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on Informal and Underground Economics |
| By: | Diallo, Thierno Malick,; Ronconi, Lucas, |
| Abstract: | This paper examines compliance with labour regulations across West Africa, revealing widespread and persistent gaps between legal protections and workers’ actual conditions. It highlights the need to strengthen enforcement and promote decent work to enhance both workers’ well-being and respect for the rule of law in the region. |
| Keywords: | labour standards, regulation, compliance, violation, cross section analysis, trend |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995675068702676 |
| By: | Pignatti, Clemente, |
| Abstract: | Drawing on data from the Georgian Labour Force Survey (2021–2022), this paper provides a detailed statistical profile of informal employment in Georgia and discusses its key drivers. |
| Keywords: | informal employment, informal workers, income, working conditions |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995691372702676 |
| By: | Martínez, Claudia; Perticará, Marcela; Puentes, Esteban; Vásquez, Javier |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how disability onset and subsequent administrative registration affect labor market trajectories in Chile, a middle-income country with a large informal sector. Using panel survey data linked to administrative records, we estimate dynamic employment and earnings effects around disability events. Disability onset generates sharp and persistent losses: Full-year employment falls by about 11 percentage points at onset and by 20 to 25 percentage points within six years, while formal wages decline by approximately 6% initially and by more than 30% five years later. Among those who remain employed, the probability of working informally rises over time while formal employment probability falls, indicating adjustment along the margin of employment quality. Registration is clearly endogenous: Individuals who certify display preexisting employment deterioration, which prevents a causal interpretation of the effects of registration. |
| Keywords: | Disability |
| JEL: | J14 J21 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:14575 |
| By: | Chacaltana Janampa, Juan,; Moreno, Martín, |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the private returns to education in the context of heterogeneous labour markets, using Peru as a case study. While education is widely considered a key driver of individual earnings and economic growth, its actual returns may be constrained by structural features of labour demand. Drawing on nationally representative household survey data from 2016, 2019, and 2022, we estimate Mincerian earnings equations with Heckman selection correction to assess how returns to education vary by employment status (employee vs. own account) and sector (formal vs. informal). |
| Keywords: | investment return, educational expenditure, labour demand, labour market analysis |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995661276002676 |
| By: | Dewan, Sabina,; Kashyap, Praavita, |
| Abstract: | This paper explores how the evolving platform economy is reshaping the economic landscape across Asia and the Pacific, and how countries in this diverse region are navigating emerging opportunities and challenges. It situates platform work within the broader context of the region's economic transformation toward service-led growth and highlights how varying levels of development, demographic profiles, and digital infrastructure influence how the platform economy is evolving, and how it affects employment in countries across the region. Through an analysis of legislative frameworks based on information publicly available as of August 2025, the paper presents examples of how countries in Asia and the Pacific are governing platform work. The findings reveal that while digital labour platforms offer income-generation opportunities, regulatory frameworks are evolving more slowly than the platforms themselves. The paper concludes that comprehensive governance frameworks that address legal and policy dimensions, highlight social and labour protections, and underscore the importance of social dialogue are essential for realizing decent work in the platform economy. |
| Keywords: | digital economy, decent work, digital labour platforms, legal aspect |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995694372302676 |
| By: | Forsyth, Anthony,; McCrystal, Shae, |
| Abstract: | This working paper was prepared in 2024 and reviews developments internationally since 2021relating to the exercise of the right to bargain collectively and the existence of collective agreements among workers in the platform economy. The paper builds upon ILO Working Paper80, “Realizing the Opportunities of the Platform Economy through Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining” by Felix Hadwiger published in September 2022. It provides a descriptive overview of research and developments since 2021 in the effective recognition of the right of platform workers to bargain collectively and assesses the extent of developments in law and practice relating to collective bargaining internationally since that time. The paper cites recent collective agreements and other outcomes of collective negotiations covering platform workers. It also explores developments concerning case law, effective recognition of collective bargaining for self-employed workers as well as some recent developments in competition regulation. Overall, while there have been developments in some jurisdictions relating to collective action or the effective recognition of collective bargaining for platform workers, it has not been geographically widespread and remains concentrated in the delivery/food delivery sectors. Furthermore, despite some advancements, it remains that case that most platform economy workers globally do not enjoy effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining. |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining, platform workers, labour legislation, self employed |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995660179302676 |