Informality in Egypt: a stepping stone or a dead end?

Type Journal Article - Economic Research Forum Working Paper
Title Informality in Egypt: a stepping stone or a dead end?
Author(s)
Issue 456
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2009
URL http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jackline_Wahba/publication/46453546_Informality_in_Egypt_a_Stepp​ing_Stone_or_a_Dead_End/links/540242080cf23d9765a52837.pdf
Abstract
In the last few decades, the informal sector has played a major role in many of the LDC’s
labor markets. Yet, little is known about the dynamics of this sector. This paper addresses an
important question, namely whether informal employment is a stepping stone, as first argued
by economists such as Fields (1975), or is it a dead end? Using evidence from the Egyptian
Labor Market Panel Survey 2006, and controlling for selectivity in informal jobs, we estimate
the probability of “graduating” from informal employment to semi-formal and formal jobs.
The empirical findings suggest that the mobility from informal to semi-formal/formal
employment is highly segmented along education and gender in Egypt. Overall, it seems that
informal employment is a stepping stone for highly educated male workers, but is a dead end
for the uneducated, and for female workers.

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