formalisation

In Mexico, reducing tariffs on imported inputs helped workers move from informal to formal employment, particularly benefiting skilled workers who are most complementary to foreign technology.

New evidence from Chile finds that in-situ slum upgrading – combining physical infrastructure improvements with the formalisation of land tenure within the slum – delivers larger gains in local economic development, both within treated slums and in s...

Evidence from Mexico suggests that carefully designed outsourcing regulation can significantly improve wages without reducing employment in developing countries.

Slum upgrading programmes improve living conditions for low-skilled residents, but potentially at the cost of formal development and inefficient land allocation. Evidence from Indonesia reveals that these costs are largest close to the city centre, s...

Taxes on consumption help governments in developing countries redistribute thanks to the presence of large informal sectors

How can we best incentivise bureaucrats in a formal manner that avoids concerns over corruption?

Policy interventions in non-agricultural small-scale enterprises shed light on what matters for firm growth and profitability

Lower informality does not necessarily translate to higher total factor productivity or improved welfare

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