Informal employment and the structure of wages in India: A review of trends

Abraham, Rosa (2019) Informal employment and the structure of wages in India: A review of trends. Review of Income and Wealth, 65 (S1). pp. S102-S122. ISSN 00346586

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Abstract

The “alternative”, “atypical” or “informal” workforce has grown in developed and developing countries alike. One of the more recent evolutions of informal employment has been of informal employment within formal enterprises. In the interest of flexibility and cost‐reduction, many formal firms increasingly resort to hiring workers on a temporary or informal basis. Alongside, and perhaps, as a result of the persistence and pervasiveness of informal employment, issues relating to inequality have come to the fore. This paper is motivated by these two intertwining aspects of Indian labor market—informality and wage inequality. Using nationally representative sample data, the paper examines trends in wage inequality among various forms of informal workers, overlaying these findings with broader trends in inequality. Using a regression based inequality decomposition, the paper compares the sources of wage inequality across different employment groups and the reasons for differences in wage inequality.

Item Type:	Article
Authors:	Abraham, Rosa
Document Language:	Language English
Subjects:	Social sciences > Economics > Labor economics Social sciences > Economics > Labor economics > Labor force and market Social sciences > Economics > Labor economics > Labor force and market > Discrimination in employment, labor shortages, unemployment
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > Research Centre > Centre for Sustainable Employment
Full Text Status:	Restricted
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7216
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12435

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