Economic Liberalization and Informal Wage in a Small Open Economy: Does Capital Mobility count?

Chaudhuri, Sarbajit and Banerjee, Dibyendu (2006): Economic Liberalization and Informal Wage in a Small Open Economy: Does Capital Mobility count?

Abstract

Empirical evidence suggests that the size of the informal sector in the developing countries has increased considerably during the liberalized economic regime. The present paper purports to analyze the consequences of economic reforms on the wellbeing of the informal sector workforce using a three-sector general equilibrium model with two informal sectors. The theoretical analysis finds that different liberalized policies produce diverse effects on the informal wage and that these results are independent of the nature of capital mobility between the informal and the formal sectors. It also shows that labour market reforms, contrary to the common wisdom, are likely to produce favourable effects on the informal wage.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Institution: Calcutta University
• Language: English
• Keywords: Informal sector; formal sector; informal wage; economic reforms; capital mobility; general equilibrium model
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F1 - Trade > F16 - Trade and Labor Market Interactions

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