The Unofficial Economy and Economic Development
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23320125 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rafael La Porta (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth), Andrei Shleifer (University of Massachusetts Dartmouth) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 2008 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 275-363 |
| Publication date | 2008-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-2303 • E-ISSN: 1533-4465 |
| Publisher | Project MUSE (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1353/eca.0.0016 |
| OpenAlex | W3121942282 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 60 |
| References cited | 8 |
In developing countries, informal firms account for up to about half of all economic activity. Using data from World Bank firm-level surveys, we find that informal firms are small and extremely unproductive compared with even the small formal firms in the sample, and especially relative to the larger formal firms. Formal firms are run by much better educated managers than informal ones and use more capital, have different customers, market their products, and use more external finance. Few formal firms have ever operated informally. This evidence supports the dual economy (“Wal-Mart”) theory of development, in which growth comes about from the creation of highly productive formal firms. Informal firms keep millions of people alive but disappear as the economy develops.
Business · Economic system · Economics · Economic Growth and Development · Islamic Finance and Banking Studies · Taxation and Compliance Studies
From LinkedIn to Labor Statistics
Spatial Patterns of Development
Evaluating the relationship between marginalization and participation in undeclared work
Who creates jobs in developing countries
Urban informalities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Trade, informal employment and labor adjustment costs
Remittances and the informal economy
Informalidad o dualismo en las manufacturas mexicanas
Enlisting Employees in Improving Payroll Tax Compliance
Informal Work in Developing Countries
Human Capital and Regional Development
Firms, Informality, and Development
Austerity Plans and Tax Evasion
Effects of Informal Competition on Formal Firm Revenue Quantiles
Beyond the formal–informal divide
Abate, bribe or quit
Does tourism activity reduce the size of the informal economy? Capturing long-term heterogeneous linkages around the world
Out of the shadow
Informality, self‐employment and heterogeneous managerial ability
The Jedi path to formal economy
Does competition from informal firms encourage the formal firms to obtain quality certificates
Foreign ownership and firm performance
Formal Firms with Bribery in a Dynamic Business Environment
Registration at founding and firm performance
Worlds apart? The World Bank’s business rankings and small entrepreneurship in Tajikistan
Rethinking the sustainable livelihoods framework
Women in development minerals
SMEs and economic growth in the Brazilian micro-regions
The gender labor productivity gap across informal firms
Informality and the labor market effects of financial crises
Taxing the unobservable
The Benefits of Formalization
Productivity gaps at formal and informal microfirms
Are Large Informal Firms More Productive than the Small Informal Firms? Evidence from Firm-Level Surveys in Africa
Returns to Micro-Entrepreneurship in an Emerging Economy
Rethinking Indonesia’s Informal Sector
How productive is public investment? Evidence from formal and informal production in India
The agricultural productivity gap
Productivity, non-compliance and the minimum wage
What you do (not) get when expanding the net - Evidence from forced taxpayer registrations in South Africa
A structural analysis of firms’ transition from informality to formality in Nigeria
Skill bias, financial frictions, and selection into entrepreneurship
Does informality facilitate inflation stability
Do Global Value Chains Enhance Economic Upgrading? A Long View
Informality in business, survival modes, and state absence in Somalia
El estudio de las organizaciones en economías informales
Breaking barriers
Are large firms born or made? Evidence from developing countries
Evaluating the effects of Small Business Administration lending on growth
Informality, regulation and productivity
Subcontracting to the informal economy in East Java, Indonesia
How does competition from informal firms impact research and development by formal manufacturing small and medium enterprises in the developing and emerging economies
Endogenous peer effects and level of informality
Formalization and its Discontents
Informality and Welfare
Young Adults and Labor Markets in Africa
How Business is Done in the Developing World
"The Missing "Missing Middle
Informality and Development
Transitions between informal and formal employment
Plants and Productivity in International Trade
Dodging the grabbing hand
What causes firms to hide output? The determinants of informality
Industrialization and the Big Push
Debt Enforcement around the World
The Power of Productivity
The Unofficial Economy in Transition
The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins
| Unique citing works | 60 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,75 |
| Citation span | 2010 - 2026 (17) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 51 |