Securing Livelihoods

Informal Economy Practices and Institutions

Edited by Isabelle Hillenkamp, Frederic Lapeyre, and Andreia Lemaitre

Analyzes what people 'do for themselves' in the informal economy and how it relates to public policies, formal institutions, and broader socio-economic processes
Brings together a unique collection of case studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America
Deepens understanding of socio-economic logic within the informal and 'popular' economy

Securing Livelihoods

Informal Economy Practices and Institutions

Edited by Isabelle Hillenkamp, Frederic Lapeyre, and Andreia Lemaitre

Description

Far from the vision of popular actors in the popular economy as reactionary and archaic, stubbornly resisting any move towards change, this book's overall aim is to contribute to a broadening and deepening of our understanding of the logic and socio-economic practices of those operating in the informal economy. It focuses on the vulnerabilities of these participants, resulting from high exposure to different risks combined with low social protection, and on the interactions between vulnerability and poverty. It considers security of livelihoods as the guiding principle for multiple practices in the informal economy. Thirteen studies, based on careful analyses of empirical data in different contexts in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, contribute to this multidisciplinary discussion.

This book describes how people develop their own strategies to solve their problems through the use of interpersonal networks, associations, and other community-based arrangements. Moreover, it shows that informal economy actors systematically reposition themselves vis-a-vis the State, markets, international, and national policies with the aim of enhancing their economic and social security, and they may do this either individually or collectively. The book emphasizes how adaptability of the informal economy can be influenced by such factors as the macroeconomic context, access to financial, technological, and information resources, infrastructure, social protection schemes, and the institutional environment within which adaptations occur. Case studies stress the need to reformulate questions relating to policy intervention based on a more thorough understanding of the perspective of informal economy actors.

Securing Livelihoods

Informal Economy Practices and Institutions

Edited by Isabelle Hillenkamp, Frederic Lapeyre, and Andreia Lemaitre

Foreword, Dharam Ghai
1. Introduction: Informal Economy, Vulnerabilities, and Popular Security-Enhancing Practices, Isabelle Hillenkamp, Frederic Lapeyre, and Andreia Lemaitre
Part I. A Plurality of Socio-economic Logics: New Polanyian Approaches to Informality and Vulnerability
2. Popular Cooperatives and Local Development in Southeast Brazil: Towards Socio-Economic Pluralism, Andreia Lemaitre
3. Solidarity and Protection in Bolivian Popular Economy, Isabelle Hillenkamp
4. Self-managed Work, Social Protection, and Community Development: The Case of the UST Cooperative (Argentina), Gonzalo Vazquez
5. An Analysis of the Socio-economic Logics Underpinning Formal and Informal Strategies for Coping with Economic Hardships in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Maite le Polain and Marthe Nyssens
Part II. The Role of Financial Practices and Institutions in Securing Livelihoods
6. Financial Practices as Adaptations to Increasing Vulnerability: The Dynamics of Solidarity and Protection in the Suburbs of Rosario, Argentina, Hadrien Saiag
7. Microcredit Policies in Brazil: An Analysis of Community Development Banks, Genauto Carvalho de Franca Filho, Ariadne Scalfoni Rigo, and Jeova Torres Silva Junior
8. Demand for Microcredit, Informal Finance and Vulnerability in Rural Morocco, Solene Morvant-Roux, Isabelle Guerin, and Marc Roesch
9. Informal and Formal Microfinance in Urban Sub-Saharan African Markets: The Case of Micro-Entrepreneurs in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Pierre-Germain Umuhire and Marthe Nyssens
10. Exploring the Black-Box of Economic Informality: Social Networks and Institutional Change among Micro and Small Enterprises in Nairobi, Kenya, Edoardo Totolo
Part III. Formalizing the Informal? A Critical Assessment
11. Determinants of Earnings in Informal Self-Employment: The Case of Ghana, James Heintz and Lynda Pickbourn
12. From the Street to the Store. The Formalization of Street Vendors in Quito, Ecuador, Sergio Ferragut and Georgina M. Gomez
13. Formalizing the Informal in Rwanda: From Artisanal to Modern Brick and Tile Ovens, An Ansoms and Jude Murison
14. Neoliberal Reforms, Regulatory Change and the Informal Economy: The Case of Turkey from a Comparative Perspective, Basak Kus
Postface: Another Look at the Informal Sector, its Many Stakes and Challenges, Jean-Philippe Peemans

Securing Livelihoods

Informal Economy Practices and Institutions

Edited by Isabelle Hillenkamp, Frederic Lapeyre, and Andreia Lemaitre

Author Information

Isabelle Hillenkamp, Research Associate, Institute of Socio-Economics, University of Geneva,Frederic Lapeyre, Senior Employment and Informal Economy Specialist, International Labour Organization,Andreia Lemaitre, Lecturer in Development Studies, Universite catholique de Louvain

Isabelle Hillenkamp is Research Associate at the Institute of Socio-Economics, University of Geneva, attached to the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research - LIVES. Her research focuses on the informal and popular economy in Latin America, with particular interest in community and solidarity projects. Before joining the University of Geneva, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the University San Andres of La Paz (Bolivia) and the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM) in Paris. She holds a PhD in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.

Frederic Lapeyre is senior employment and informal economy specialist and Manager of the ILO-Technical Cooperation Project for Youth Employment in Katanga (PAEJK), International Labour Organization. He holds a PhD in Development Studies. Previously he was Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, Chairman of the Belgium Post-Graduate School for Development Studies, and Fulbright Post-doctoral Fellow at Brown University (Watson Institute for International Studies). His recent publications include 'The Contributions of the United Nations to Development Theory and Practices' (with R. Jolly, L. Emmerij and D. Ghai) and 'Poverty and Exclusion in a Global World' (with A. Bhalla).

Andreia Lemaitre is socio-economist and Lecturer in Development Studies at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. She is a member of the Centre for Development Studies (DVLP) and of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Work, State and Society (CIRTES). She holds a PhD in political and social sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain and the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, France. She was also a post-doctoral Fellow at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague. Her research focuses on popular and solidarity-based economy in the South, mainly in Latin America, and on substantive approaches to the economy.

Contributors:

An Ansoms, Catholic University of Louvain
Genauto Carvalho de França Filho, Universidade Federal da Bahia
Sergio Ferragut
Dharam Ghai, consultant based in Geneva
Georgina M. Gómez, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague
Isabelle Guérin, Institute of Research for Development, Paris I Sorbonne
James Heintz, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Isabelle Hillenkamp, University of Geneva
Basak Kus, Wesleyan University
Frédéric Lapeyre, International Labour Organization
Andreia Lemaître, Catholic University of Louvain
Maïté le Polain, Catholic University of Louvain
Solène Morvant-Roux, University of Fribourg
Jude Murison, Institute of Development Policy and Management (IOB)
Marthe Nyssens, Catholic University of Louvain
Jean-Philippe Peemans, Catholic University of Louvain
Lynda Pickbourn, Keene State College, New Hampshire
Marc Roesch, University of Montpellier
Hadrien Saiag, University of Pretoria
Ariádne Scalfoni Rigo, Escola de Administração da Universidade Federal da Bahia
Jeová Torres Silva Júnior, Universidade Federal do Ceará
Edoardo Totolo, University of Trento
Pierre-Germain Umuhire, Catholic University of Louvain
Gonzalo Vázquez, Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento