The informal economy

Focus areas

	Evidence-based employment scenarios		Employment monitoring
	Macro-economy, economic bias & employment		Employment-oriented industry studies
	The informal economy		Government employment creation programmes
	Labour markets and social policy		Migration
	Regional dynamics		Social dialogue
	Employment policy network		Food Security, Agriculture and Rural Development

What is the second economy? The president introduced the concept of the second economy into popular and political dialogue, but its meaning has not become fully clear. Does it refer to the informal sector? Or to people who are marginalised?

Currrently, about 27% of the labour force is active in the officially measured informal sector. It is anticipated that there may be many more participating in illegal economic activity. We have very little understanding about how these sectors grow in relation to the rest of the economy: will they shrink or expand if the formal sector continues to grow?

• Review of linkages between informal and formal activities

Past projects

• Review of rural livelihoods and sources of income

Research outputs

• Valodia, I, Davies R, Altman M and Thurlow J (2007) Economic behaviour in South Africa's informal economy (CAGE report)
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  Related documents: Concept paper prepared for IZA/WB Conference on Employment & Development, Bonn, Germany, June 2007: What are the policy implications of the informal sector becoming the informal economy?  and CAGE Informal Traders Questionnaire
  
• Aliber, M and Mbele, T (2006) Kwazulu-Natal Case Study
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• Altman, M (2006) Low wage work in South Africa
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• Valodia, I (2006) Formal/informal linkages in South Africa: Some considerations
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• Valodia, I, Lebani, L and Skinner, C (2005) A review of labour markets in South Africa: Low-waged and informal employment in South Africa. (Commissioned by SIDA).
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