Publications on informal economy

  1. Background Paper N°6 - GEPR working paper series

    E-formalization: The Colombian experience

    30 March 2022

    Background paper for the Global Employment Policy Review (GEPR), Second edition (forthcoming).

  2. Publication

    Trainer's Guide: Formalize Your Business in the Gambia

    18 January 2022

  3. Publication

    Learner’s Handbook: Formalize Your Business in the Gambia

    18 January 2022

  4. E-formalization regional report

    Renewing the social contract through e-formalization in the world of work

    03 November 2021

  5. Publication

    Improved working conditions, productivity and income for formalized women tanners

    26 October 2021

    This document is part of a series of case studies by the Enterprises Department of the ILO. Each case study presents one or several approaches that contribute to enterprise formalization across the world.

  6. Informal economy

    Angola: Study on the migration from the informal for formal economy

    20 October 2021

    This report produced by the Bureaux for Employers’ Activities (ACT/EMP) of the ILO with the Angolan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIA) is seeking to contribute to design a strategy to enable the gradual transition from the informal to the formal economy in Angola

  7. Publication

    Progressive access to finance and support to encourage enterprise formalization: Experiences from Egypt and Chile

    05 October 2021

    This document is part of a series of case studies by the Enterprises Department of the ILO. Each case study presents one or several approaches that contribute to enterprise formalization across the world.

  8. Publication

    The Informal Economy in Kenya

    20 September 2021

  9. ILO Working paper 39

    Welfare Effects of Unemployment Benefits when Informality is High

    05 August 2021

    We analyze for the first time how the high incidence of informal employment affects the welfare effects of unemployment benefits (UBs) outside of developed economies, exploiting matched administrative and survey data from the UB scheme of Mauritius. We find positive and large welfare effects, because the consumption drop at layoff exceeds what studies find for high-income countries, while the efficiency costs are comparatively low. In addition, UB recipients appear to move into informal employment out of economic necessity, rather than as part of a strategic choice.

  10. Joint UNDP/ ILO publication

    Informality and Social Protection in African Countries: A Forward-looking Assessment of Contributory Schemes

    01 February 2021