Linking the Formal and Informal Economy: Concepts and Policies (Unu-Wider Studies in Development Economics Unu-Wider and EGDI) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199237298 ISBN 13: 9780199237296

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2007

Synopsis

The concepts of formal and informal remain central to the theory and practice of development more than half a century after they were introduced into the debate. They help structure the way that statistical services collect data on the economies of developing countries, the development of theoretical and empirical analysis, and, most important, the formulation and implementation of policy. This volume brings together a significant new collection of studies on formality and informality in developing countries. The volume is multidisciplinary in nature, with contributions from anthropologists, economists, sociologists, and political scientists. It contains contributions from among the very best analysts in development studies. Between them the chapters argue for moving beyond the formal-informal dichotomy. Useful as it has proven to be, a more nuanced approach is needed in light of conceptual and empirical advances, and in light of the policy failures brought about by a characterization of the 'informal' as 'disorganized'. The wealth of empirical information in these studies, and in the literature more widely, can be used to develop guiding principles for intervention that are based on ground level reality.

About this title

About the Author

Basudeb Guha-Khasnobis is a Senior Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER. He is a PhD from the University of Rochester and worked for IGIDR (Mumbai), ICRIER (New Delhi) and The Exim Bank of India. His research interests include international economics, development economics and financial economics.

Ravi Kanbur is T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs, International Professor of Applied Economics and Management, and Professor of Economics at Cornell University, and previously Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick, and Chief Economist for Africa at the World Bank.

Elinor Ostrom was Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science at Indiana University. She was also Co-Director, Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis and Co-Director, Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change (CIPEC) at Indiana University. She was a member of the Expert Group on Development Issues of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199237298
• ISBN 13: 9780199237296
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 312
• Editor: Kanbur Ravi