Are Large Informal Firms More Productive than the Small Informal Firms? Evidence from Firm-Level Surveys in Africa

Mohammad Amin and Asif Islam

World Development, 2015, vol. 74, issue C, 374-385

Abstract: Using data for over 500 informal or unregistered firms in seven countries in Africa, this study explores how labor productivity varies between small and large informal firms. We find robust evidence that small informal firms have higher labor productivity than large informal firms. Thus, even though poor performance of informal firms is typically attributed to their small size vis-à-vis registered or formal sector firms, incremental increases in the size of informal firms does not necessarily imply a narrowing of the formal–informal firm productivity gap.

Keywords: informal; productivity; employment; Africa; firm-size (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:374-385

DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.05.008

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