This paper introduces a comprehensive database of informal economic activity. The
database focuses on measures that have strong cross-country and over time coverage: it …

We study the effects of a positive export shock on labor allocation between the informal,
microenterprise sector and the formal firm sector in a low-income country. The United States …

This paper analyzes the dynamics of the labor market in Latin America during the COVID-19
pandemic. After a decade of a virtuous circle of growth with the creation of formal jobs, the …

This paper aims to present a comprehensive survey of the literature on the economics of
informality. First, we focus on studies that aim to provide measures of informality using …

We incorporate remittances and micro-entrepreneurship (self-employment) into a small
open economy business cycle model with capital and labor market frictions. Countercyclical …

Many countries have a large informal economy that is poorly measured in the national
accounts. I develop a two-sector small open economy business cycle model where one …

Countercyclical country interest rates have been shown to be an important characteristic of
business cycles in emerging markets. In this paper we provide a microfounded rationale for …

We provide evidence, based on a large sample of countries, on the effects of financial crises
on key labor market indicators, including official and unofficial employment, unemployment …

We ask how labor regulation and informality affect macroeconomic volatility and the
propagation of shocks in emerging economies. For this, we propose a small open economy …

This paper investigates the role of informality in affecting the magnitude of the fiscal
multiplier in a panel of 141 countries, using the local projections method. We find a strong …