concrete recommendations on how to provide incentives for formalisation while improving productivity and social protection for those who will remain informal for a long time to come. WIEGO's Marty Chen participated in the policy dialogue event which influenced the creation of this report and said, “This volume is an important contribution to the current policy debates on the informal economy. It recommends providing support to the working poor in the informal economy, making formal structures more efficient and flexible and creating more formal jobs.”
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