A political economy of overoptimism – Measuring global poverty before and during the pandemic
The contribution of this paper is to question the ‘official’ estimates of global monetary poverty up to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue there is a political economy of … Continue reading
The gender productivity gap – Evidence from the Indian informal sector
We examine the patterns and correlates of the productivity gap between male-owned and female-owned firms for informal enterprises in India. Female-owned firms are on average 45 per cent less productive … Continue reading
Neoliberalism and the state in the African city: informality, accumulation and the rebirth of a Ugandan Market
This article stresses the value of viewing urban development through a critical lens that focuses on questions surrounding neoliberalism and the state, highlighting how such an approach can provide important … Continue reading
Homeworking in the Philippines: Bad job? Good job?
This report focuses on two categories of homeworkers in the Philippines: industrial homeworkers, who assemble or fabricate goods for factories, retailers or their agents under subcontracting arrangements; and online workers, … Continue reading
From Visible Informality to Splintered Informalities
Increasingly, scholarly works challenge the formal/informal dichotomy, stressing the multiple political practices of producing informality which go beyond state incapacity. In contrast, this article addresses a lack of research concerning … Continue reading
Urban-to-rural labour transitions from the factory to the informal economy
The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated processes of labour transition from industrial work to the informal economy, which have always characterized the life of the working poor. Exploring urban-to-rural labour transitions … Continue reading
Sidewalk informality: Street vending regulation in China
Street vending represents a vital and growing aspect of the urban informal economy that is often the subject of municipal regulatory efforts that seek to control, confine or extinguish it. … Continue reading
Stripping back the mask: Working conditions on digital labour platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic
Digital labour platforms have been widely promoted as a solution to the unemployment crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic has also highlighted the harms to gig workers—who … Continue reading
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