Are Labor Markets in Developing Countries Dualistic?
Are Labor Markets in Developing Countries Dualistic?

Author: William F. Maloney

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 49

ISBN-13:

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There is little evidence to support the traditional dualistic view of a labor market segmented between formal and informal sectors as the principal paradigm through which to view the informal sector. The division between good jobs and bad jobs seems to cut across issues of formality-and for many workers, inefficient labor codes and low levels of human capital may make employment in the informal sector more desirable.There is a long tradition of viewing as disadvantaged the roughly 40 percent of workers in developing countries who areunprotected by labor legislation and work in small informal firms.Maloney offers an alternative to traditional views of the relationship between formal and informal labor markets: For many workers, inefficiencies in present labor codes and relatively low levels of human capital (labor productivity) may make employment in the informal sector more desirable.He offers the first study of worker transitions among sectors, using detailed panel data from Mexico, and finds little evidence to support the traditional dualistic view.He shows that traditional earning differentials cannot prove or disprove segmentation in developing countries, and patterns of worker mobility do not suggest a rigid labor market-or one segmented into formal and informal divisions. It is possible that the market is dualistic in the sense used in the industrial world, but the division between good jobs and bad jobs seems to cut across issues of formality.This paper-a product of the Poverty and Economic Management Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region- is part of a larger effort in the region to reexamine the role of the informal sector. The author may be contacted at [email protected].

Microeconomic Issues of Labor Markets in Developing Countries
Microeconomic Issues of Labor Markets in Developing Countries

Author: Dipak Mazumdar

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1989-01-01

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9780821311837

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This paper deals with labor market structures in developing countries and the impact of government policies on rural and urban labor markets. The central concern in analyses of employment is absorption of labor. Governments try to influence the demand for labor so that more members of the labor force are absorbed into productive employment. Employment outcomes are often the by-products of government policies that affect economic growth as a whole. This paper concentrates on factors that influence the structure and functioning of labor markets. In Chapter 1, a schematic picture of labor markets is presented. Chapters 2 and 3 analyze the salient features of the workings of rural and urban labor markets and discuss some important government policies that affect the functioning of these markets. The paper concludes that Government intervention in both rural and urban labor markets has often been less than successful, sometimes because their policies were based on incorrect assumptions. At other times, these policies have achieved less because the government also adopted other policies that tended to contradict the goal of providing jobs.

What Seperates Labor Markets in Developing Nations from Developed Nations?
What Seperates Labor Markets in Developing Nations from Developed Nations?

Author: Sebastian Müller

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2003-05-06

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13: 3638189805

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Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Economics - Other, grade: 2 (B), University of Freiburg (Economics), course: Job Markets in Developing Nations, language: English, abstract: The majority of the world’s population lives and works in developing countries. This paper examines what might be the difference between labor markets in developing and developed countries. The paper first briefly looks at various definitions of the term “developing country”. It then starts with the topic of migration, whose causes and consequences will be described. A look at labor legislation follows with a focus on unemployment protection and insurance as well as minimum wages. Then, the paper examines how wages are determined when labor is organized and how centralized the wage setting process takes place. The key difference that might be most intuitive of all is next. Dualistic markets, the concept of formal and informal sectors, are analyzed. The paper ends with various social aspects, such as the role of women, child labor as well as health and nutrition, that separate labor markets in developing nations from developing countries.

labor market policy in developing countries: a selective review of the literature and needs for the future
labor market policy in developing countries: a selective review of the literature and needs for the future

Author: Gary S. Fields

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 79

ISBN-13:

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Abstract: This paper presents a selective overview of the literature on modeling labor market policies in developing countries. It considers welfare economics, theoretical models, and empirical evidence to highlight the three general features needed in future research on labor market policy in developing countries. The author identifies desirable research components (welfare economics, theoretical modeling, and empirical modeling) and pitfalls in the literature (inappropriate use of productivity, reliance on wrong kinds of empirical studies, lack of cost-benefit analysis, attention to only a subset of the goods and bads, and fallacy of composition). The paper concludes with suggested topics and methods for future research. The author states that sound labor market policy requires sound labor market models. The paper makes a case for developing policy based on explicit evaluation criteria, specific theoretical models, and comprehensive empirical evidence.

Inclusive Dualism
Inclusive Dualism

Author: Nicoli Nattrass

Publisher: Critical Frontiers of Theory

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 0198841469

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W. Arthur Lewis, the founding father of development economics, proposed a dualist model of economic development in which 'surplus' (predominantly under-employed) labour shifted from lower to higher productivity work. In practice, historically, this meant that labour was initially drawn out of subsistence agriculture into low-wage, labour-intensive manufacturing, including in clothing production, before shifting into higher-wage work. This development strategy has become unfashionable. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) worries that low-wage, labour-intensive industry promises little more than an impoverishing 'race to the bottom'. Inclusive Dualism: Labour-intensive Development, Decent Work, and Surplus Labour in Southern Africa argues that decent work fundamentalism, that is the promotion of higher wages and labour productivity at the cost of lower-wage job destruction, is a utopian vision with potentially dystopic consequences for countries with high open unemployment, many of which are in Southern Africa. Using the South African clothing industry as a case study Inclusive Dualism argues that decent work fundamentalism ignores the inherently differentiated character of industry resulting in the unnecessary destruction of labour-intensive jobs and the bifurcation of society into highly-paid, high-productivity insiders and low-paid or unemployed outsiders. It demonstrates the broader relevance of the South Africa case, examining the growth in surplus labour across Africa. It shows that low- and high-productivity firms can co-exist, and challenges the notion that a race to the bottom is inevitable. Inclusive Dualism instead favours multi-pronged development strategies that prioritise labour-intensive job creation as well as facilitating productivity growth elsewhere without destroying jobs.

Labor Market Dynamics in Developing Countries
Labor Market Dynamics in Developing Countries

Author: Mariano Bosch

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13:

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Abstract: The authors study the dynamics of three developing country labor markets using recent advances in the estimation of continuous time Markov processes. They first examine the flows of workers among five states: three types of paid labor, unemployment, and out of the labor force. The authors find a high degree of commonality in patterns of worker flows among the three countries and attempt to compare the flexibility of the markets by examining an index of overall mobility. Second, they seek to establish whether the issues of advanced country labor markets apply to developing country markets or whether the latter constitute a different phylum. Paralleling the mainstream literature on the role of being out of the labor force as discouraged unemployment, the authors then identify some common stylized facts about the role of the informal self-employed and salaried sectors and to what degree they serve as a holding pattern versus a desirable alternative to formal sector work. In the process, the authors identify very strong differences in mobility patterns between men and women and attempt to shed some light on whether these differences arise from discrimination or perhaps instead the constraints imposed by household responsibilities. Finally, they study labor market adjustment across the business cycle in Mexico and identify patterns of job creation and destruction among the three paid sectors and confirm the mainstream view of the role of out of the labor force as a procyclical phenomenon.