Briefing note

Theory of Change: Enterprise formalization for decent work

23 September 2021

Publication

The Informal Economy in Kenya

20 September 2021

Publicación

Child labour and family dynamics - Executive summary

20 September 2021

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.

ILO News

ILO Pasifika Update August 2021

02 August 2021

In this edition of the ILO Pacific Newsletter, you will find updates on events and other news highlights of ILO’s work in the Pacific from April to July 2021.

ILO Working paper 38

Freelance platform work in the Russian Federation: 2009–2019

26 July 2021

This paper traces the development of freelance platform work in the Russian Federation based on unique data from four online surveys conducted over the period 2009 and 2019 via the leading platform for creative and knowledge-based work and analyses the working conditions and well-being of the workers.

International Labour Review, Centenary Collection (2021), No. 1

Introduction: The long discourse on informality as reflected in selected articles of the International Labour Review

19 July 2021

This article presents a Centenary Issue on Informality to mark the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Review (ILR). The issue brings together ten articles published in the ILR between 1975 and 2016 that are de­voted exclusively to the analysis of informality. This introduction begins with an analytical framework, considers the origins of the informality discourse and then discusses the articles in this Centenary Issue, locating them in the broader literature through illustrative rather than comprehensive referencing. It concludes by looking ahead to what the coming decades of analysis and pol­icy discourse may bring.

Guidebook for policymakers, workers’ and employers’ organizations and other stakeholders

Extending social security to workers in the informal economy: Lessons from international experience

29 June 2021

For most workers in the informal economy, the lack of social protection is a challenge not only in their daily struggles to make ends meet but in their aspirations to obtain decent work, rights and dignity. For the societies in which they live, the lack of social protection coverage weakens social justice and undermines inclusive growth and the realization of human rights.

Training Policy Brief

How to reduce undeclared work in the Republic of Croatia?

23 June 2021

Undeclared work is not a foreign phenomenon in the Republic of Croatia. Various reasons lead to its appearance. It has negative consequences for the entire community. On the one hand, employers face cases of unfair competition, workers suffer from insecurity in terms of social dimensions, while the state is deprived of a part of the income, the investment of which would bring numerous welcome benefits to society. Undeclared work leads to the creation of a practice of tax evasion, noncompliance with regulations governing labor relations, especially the protection of workers, which in this case is violated. Over time the question arises as what measures are sufficiently effective for combatting undeclared work.

ILO Working Paper 33

Preferential tax regimes for MSMEs: Operational aspects, impact evidence and policy implications

17 June 2021