Discussion Papers

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7587

The Informal Labour Market in India: Transitory or Permanent Employment for Migrants?

Pramod N. (Raja) Junankar, Abu S. Shonchoy

published in: IZA Journal of Labor & Development, 2014, 3:9

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7555

China's 2008 Labor Contract Law: Implementation and Implications for China's Workers

Mary Gallagher, John T. Giles, Albert Park, Meiyan Wang

revised version published in: Human Relations, 2015, 68 (2), 197-235

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7553

Entrepreneurship and the Business Environment in Africa: An Application to Ethiopia

Zuzana Brixiova Schwidrowski, Mthuli Ncube

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7507

Entrepreneurship and Economic Development: Theory, Evidence and Policy

Wim Naudé

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7402

A Helping Hand or the Long Arm of the Law? Experimental Evidence on What Governments Can Do to Formalize Firms

Gustavo Henrique de Andrade, Miriam Bruhn, David McKenzie

published in: World Bank Economic Review, 2016, 30 (1), 24-54

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7189

Living on the Edge: Youth Entry, Career and Exit in Drug-Selling Gangs

Leandro Carvalho, Rodrigo R. Soares

published in: Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2016, 121, 77-98

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7149

Who Suffers the Penalty? A Panel Data Analysis of Earnings Gaps in Vietnam

Huu Chi Nguyen, Christophe Jalil Nordman, François Roubaud

published in: Journal of Development Studies, 2013, 49 (12), 1694-1710

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7110

A Roadmap to Vocational Education and Training Systems Around the World

Werner Eichhorst, Núria Rodríguez-Planas, Ricarda Schmidl, Klaus F. Zimmermann

published as 'A Roadmap to Vocational Education and Training in Industrialized Countries' in: Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 2015, 68 (2), 314-337

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7106

Corruption, Shadow Economy and Income Inequality: Evidence from Asia

Saibal Kar, Shrabani Saha

published in: Economic Systems, 2021, 45 (2), 100774

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7057

Heterogeneity in Subjective Wellbeing: An Application to Occupational Allocation in Africa

Paolo Falco, William F. Maloney, Bob Rijkers, Mauricio Sarrias

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7042

Effect of Perceptions and Behaviour on Access to and Use of Financial Service: Evidence from South Africa

Samuel Annim, Thankom Gopinath Arun, Philip Kostov

IZA Discussion Paper No. 7035

Labor Market Institutions and Informality in Transition and Latin American Countries

Hartmut Lehmann, Alexander Muravyev

published in: Froelich, M., Kaplan, D., Pages, C., Rigolini, J. and D. Robalino (Eds.): Social Insurance ad Labor Markets: How to Protect Workers while Creating Good Jobs, Oxford University Press, 2014, 375-410.

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6979

Loan Regulation and Child Labor in Rural India

Basab Dasgupta, Christian Zimmermann

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6890

Youth Unemployment and Vocational Training

Costanza Biavaschi, Werner Eichhorst, Corrado Giulietti, Michael Jan Kendzia, Alexander Muravyev, Janneke Pieters, Núria Rodríguez-Planas, Ricarda Schmidl, Klaus F. Zimmermann

substantially revised version published in: Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics, 2013, 9 (1-2), 1-157

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6836

How Different Are the Wage Curves for Formal and Informal Workers? Evidence from Turkey

Badi H. Baltagi, Yusuf Soner Baskaya, Timur Hulagu

published in: Papers in Regional Science, 2013, 92, 271-283.

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6785

Subcontracting and the Size and Composition of the Informal Sector: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

Ana Isabel Moreno-Monroy, Janneke Pieters, Abdul Azeez Erumban

published as 'Formal Sector Subcontracting and Informal Sector Employment in Indian Manufacturing' in: IZA Journal of Labor & Development, 2014, 3(22)

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6660

Unemployment Insurance, Job Search and Informal Employment

David N. Margolis, Lucas Navarro, David A. Robalino

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6653

Does It Pay to Be a Cadre? Estimating the Returns to Being a Local Official in Rural China

Jian Zhang, John T. Giles, Scott Rozelle

Journal of Comparative Economics, 2012, 40 (3), 337-356

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6617

Life Skills, Employability and Training for Disadvantaged Youth: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation Design

Pablo Ibarrarán, Laura Ripani, Bibiana Taboada, Juan Miguel Villa, Brígida García

published in: IZA Journal of Labor & Development, 2014, 3:10

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6604

The Formal Sector Wage Premium and Firm Size for Self-employed Workers

Olivier B. Bargain, Eliane El Badaoui, Prudence Magejo, Eric Strobl, Frank Walsh

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6599

From Polygyny to Serial Monogamy: A Unified Theory of Marriage Institutions

David de la Croix, Fabio Mariani

published in: Review of Economic Studies, 2015, 82(2), 565-607

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6556

The Formal/Informal Employment Earnings Gap: Evidence from Turkey

Aysit Tansel, Elif Öznur Acar

published in: John A. Bishop and Juan Gabriel Rodrigue (eds.), Inequality after the 20th Century: Papers from the Sixth ECINEQ Meeting (Research on Economic Inequality Book 24) ,2016, 123-156

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6522

On the Reversibility of Structural Reforms

Nauro F. Campos, Roman Horváth

published in: Economics Letters, 2012, 117 (1), 217 - 219

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6442

The Demand for, and Consequences of, Formalization among Informal Firms in Sri Lanka

Suresh de Mel, David McKenzie, Christopher Woodruff

published in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2013, 5 (2), 122-50

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6439

The Impact of Colombia's Pension and Health Insurance Systems on Informality

Valentina Calderón-Mejía, Ioana E. Marinescu

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6406

Self-Employment, Wage Employment and Informality in a Developing Economy

John Bennett, Matthew D. Rablen

published in: Oxford Economic Papers, 2015, 67 (2), 227-244

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6347

Empowering Women through Education and Influence: An Evaluation of the Indian Mahila Samakhya Program

Eeshani Kandpal, Kathy Baylis, Mary P. Arends-Kuenning

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6313

Does Formal Work Pay? The Role of Labor Taxation and Social Benefit Design in the New EU Member States

Johannes Koettl, Michael Weber

published in: Research in Labor Economics, Vol. 34, 2012

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6271

Labor Mobility across the Formal/Informal Divide in Turkey: Evidence from Individual Level Data

Aysit Tansel, Elif Öznur Acar

published in: Journal of Economic Studies, 2017, 44 (4), 617-635.

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6236

Migration as a Substitute for Informal Activities: Evidence from Tajikistan

Ilhom Abdulloev, Ira N. Gang, John Landon-Lane

published in: Research in Labor Economics, 2012, 34, 205-227

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6228

Tax Evasion, Minimum Wage Non-Compliance and Informality

Arnab K. Basu, Nancy H. Chau, Zahra Siddique

published in: Research in Labor Economics, 2012, 34, 1-53

IZA Discussion Paper No. 6088

The Labor Supply and Retirement Behavior of China's Older Workers and Elderly in Comparative Perspective

John T. Giles, Dewen Wang, Wei Cai

published in: M. Majmundar and J. Smith (eds.), Aging in Asia: Findings from New and Emerging Data Initiatives, Washington, DC,The National Academies Press, 2012

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5923

The Use of Violence in Illegal Markets: Evidence from Mahogany Trade in the Brazilian Amazon

Ariaster B. Chimeli, Rodrigo R. Soares

published in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2017, 9 (4), 30-57

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5917

Access to Justice and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Brazil's Special Civil Tribunals

Guilherme Lichand, Rodrigo R. Soares

published in: Journal of Law and Economics, 2014, 57 (2), 459-499

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5871

Informal Workers across Europe: Evidence from 30 Countries

Mihails Hazans

extended version published as 'Informal workers across Europe: Evidence from 30 European countries', as World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5912, 2011/12

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5845

Contractual Dualism, Market Power and Informality

Arnab K. Basu, Nancy H. Chau, Ravi Kanbur

revised version published in: Economic Journal, 2015, 125 (589), 1534 - 1573

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5767

Why Use ROSCAs When You Can Use Banks? Theory and Evidence from Ethiopia

Abbi M. Kedir, Richard Disney, Indraneel Dasgupta

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5702

The Impact of Minimum Wages on Wages, Work and Poverty in Nicaragua

Enrique Alaniz, T. H. Gindling, Katherine Terrell

published in: Labour Economics, 2011, 18 (S1), S45-S59

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5607

Revealed Informal Activity

Ralitza Dimova, Ira N. Gang, John Landon-Lane

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5499

Labor Supply and Consumption Smoothing When Income Shocks Are Non-Insurable

Alexander M. Danzer

revised version published as 'Can Secondary Jobs Smooth Consumption? Evidence from Unanticipated Wage Arrears' in: Economic Development and Cultural Changes, 2019, 67 (3), 571-594.

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5243

Corruption as a Barrier to Entry: Theory and Evidence

Nauro F. Campos, Saul Estrin, Eugenio Proto

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5053

Shadow Economy and Entrepreneurial Entry

Saul Estrin, Tomasz Mickiewicz

published in: Review of Development Economics, 2012, 16 (4), 559-578

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4918

Tax Morale and Compliance Behavior: First Evidence on a Causal Link

Martin Halla

revised version published in: B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2012, 12 (1), 1-27

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4860

The (Hidden) Financial Flows of Terrorist and Organized Crime Organizations: A Literature Review and Some Preliminary Empirical Results

Friedrich Schneider

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4843

The Link between the Intrinsic Motivation to Comply and Compliance Behavior: A Critical Appraisal of Existing Evidence

Martin Halla

published in: Friedrich Schneider (ed.), The Handbook on the Shadow Economy, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011, 375-408

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4808

Do Output Contractions Trigger Democratic Change?

Paul J. Burke, Andrew Leigh

published in: American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2010, 2 (4), 124-157

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4805

Entrepreneurship in Transition Economies: The Role of Institutions and Generational Change

Saul Estrin, Tomasz Mickiewicz

published in: Maria Minniti (ed.) 2011, The Dynamics of Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Data, Oxford, pp.181-208

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4740

Policies to Promote Growth and Economic Efficiency in Mexico

Francisco Javier Arias-Vazquez, Oliver Azuara, Pedro Bernal, James J. Heckman, Cajeme Villarreal

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4711

Is Informality Bad? Evidence from Brazil, Mexico and South Africa

Olivier B. Bargain, Prudence Magejo

published as 'Earnings Structure, Informal Employment and Self-Employment: New Evidence from Brazil, Mexico and South Africa' in: Review of Income and Wealth, 2011, 57, S100-S122

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4676

A Note on Informality in the Labor Market

Melanie Khamis

published in: Journal of International Development, 2012, 24 (7), 894-908

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4614

Is Informal Sector Work an Alternative to Workfare Benefits? The Case of Pre-Program Expansion and Economic Crisis

Melanie Khamis

published in: Review of Development Economics, 2012, 16 (4), 579–593

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4577

Do Institutions Have a Greater Effect on Female Entrepreneurs?

Saul Estrin, Tomasz Mickiewicz

published as 'Institutions and female entrepreneurship' in: Small Business Economics, 2011, 37 (4), 397-415

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4499

Village Economies and the Structure of Extended Family Networks

Manuela Angelucci, Giacomo De Giorgi, Marcos A. Rangel, Imran Rasul

published in: B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy: Contributions to Economic Analysis and Policy . 2009, 9 (1)

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4461

Is the Wage Curve Formal or Informal? Evidence for Colombia

Raul Ramos, Juan Carlos Duque, Jordi Surinach

published in: Economics Letters, 2010, 109 (2), 63-65

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4371

A Cohort Analysis of Labor Participation in Mexico, 1987-2009

Robert Duval Hernández, Pedro Orraca Romano

published in: El Trimestre Económico, 2011, 78 (2), 343-375

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4358

Time Use and Time Budgets: Improvements, Future Challenges and Recommendations

Joachim Merz

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4286

The Informal Sector Wage Gap: New Evidence Using Quantile Estimations on Panel Data

Olivier B. Bargain, Prudence Magejo

revised version published in: Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2015, 63 (1), 117-153

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4276

Institutional Development and Colonial Heritage within Brazil

Joana Naritomi, Rodrigo R. Soares, Juliano J. Assunção

published in: Journal of Economic History, 2012, 72 (2), 393-422

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4254

Job Satisfaction and the Labor Market Institutions in Urban China

John S. Heywood, W. Stanley Siebert, Xiangdong Wei

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4186

Conceptualising Informality: Regulation and Enforcement

Ravi Kanbur

IZA Discussion Paper No. 4182

Corruption and the Shadow Economy: A Structural Equation Model Approach

Andreas Buehn, Friedrich Schneider

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3916

Comparative Advantage, Segmentation and Informal Earnings: A Marginal Treatment Effects Approach

Omar Arias, Melanie Khamis

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3693

Lobbying, Corruption and Other Banes

Nauro F. Campos, Francesco Giovannoni

published as 'Political institutions, lobbying and corruption' in: Journal of Institutional Economics , 2017, 13 (4), 917-939

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3631

‘Living’ Wage, Class Conflict and Ethnic Strife

Indraneel Dasgupta

published in: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2009, 72 (2), 750-765

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3550

Formality, Informality, and Social Welfare

John Bennett

published as 'Informal Production and Labour Market Segmentation' in: Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 2011, 167 (4), 686-707

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3519

Informality and Macroeconomic Fluctuations

Norbert M. Fiess, Marco Fugazza, William F. Maloney

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3511

Who Are the Microenterprise Owners? Evidence from Sri Lanka on Tokman v. de Soto

Suresh de Mel, David McKenzie, Christopher Woodruff

published in: Josh Lerner and Antoinette Schoar (eds.) International Differences in Entrepreneurship, NBER, 2010

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3447

Tax Rates and Tax Evasion: An Empirical Analysis of the Structural Aspects and Long-Run Characteristics in Italy

Bruno Chiarini, Elisabetta Marzano, Friedrich Schneider

revised version published as 'Tax Rate and Tax Evasion: An Empirical Analysis of the Long-run Aspects in Italy', in: European Journal of Law and Economics, 35(2) 2013, 273-293

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3306

MIMIC Models, Cointegration and Error Correction: An Application to the French Shadow Economy

Andreas Buehn, Friedrich Schneider

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3282

Are Oligarchs Productive? Theory and Evidence

Yuriy Gorodnichenko, Yegor Grygorenko

published in: Journal of Comparative Economics, 2008, 36 (1), 17-42

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3193

Time Allocation between Work and Family over the Life-Cycle: A Comparative Gender Analysis of Italy, France, Sweden and the United States

Dominique Anxo, Lennart Flood, Letizia Mencarini, Ariane Pailhé, Anne Solaz, Maria Letizia Tanturri

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3179

Does It Pay Firms to Register for Taxes? The Impact of Formality on Firm Profitability

David McKenzie, Yaye Seynabou Sakho

published in: Journal of Development Economics, 2010, 91(1), 15-24

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3151

Is There an Informal Employment Wage Penalty? Evidence from South Africa

Eliane El Badaoui, Eric Strobl, Frank Walsh

published in: Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2008, 56 (3), 683–710

IZA Discussion Paper No. 3038

Comparative Analysis of Labor Market Dynamics Using Markov Processes: An Application to Informality

Mariano Bosch, William F. Maloney

published in: Labour Economics, 2010, 17 (4), 621-631

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2970

The Determinants of Rising Informality in Brazil: Evidence from Gross Worker Flows

Mariano Bosch, Edwin Goni Pacchioni, William F. Maloney

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2950

Informality as a Stepping Stone: Entrepreneurial Entry in a Developing Economy

John Bennett, Saul Estrin

published as 'Informal firms in developing countries: entrepreneurial stepping stone or consolation prize?' in Small Business Economics, 2010, 34 (1), 53-63

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2934

Returns to Capital in Microenterprises: Evidence from a Field Experiment

Suresh de Mel, David McKenzie, Christopher Woodruff

published in: Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2008, 123 (4), 1329-1372

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2921

An Extension of the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition to a Continuum of Comparison Groups

Hugo R. Nopo

published in: Economics Letters, 2008, 100 (2), 292-296

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2843

Electoral Accountability and Corruption in Local Governments: Evidence from Audit Reports

Claudio Ferraz, Frederico S. Finan

published in: American Economic Review, 2011, 101 (4), 1274-1311

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2836

Exposing Corrupt Politicians: The Effects of Brazil’s Publicly Released Audits on Electoral Outcomes

Claudio Ferraz, Frederico S. Finan

published in: Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2008, 123 (2), 703-745

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2742

Labor Retrenchment Laws and their Effect on Wages and Employment: A Theoretical Investigation

Kaushik Basu, Gary S. Fields, Shub Debgupta

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2563

Shadow Economy, Tax Morale, Governance and Institutional Quality: A Panel Analysis

Benno Torgler, Friedrich Schneider

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2541

The Impact of Tax Morale and Institutional Quality on the Shadow Economy

Benno Torgler, Friedrich Schneider

published in: Journal of Economic Psychology, 2009, 30 (2), 228-245

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2349

Competitive and Segmented Informal Labor Markets

Isabel Günther, Andrey Launov

revised version published as 'Informal employment in developing countries: Opportunity or last resort?' in: Journal of Development Economics, 2012, 97 (1), 88-98

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2315

Shadow Economies and Corruption All Over the World: What Do We Really Know?

Friedrich Schneider

published in: Economies: The Open-Access, Open-Assesment E-Journal, 2007, 1

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2313

Lobbying, Corruption and Political Influence

Nauro F. Campos, Francesco Giovannoni

published in: Public Choice, 2007, 131 (1), 1-21

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2141

The Effects of Labor Market Policies in an Economy with an Informal Sector

James Albrecht, Lucas Navarro, Susan Vroman

published in: Economic Journal, 2009, 119 (539), 1105 - 1129

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2093

Reform Redux: Measurement, Determinants and Reversals

Nauro F. Campos, Roman Horváth

published in: European Journal of Political Economy, 2012, 28 (2), 227-237

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2086

Reforms, Entry and Productivity: Some Evidence from the Indian Manufacturing Sector

Sumon K. Bhaumik, Shubhashis Gangopadhyay, Shagun Krishnan

published as 'Reforms and Entry: Some Evidence from the Indian Manufacturing Sector' in: Review of Development Economics, 2009, 13 (4), 658-672

IZA Discussion Paper No. 2008

Earnings Inequality in India: Has the Rise of Caste and Religion Based Politics in India Had an Impact?

Sumon K. Bhaumik, Manisha Chakrabarty

published in: A. Shariff and R. Besant (eds.), Handbook of Muslims in India, Oxford University Press, 2010, New Delhi

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1978

Reputations, Relationships and the Enforcement of Incomplete Contracts

W. Bentley MacLeod

published in: Journal of Economic Literature, 2007, 45(3), 595-628

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1955

Indirect Effects of an Aid Program: The Case of Progresa and Consumption

Manuela Angelucci, Giacomo De Giorgi

revised version published in: American Economic Review, 2009, 99(1), 486-508

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1936

Corruption and the Shadow Economy: An Empirical Analysis

Axel Dreher, Friedrich Schneider

published in: Public Choice, 2010, 144 (1), 215–238

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1867

The Determinants of Asset Stripping: Theory and Evidence from the Transition Economies

Nauro F. Campos, Francesco Giovannoni

published in: Journal of Law and Economics, 2006, 49 (2), 681-706

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1759

Enforcement of Regulation, Informal Labor and Firm Performance

Rita K. Almeida, Pedro Carneiro

published as 'Enforcement of labor regulation and firm size' in: Journal of Comparative Economics, 2009, 37 (1), 28-46

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1431

The Size of the Shadow Economies of 145 Countries all over the World: First Results over the Period 1999 to 2003

Friedrich Schneider

published in: Journal of Population Economics, 2007, 20 (3), 495 - 526

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1198

Contract Violations, Neighborhood Effects, and Wage Arrears in Russia

John S. Earle, Klara Sabirianova Peter

revised version published as' Complementarity and Custom in Wage Contract Violation' in: Review of Economicss and Statistics, 2009, 91(4), 832 - 849

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1111

New Mothers' Labour Force Participation in Italy: The Role of Job Characteristics

Massimiliano Bratti, Emilia Del Bono, Daniela Vuri

revised version published in: Labour, 2005, 19 (s1), 79–121

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1043

Shadow Economies around the World: What Do We Know?

Friedrich Schneider, Robert Klinglmair

published in: European Journal of Political Economy, 2005, 21 (3), 598-642

IZA Discussion Paper No. 1025

Smuggling Humans: A Theory of Debt-Financed Migration

Guido Friebel, Sergei Guriev

published in: Journal of the European Economic Association, 2006, 4 (6), 1085-1111