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The implications of capital-skill complementarity in economies with large informal sectors

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  • Pedro S. Amaral
  • Erwan Quintin

Abstract

In most developing nations, formal workers tend to be more experienced, more educated, and earn more than informal workers. These facts are often interpreted as evidence that low-skill workers face barriers to entry into the formal sector. Yet, there exists little direct evidence that such barriers are important. This paper describes a model where significant differences arise between formal and informal workers even though labor markets are perfectly competitive. In equilibrium, the informal sector emphasizes low-skill work because informal managers have access to less outside financing, and choose to substitute low-skill labor for physical capital.

Suggested Citation

  • Pedro S. Amaral & Erwan Quintin, 2004. "The implications of capital-skill complementarity in economies with large informal sectors," Center for Latin America Working Papers 0404, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
  • Handle: RePEc:fip:feddcl:0404
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    2. Koziarivska Larysa & Oliinyk Andrii, 2006. "Effects of the 2004 Personal Income Tax System Reform on the Shadow Sector in Ukraine," EERC Working Paper Series 06-08e, EERC Research Network, Russia and CIS.
    3. Pedro de Araujo, 2008. "The Socio-Economic Distribution of AIDS Incidence and Output," Caepr Working Papers 2008-014_updated, Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research, Economics Department, Indiana University Bloomington.
    4. Pedro de Araujo, 2008. "The Socio-Economic Distribution of AIDS Incidence and Output," Caepr Working Papers 2008-014_updated, Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research, Economics Department, Indiana University Bloomington, revised Sep 2008.
    5. Gaaitzen J. Vries, 2014. "Productivity in a Distorted Market: The Case of Brazil's Retail Sector," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(3), pages 499-524, September.
    6. Pedro de Araujo, 2008. "The Socio-Economic Distribution of AIDS Incidence and Output," CAEPR Working Papers 2008-014, Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research, Department of Economics, Indiana University Bloomington, revised Sep 2008.
    7. Arvin-Rad, Hassan & Basu, Arnab K. & Willumsen, Maria, 2010. "Economic reform, informal-formal sector linkages and intervention in the informal sector in developing countries: A paradox," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 662-670, October.
    8. José Ignacio Uribe & Carlos Humberto Ortiz & Gustavo Adolfo García, 2007. "La segmentación del mercado laboral colombiano en la década de los noventa," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 9(16), pages 189-221, January-J.
    9. Carlos Humberto Ortiz & José Ignacio Uribe & Érika Raquel Badillo, 2009. "Segmentación inter e intrarregional en el mercado laboral urbano de Colombia, 2001-2006," Revista ESPE - Ensayos Sobre Política Económica, Banco de la República, vol. 27(58), pages 194-231, August.
    10. José Ignacio Uribe García & Javier Andrés Castro H. & Carlos Humberto Ortíz Quevedo, 2004. "¿Que Tan Segmentado Era El Mercado Laboral Colombiano En La Decada De Los Noventa?," Documentos de Trabajo 3829, Universidad del Valle, CIDSE.
    11. Rodríguez Núñez, Juan Bautista & Guerra Salazar, Isaac Enmanuel, 2019. "Una Aplicación de la Descomposición Blinder–Oaxaca junto a regresiones por cuantiles de influencia recentrada al sector formal e informal y sus determinantes [An Application of the Blinder–Oaxaca D," MPRA Paper 115683, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Diana Marcela Jiménez, 2012. "La informalidad laboral en América Latina: ¿explicación estructuralista o institucionalista?," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor market;

    JEL classification:

    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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