Micro-Determinants of Informal Employment in the Middle East and North Africa Region

This note assesses the main micro?determinants of informal employment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from a human development stand point. It's main purpose is to quantify the patterns of labor informality (defined as the share of all employment with no access to social security) according to age, gender, education level, employment sector, profession, marital status, employment status, and geographic area in a selected group of countries in the region. Results indicate that the size of the public sector and the size of the agriculture sector are perhaps the main correlates of informality in the region. Countries where agricultural employment still constitutes a large share of overall employment (such as Morocco and Yemen) are associated with higher levels of overall informality. On the contrary, countries with larger public sectors and more urbanized such as Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, display lower levels of overall informality. The existence of a large public sector, still associated with generous benefits and better employment quality, creates an important segmentation between public and private employment in many MENA countries. Informality rates are very high among youth between ages fifteen and twenty-four. After age twenty-four, informality decreases rapidly until individuals reach prime working age (forty to forty?five years). This rapid decrease in informality rates goes hand in hand with a rapid increase in public sector employment, suggesting that informal workers enter into public sector jobs as they move from youth into adulthood. Results also indicate that the average worker in the informal sector is disadvantaged versus the average worker in the formal sector, as they are uncovered against social risks and are generally employed in low-productivity/low pay jobs.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Tanabe, Kimie, Angel-Urdinola, Diego F.
Format:	Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012-01
Subjects:	ACCOUNTING, AGE GROUP, AGGREGATE INCOME, AVERAGE WAGE, CIVIL SERVICE, CLERKS, DAY LABORERS, DEGREES, DISABILITY, DOMESTIC WORKERS, EARLY RETIREMENT, EARNING, ECONOMIC GROWTH, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, EMPLOYMENT [ALTERNATIVE, EMPLOYMENT CREATION, EMPLOYMENT GROWTH, EMPLOYMENT PATTERNS, EMPLOYMENT RATE, EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP, EMPLOYMENT SHARE, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, EQUITY ISSUES, EXCESSIVE REGULATION, EXPECTED WAGE, EXPENDITURES, FEMALE PARTICIPATION, FIRM LEVEL, FIRM SIZE, FORMAL LABOR MARKET, GENDER GROUPS, HEALTH INSURANCE, HIGHER EDUCATION, HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, HOUSEHOLD SURVEY, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, HUMAN RESOURCE, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT, INCOME SECURITY, INFORMAL ECONOMY, INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT, INFORMAL LABOR MARKETS, INFORMAL SECTOR, INFORMAL SECTOR WORKERS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE, KNOWLEDGE GAP, LABOR CONTRACT, LABOR FORCE, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, LABOR LEGISLATION, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKET EXPERIENCES, LABOR MARKET INDICATORS, LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES, LABOR MARKET REFORMS, LABOR SUPPLY, LABOUR, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LITERATURE, LIVING CONDITIONS, LOW INVOLVEMENT, MALE WORKER, MATERNITY LEAVE, MORTALITY, OCCUPATION, POST SECONDARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIME AGE, PRIVATE EMPLOYMENT, PRIVATE FIRMS, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR JOBS, PRIVATE SECTOR WORKERS, PROBIT REGRESSION, PRODUCTIVITY, PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, PUBLIC SECTOR EMPLOYMENT, PUBLIC SECTOR JOBS, RESEARCHERS, RETIREMENT, RURAL EMPLOYMENT, RURAL WORKERS, SCHOOLS, SELF EMPLOYED, SELF EMPLOYED WORKERS, SELF EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL PROTECTION, SOCIAL SECURITY, SPORTS, TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT, TEMPORARY WORKS, TERTIARY EDUCATION, TERTIARY SECTOR, TOTAL EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED POPULATION, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, UNIVERSITY EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY GRADUATES, UNPAID FAMILY WORKERS, UNPAID WORKERS, URBAN EMPLOYMENT, URBAN WORKERS, WAGE DETERMINATION, WAGE DISTRIBUTION, WAGE RATES, WORKER, WORKER PRODUCTIVITY, WORKING, WORKING CONDITION, YOUNGER WORKERS,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/843621468275089806/Micro-determinants-of-informal-employment-in-the-Middle-East-and-North-Africa-region https://hdl.handle.net/10986/26828
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