Revisiting the Impact of Trade Openness on Informal and Irregular Employment in Egypt

Mélika Ben Salem () and Chahir Zaki
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Mélika Ben Salem: ERUDITE - Equipe de Recherche sur l’Utilisation des Données Individuelles en lien avec la Théorie Economique - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: This study examines the impact of trade openness on job quality, measured by the share of informal and irregular employment in total employment. By combining a microeconomic dataset (the Egyptian Labor Market Panel Survey) with macroeconomic variables (tariffs), we assess the effect of trade reforms on informal/irregular workers in Egypt. Our main findings show that there is a positive association between tariffs and both informal and irregular employments in Egypt. This effect is likely because the least productive informal firms will be forced to exit the industry and only the most productive (formal) firms will export to the international markets. This will increase the demand for formal (and eventually regular) workers that are usually more skilled and, in turn, lead to a likely decline in informal (and irregular) employment. While this effect on informality is robust, the one on irregularity is not.

Date: 2019-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Journal of Economic Integration, 2019, 34 (3), pp.465-497. ⟨10.11130/jei.2019.34.3.465⟩

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Related works:
Journal Article: Revisiting the Impact of Trade Openness on Informal and Irregular Employment in Egypt (2019)
Working Paper: Revisiting the Impact of Trade Openness on Informal and Irregular Employment in Egypt (2019)
Working Paper: Revisiting the Impact of Trade Openness on Informal and Irregular Employment in Egypt (2002)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02297694

DOI: 10.11130/jei.2019.34.3.465

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