In our urban world, turning the makeshift and the informal into the livable and sustainable is our greatest challenge.
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Articles on informal economy
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Domestic workers in Argentina are essentially women employed in the informal economy which can enable forms of mistreatment. Today they’re fighting to formalise their status.
The informal economy is often perceived negatively, yet recent research from developing and emerging countries indicate that the preconceptions that surround it are myths.
Building a fiscally capable state won't bring benefits in the short term but can build taxpayers confidence.
Street vendors are the most visible of the people who work in the informal sector – up to half the urban workforce in cities like Manila – but whose needs and rights receive no official recognition.
South Africa needs to rethink the role of the informal economy as it mulls over ideas to beat joblessness.
Graft is common in the way that markets in Kinshasa are run.
South Africa should look towards inclusive growth to push back the growing levels of poverty within the population.
India's recent move toward a cash-free society helped reveal just how important physical currency is to the informal economies that the poorest families depend upon.
The heist and free trade are just opposite sides of the same coin.
The harassment of informal food vendors by national and municipal governments remains a major impediment to improving the resilience of the urban poor in African cities.
As cities trumpet their liveability, creativity and greenness, many informal settlement activities are often relegated to the shadows.
The history of artisanal training and employment in South Africa has been one of systematic social exclusion and inequality.
The control of imported goods is a quick fix that doesn't resolve fundamental economic problems. It must be accompanied by a policy focus on macroeconomic issues, labour and agriculture.
Top contributors
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Professor and Director, World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), United Nations University
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John Rennie Short is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Associate professor, Rhodes University
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Research Fellow, Western Sydney University
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Senior Lecturer in Agricultural Economics, University of Pretoria
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Executive Director, Human Sciences Research Council
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Senior Research Fellow, Digital Media, Western Sydney University
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Lecturer, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University
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Institute Associate, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
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Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, University of Michigan
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Senior Research Fellow, The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
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Senior Research Specialist in Education and Skills Development, Human Sciences Research Council
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Senior Lecturer in International Development, University of Antwerp
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Post-doctoral research fellow at the Institute of Development Policy, University of Antwerp
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Senior Lecturer in Development Economics, University of Manchester
