Informal Economy in Egypt
The informal Economy in Egypt, can it be an engine for poverty reduction.
Sabreen Mahmoud
900072036
Econ 308
Fall 2010
Dr Magda Asssaad
The informal economy definition is a very wide one. It is difficult to define it because of the agreement on the activities to be deemed informal make it very hard. There are many definitions agree that the informal sector occurs outside the legal frame work. It was about 30 years later when the concept of informal sector is introduced by the (ILO) to describe the activities of working poor who were working very hard, but who were not recognized, recorded, protected or regulated by the authority, (ILO). There are two types of informal economy. The first one is the survival activities such as casual jobs, unpaid jobs, temporary jobs, subsistence agriculture, multiple job holding. The second is the unofficial earning strategies such as unofficial business activities: avoidance of labor regulation and other government or institutional regulations, tax evasion, no registration of the company, and underground activities: crime, crime, corruption - activities not registered by statistical offices. (“Concept of Informal Sector”). According to ILO, there are many features that describe informal economy such as easy access to the activity, usage of the local resources, family ownership of the enterprises, reduced scale of activity, labor-intensive activities, non-regulated competitive market, Low qualifications and skills of the workers.
The informal sector includes two types of employment the self-employed, unpaid family workers and wage-employed workers, causal workers, part-time and temporarily formal sector workers, home workers, who work from home and mostly women. The informal sector are seen in our daily life including garbage collectors, waste recycles, vendors of vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, snack-food. The work process of those workers is affected by the absence of institutional regulations. Those
Sabreen Mahmoud
900072036
Econ 308
Fall 2010
Dr Magda Asssaad
The informal economy definition is a very wide one. It is difficult to define it because of the agreement on the activities to be deemed informal make it very hard. There are many definitions agree that the informal sector occurs outside the legal frame work. It was about 30 years later when the concept of informal sector is introduced by the (ILO) to describe the activities of working poor who were working very hard, but who were not recognized, recorded, protected or regulated by the authority, (ILO). There are two types of informal economy. The first one is the survival activities such as casual jobs, unpaid jobs, temporary jobs, subsistence agriculture, multiple job holding. The second is the unofficial earning strategies such as unofficial business activities: avoidance of labor regulation and other government or institutional regulations, tax evasion, no registration of the company, and underground activities: crime, crime, corruption - activities not registered by statistical offices. (“Concept of Informal Sector”). According to ILO, there are many features that describe informal economy such as easy access to the activity, usage of the local resources, family ownership of the enterprises, reduced scale of activity, labor-intensive activities, non-regulated competitive market, Low qualifications and skills of the workers.
The informal sector includes two types of employment the self-employed, unpaid family workers and wage-employed workers, causal workers, part-time and temporarily formal sector workers, home workers, who work from home and mostly women. The informal sector are seen in our daily life including garbage collectors, waste recycles, vendors of vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, snack-food. The work process of those workers is affected by the absence of institutional regulations. Those
Cited: Concept of Informal Sector”. World Bank - ECA, "Informal Sector in Transition Economies. December 13th, 2010 United Nations Economic and Social Council,” Poverty and the Informal Sector”E/ESCAP/CPR(3)/1. 2 October , 2006. El Mahdi, .Alia , “ Towards Decent Work in the Informal Sector: The Case of Egypt”. Employment paper 2002/5. International Labor Conference 90th Session 2002 “ Decent Work and the Informal Economy” Report VI. United Nations Economic and Social Council,” Poverty and the Informal Sector” E/ESCAP/CPR(3)/1. 2 October , 2006. Galal, Ahmed, “The Economics of Formalization: Potential Winners and Losers from Formalization in Egypt, ECES, /Lld, working paper no.95 March ,2004.