Alternative definitions of informal sector employment in South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorYu, Derek
dc.contributor.authorEssop, Hassan
dc.date.accessioned2021-04-16T09:15:07Z
dc.date.available2021-04-16T09:15:07Z
dc.date.issued2008
dc.description.abstractBefore the introduction of the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) in 2008, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has been using the same methodology to derive the informal sector employment throughout the years, focusing on the enterprise registration status to classify workers (which include both self-employed and employees) as either formal or informal sector workers. Although there are difficulties with attempting to provide any consistent trend data (Yu, 2007 & Essop & Yu, 2008), it is generally accepted that informal sector employment grew relatively more rapidly in the late 1990s, and then stabilized at about 2 million in the early 2000s before it increased (albeit more slowly) again since 2005. Nonetheless, recent papers by Devey, Skinner & Valodia (2006) as well as Heintz & Posel (2008) argue that the current classifications used by Stats SA hide a significant degree of informality in the formal economy, as some formal jobs are characterized by conditions that are typical of informal work. Therefore, they propose alternative definitions of informal sector employment, focusing on worker characteristics instead of enterprise characteristics. This paper aims to address the reliability or otherwise of these recent approaches, as well as to suggest better ways to define informal sector employment.en_US
dc.identifier.citationHassan Essop & Derek Yu, 2008. "Alternative definitions of informal sector employment in South Africa," Working Papers 21/2008, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.ekon.sun.ac.za/wpapers/2008/wp212008/wp-21-2008.pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10566/6064
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherStellenbosch Universityen_US
dc.subjectSouth Africaen_US
dc.subjectHousehold surveyen_US
dc.subjectLabour market trendsen_US
dc.subjectInformal sectoren_US
dc.subjectStatistics South Africaen_US
dc.titleAlternative definitions of informal sector employment in South Africaen_US
dc.typeWorking Paperen_US

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