“Is the Informal Sector a locus of important

developmental activity that needs official recognition

and support, or is it merely an indicator of economic
distortion and bureaucratic obstruction? Discuss with
reference to either Colombia or Mexico.”

Given that estimates for the size of the informal sector can reach up to

90% of the rural labour force and 69% of the urban labour force in

Colombia (Bernal, 2009), key consideration must be given to the origins

and the role of this substantial sector in developing countries. This essay

will first consider varying definitions of the informal sector, finding that

the both its origin and role differs markedly depending on which definition

is adopted. Secondly, the issue of the informal sector as an indicator of

economic distortion and bureaucratic obstruction is discussed and while it

is found to be true to an extent, a model of the informal sector

characterised by voluntary entry is considered. Finally, attention will be

given to both the positive and negative impact that the informal sector

has on the development of the Colombian economy, with particular focus

on the linkages between sectors and the recent rural conflict as a result of

the illicit drugs trade.

There is substantial disagreement about how the informal sector should

be defined, both theoretically and empirically. One school of thought

subscribes to the notion that the informal sector is simply a ‘reserve pool’

of labour, as suggested by the Harris-Todaro model; the urban informal

sector compromises of recent migrants of rural origin who were unable to

secure formal employment. Capp et al. (2005) subscribe to this view, and

1
considers the informal sector as wholly separate from the formal sector,

undermining it by being a source of cheap and exploitable labour. Portes

(1983), however, rallies against such a dualistic notion, arguing that the

informal sector actually predates the formal sector; consequentially, there

are strong bilateral links between the two sectors, examined later, that

suggests the informal sector plays a greater developmental role than a

store of cheap labour.

Flórez (2002) provides a comprehensive framework into which the bulk of

the literature falls by identifying two schools of thought, each with two

definitions. The first is the dualistic notion under which there is a pure

‘dualism’ definition with the informal sector as the disadvantaged sector

in the economy, and the ‘excessive regulated’ approach where the

informal sector arises as a response to excessive regulation and strict

legislation; workers are pushed into a sector with low productivity and

poor remuneration.

The second school of thought is of the informal and formal sectors as

being highly integrated, as Portes (1983) suggests. The two approaches

Flórez (2002) lists here are the ‘Structural Articulation Approach’ and the

‘Entrepreneurial Approach’, although the latter is a subset of the former

(and restricts the possible size of an informal sector firm). The structural

articulation approach highlights the heterogeneity of the informal sector

by considering three sub-sectors: direct subsistence (similar to dualistic

notions, with the informal sector as a survival mechanism), subcontracted

labour (used to reduce formal sector costs) and an autonomous

2
entrepreneurial sector, raising the possibility that each sub-sector may

play a different developmental role. Under all definitions considered, the

informal sector is beyond the control of Government; however the

structural articulation approach specifically considers informal sector

activity as the illicit production of licit goods, excluding the drug trade. In

Colombia, this drastically alters the effect of the sector, as discussed later.

Figure 1: Size of the Informal Sector in Ten main Colombian cities. Source:
Flórez (2002)

Figure 1 shows not only that the size of the informal sector can vary

substantially by theoretical and empirical definition (old-PREALC/new-

PREALC are dualist estimates), but also that the size of the informal

sector, under all definitions, follows a seemingly counter-cyclical pattern,

falling during the early 90s boom and rising during the late 90s recession.

This supports the dualistic notion that the informal sector is a survival

mechanism to a lack of opportunities in the formal sector, whilst Flórez

3
also finds that, under the structural articulation approach, the direct

subsistence sub-sector dominates (52%-63% of the total between 1984

and 2000).

Goldberg and Pavcnik (2003) find that almost all of the informal-formal

sector mobility in Colombia occurs within an industry rather than across

industries, which suggests that there are forces, in addition to the

economic cycle, influencing informal labourers from graduating into

formal sector. Perry et al. (2007) conclude that one factor may be

Colombia’s high minimum wage; they find that, over the 11 years

preceding their study, the minimum wage had risen by 30% in real terms

to become the second highest in Latin America, which has implications for

the absorptive capacity of the formal sector. Indeed, Maloney et al. (2006)

find evidence supporting the argument that labour market rigidities

driving structural wage differences between the two sectors leads to a rise

in informal sector employment, as figure 2 shows.

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 Figure 2: Formal Sector Earnings and Formal Sector Employment. Source:
Maloney et al. (2006)

There is a striking symmetry in the movement of formal sector earnings

and formal sector employment, with a notable movement due to the

neoliberal labour market reforms of the mid 1990s, which Flórez (2002)

notes raised the cost of a new employee from 12.5% of their wage to

25.5% due to higher health care and pension contributions.

Regarding ‘bureaucratic obstruction’, Bromley (1978) provides anecdotal

evidence of high levels of corruption harassment of street vendors in Cali;

he estimates that approximately 80% of street vendors do not have the

required licenses for operating, and that the police operate protection

rackets which entrench the informal sector activities and reduce the

incentive to formalise as long as the protection money is less than the

cost of formalising. More comprehensively, Johnson et al. (1998) use

5
1996/7 data to show that Colombia not only has a relatively high tax

burden on formal sector firms and a high level of corruption, but that both

these metrics are associated with a higher level of informal activity, as

figures 3 and 4 show (Colombia has been highlighted with a red dot).

Figure 3: Tax Burden and the Informal Sector. Source: Johnson et al. (1998)

Figure 4: Corruption and the Informal Sector. Source: Johnson et al. (1998)

While the above provides compelling evidence for the informal sector

arising as a survival mechanism to cyclical factors, distortions and

6
bureaucracy, there is also evidence that a significant portion of the

informal sector enter it by choice.

Flórez (2002) constructs a ‘life-cycle’ model of informal-formal-informal

sector migration. The model postulates that migrants with little skill enter

the direct subsistence or subcontracted labour sub-sectors, gain human

capital and experience and then graduate to the formal sector. After

spending time accumulating financial capital and resources in the formal

sector, workers migrate back to the informal sector as self-employed

entrepreneurs. There is abundant evidence supporting such a model;

Flórez (2002) finds that workers without previous experience are over-

represented in the direct subsistence subsector (over 40% of domestic

servants compared with a sectoral average between 32.6%-37% during

1984-2000) while those in the subcontracted sub-sector (informal salaried

workers) are more transient than those self-employed entrepreneurs, as

figure 5 shows.

Figure 5: Time in Employment by Sector. Source: Flórez (2002)

7
Further support is given by Peattie (1981), with anecdotal evidence of

shoe-makers in Colombia; she finds a common grievance of medium-sized

firms is that employees they have exerted effort and money on training

leave to start their own firms. Bernal (2009) uses a 2006 household

survey to discover that when formal sector employees were asked why

they hadn’t started their own business and the most popular choice

(35.1% of respondents) was that they lacked the resources to do so; when

the question was asked to informal sector employees, the most popular

choice (45.3%) was that it was the only job they could secure. Such

answers are congruous with Flórez’s model and highlight the

heterogeneity of informal sector activities; the different effects they have

upon the development of the economy shall now be considered.

The heterogeneity of the formal sector means that it serves a number of

different roles. First, Bromley (1978) finds that street vending is such a

profitable enterprise during peak periods that formal sector workers (such

as teachers) enter it temporarily, able to do so due to the low barriers to

entry that characterise many informal activities. Evidence is provided in

figure 6, where there is a swell in informal activity in a central zone of Cali

during Cali’s annual bull fights in December.

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 Figure 6: Number of Street Traders in City Central Zone in Cali. Source:
Bromley (1978)

One of the most significant ways in which the informal sector has a

positive impact upon the economy is through its linkages with the formal

sector; Portes (1983) notes that the informal sector provides access to

cheap consumption, which reduces living costs and acts against the

creation of a formal sector wage-price spiral. However, the informal sector

also impacts in a more direct fashion upon formal sector costs by boasting

a comparative advantage in cheap labour. Because informal sector

activities are unregulated, workers are not subject to Colombia’s

burdensome labour market regulation and minimum wage, which makes

them attractive temporary workers for large formal sector firms – this is

the ‘subcontracted labour’ sub-sector of Flórez’s structural articulation

approach.

Peattie (1981) and Bromley (1978) provide accounts of how this

relationship is borne out in Colombia. Bromley (1978) finds that formal

producers use informal labourers as a cheap method by which to

distribute their produce; he finds that producers will provide access to

9
capital and merchandise (given certain conditions), upon which the

informal worker is reliant. An example is that of apple-sellers: one of the

larger orchards loans the cart and apples (upon payment of a deposit)

which are returned at the end of the day, with a share of the profits.

Peattie (19981) observes this relationship in reverse; formal sector shoe

distributors rely on informal shoe producers (some, lacking sufficient

capital, further subcontract certain processes to other informal sector

producers) for their supplies.

That the informal sector can act as a complement to the formal sector is

also shown by Flórez (2002), who finds that, while the aggregate motion

of the informal sector is counter-cyclical, it is only the direct subsistence

sub-sector that is countercyclical, as shown in table 1.

Table 1: Correlation Coefficient between Lagged GDP Growth Rate and Sub-
Sector Relative Size. Source: Flórez (2002)

A negative coefficient signifies a rise in the growth rate leads to fall of that

sub-sector’s relative size. Indeed, the informal subcontracted and

entrepreneurial sub-sectors behave in a similar manner to the formal

sector due to their close integration with it; the entrepreneurial sub-sector

performs a similar role to formal sector firms and is therefore similarly

susceptible to the macroeconomic environment. The demand for

10
subcontracted labour is also susceptible as it is derived from the demand

the formal sector firm faces.

In countries with poor social infrastructure, such as education, the

informal sector may also play a role as a substitute to formal education.

Bromley (1978) notes that only 5% of Cali street vendors had post-

primary education and Flórez (2003) notes that rural-urban migrants have

an average of 1.4 years less formal education than natives; such a

developmental role is consistent with the life-cycle model, where recent

migrants must first gain human capital before entering the formal sector.

Further, Gërxhani (2004) notes that while the size of the sector falls with

development, it does not disappear; the average size, as a percentage of

GNP, in the OECD was 12% compared with 39% in Latin America and 44%

in Africa. It is possible the fall can be partially attributed to better social

infrastructure, and the underlying persistence reinforces the concept that

the sector plays an important supporting role to the formal economy.

Abstracting from the structural articulation approach to include illicit

goods production leads to one of the greatest threats the informal sector

poses for a developing economy. The Colombian drugs trade has been

identified by Cardenas (2001) as the ultimate cause for faltering total

factor productivity growth (from 1.55%-0.66% since 1979-2000), and

Rubio (1997) considers the mechanism by which this occurs. He concludes

that criminality is associated with the creation of perverse social capital

(where social capital is capital that facilitates exchange and reinforces

human capital). Using the homicide rate as a proxy for perverse social

11
capital, it can be seen that there is a relationship between such capital

and TFP growth, as shown in figure 7, where the homicide rate rose with

the proliferation of the drugs trade in the early 80s.

Figure 7: Homicide Rate (Pink Line) and TFP (Blue Line). Source: Cardenas
(2001)

The drugs trade has also distorted rural-urban migration; Flórez (2003)

estimates that 2 million individuals had been displaced by the violence

and that, while the percentage of recent migrants of rural origin had fallen

from 20.2%-13% from 1984-1992, it had risen again to 19.5% by 2000.

Given that Flórez (2003) also finds that even the informal sector has a

limited ability to absorb recent migrants, such forced migration has lead

to a rise in open unemployment as well as the informal sector, as shown

in figure 8.

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 Figure 8: Unemployment, Underemployment and Informal Employment in
Seven Colombian Cities. Source: Flórez (2003)

However, even within the structural articulation approach, the informal

sector can act as a drag on growth. Capp et al. (2005) stresses the unfair

advantage of illegally cheap labour undermining formal sector firms,

whilst Loayza (1996) notes the informal sector reduces the corporation tax

base, forcing the Government to increase the tax rate to compensate. In a

study on Belgium, Adam and Ginsburg (1985) find that the existence of an

‘irregular’ (informal) sector dampens the Keynesian multipliers associated

with a fiscal stimulus by 5%-40% depending on how the stimulus was

initially targeted; there is little reason to suggest this phenomenon

wouldn’t carry through to developing countries with substantially larger

informal sectors. Finally, the informal sector has low productivity due to

credit problems stemming from lack of collateral and property rights,

meaning contracts cannot be negotiated. Peattie (1981) notes that

informal shoe producers average 2.4 pairs a day compared to the 3.5 of

larger firms, with scarce capital and inputs a commonly cited problem.

In conclusion, the informal sector is an indicator of bureaucratic

obstruction and economic distortion, however it is also a sector

13
characterised by voluntary exit. Similarly, the informal sector can act as a

drag on growth through creating perverse social capital, undermining

formal sector firms, being an inefficient use of resources and diminishing

the tax base of the Government. However, it can also play a similar role to

the formal sector and reinforce the formal sector through acting as a

cheap source of labour and a flexible distributor or supplier, and act as a

substitute to inadequate social infrastructure in developing countries.

These seemingly contradictory conclusions are made possible due to the

heterogeneity of the sector. Government policy must also take this

heterogeneity into account and give support to those activities which

facilitate development, whilst tackling activities which act as a drag on

development, as opposed to promoting crude, sector-wide policies that a

dualistic definition would imply as the correct path.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Bernal, R. (2009) ‘The Informal Labour Market in Colombia: Identification

and Characterization’, Desarrollo Y Sociedad, vol. 63, pp. 145 – 208

Bromley, R. (1978) ‘Organization, Regulation and Exploitation in the So-

Called ‘Urban Informal Sector’: The Street Traders of Cali, Colombia’,
World Development, vol. 6, pp. 1161 – 1171.

• Figure 6 reproduced directly from this document.

Capp, J., Elstrodt, H-P., and Jones Jr, W. B. (2005) ‘Reining in Brazil’s
Informal Economy’, The McKinsey Quarterly 1.

Cardenas, M. (2001) ‘Economic Growth in Colombia: A Reversal of

‘Fortune’?’, CID Working Paper No. 83.

• Figure 7 reproduced directly from this document.

Gërxhani, K. (2004) ‘The informal sector in developed and less developed

countries: A literature survey’, Public Choice, vol. 120, pp. 267 – 300

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Flórez, C. E. (2002) The Function of the Urban Informal Sector in
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document.

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• Figure 8 reproduced directly from this document.

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• Figures 3, 4 reproduced directly from this document.

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Paettie, L. R. (1981) ‘What is to be done with the 'Informal Sector': A case

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Perry, G. E., Maloney, W. F., Arias, O., Fajnzylber, P., Mason, A., and
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