Opting for Exit: Informalization, Social Policy Discontent, and Lack of Good Governance
Veröffentlichungsdatum
2020-03-23
Autoren
Zusammenfassung
The informal sector challenges economic growth and hinders the abatement of income disparities in developing countries. This study argues that a weak and poorly governed welfare state can cause the informal sector to increase when individuals use it as an exit option from an unsatisfying welfare system. The article explores how the welfare state’s benefit structure and citizens’ trust in institutions to deliver public goods affect the likelihood of informality. A logistic hierarchical model, based on cross-sectional survey data from Latin America and the Caribbean and descriptive panel data from Brazil, is used to test the hypothesis. Findings reveal that social policy discontent, low trust, an elitist distribution of welfare benefits, and dysfunctional institutions increase the likelihood of being informally employed. However, workers with greater agency—the better-educated—seem notably less likely to informalize when social policy benefits are targeted toward their own socioeconomic group.
Schlagwörter
Informal sector
;
Institutions
;
Latin America
;
The Caribbean
;
Preferences
;
Welfare State
Verlag
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Institution
Fachbereich
Dokumenttyp
Artikel/Aufsatz
Zeitschrift/Sammelwerk
Startseite
1
Endseite
28
Zweitveröffentlichung
Ja
Dokumentversion
Postprint
Lizenz
Sprache
Englisch
Dateien![Vorschaubild]()
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Name
Berens_Opting for exit_2020.pdf
Size
778.13 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum
(MD5):8cf5105c396f9583774e4ea606e9ece3