informal economy

Developing countries have large, complex informal sectors. Informality provides workers and firms with flexibility at the cost of security, often leaving individuals worse off in the long-term. What have we learned from research on informality, and how can we use it to inform policy?

Demonetisation in India in December 2016, whilst not reflected in official GDP, led to temporary reductions in employment, output, and credit

Providing information and assistance to informal firms increases formalisation, but the cost of the intervention is likely prohibitively high