Is There an Informal Employment Penalty in Food Security? Evidence from Rural Vietnam.

In this paper, we investigate the association between informal non-farm wage employment and household food security in rural Vietnam. The data for our analyses come from a nationally representative panel dataset of 1390 rural households from Vietnam Household Living Standards Survey. We conduct multivariate regression analysis using robust quantitative tools to show that informal employment is associated with a reduction in the consumption of nutritious foods. Our analysis also shows that informal employment reduces consumption of vegetables and fruits, using both the calorie- and expenditure-based shares of food groups.

Dans cet article, nous étudions l'association entre l'emploi salarié informel non agricole et la sécurité alimentaire des ménages dans les zones rurales du Vietnam. Les données utilisées pour nos analyses proviennent d'un ensemble de données de panel, représentatif au niveau national, de 1 390 ménages ruraux ayant participé à l'enquête sur le niveau de vie des ménages au Vietnam. Nous conduisons une analyse de régression multivariée à l'aide de solides outils quantitatifs pour démontrer que l'emploi informel est associé à une réduction de la consommation d'aliments nutritifs. Notre analyse montre également que l'emploi informel est associé à une consommation moindre de légumes et de fruits, que ce soit en termes de calories consommées et de dépenses financières pour chaque groupe d'aliments.

Differences in Subjective Well-Being between Formal and Informal Workers in Urban China.

This paper examines the relationship between different types of employment and subjective well-being with a focus on informal employment. The China Labor-force Dynamics Survey (CLDS) for three selected years (2012, 2014 and 2016) shows an upward trend in the subjective well-being of urban workers in the 2010s. However, although the gap in subjective well-being between formal and informal workers narrowed, informal workers' subjective well-being was still lower than their formal counterparts. Factors affecting the subjective well-being of formal and informal workers and their different effects were revealed to explain this difference. The subjective well-being of informal workers is significantly related to their informal status of employment, economic conditions (such as income and working hours), human capital, social capital (such as perceived social justice and perceived community connectedness) and urban environment. The paper enhances the understanding of people's subjective well-being by differentiating informal/formal segments of working populations.

Does Formal Employment Reduce Informal Caregiving?

Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we examine the impact of formal employment on informal caregiving. We instrument for individual work hours with state unemployment rates. We find that, among women of prime caregiving ages (40-64 years), working 10% more hours per week reduces the probability of providing informal care by about 2 percentage points. The effects are stronger for more time-intensive caregiving and if care recipients are household members. Our results imply that work-promoting policies have the unintended consequence of reducing informal caregiving in an aging society. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Seguro-desemprego e formalidade no mercado de trabalho brasileiro / Unemployment benefits and formality in the Brazilian labor market / /Seguro de desempleo y formalidad en el mercado de trabajo brasileño

Este trabalho analisa a relação entre seguro-desemprego e emprego formal no mercado de trabalho brasileiro. A hipótese central é de que o recebimento deste benefício tem efeito negativo sobre a formalidade do trabalho no período posterior ao seu recebimento. São usados dados da PNAD (1999-2009). Para avaliar o efeito do seguro-desemprego sobre o mercado de trabalho brasileiro, foram estimados modelos de regressão logística. A variável dependente indica a formalidade no trabalho principal. Além de uma série de variáveis independentes (ano da pesquisa, região de residência, situação censitária, sexo, raça, idade e escolaridade), os modelos contêm uma variável de avaliação de política pública (seguro-desemprego) e variáveis para analisar a tendência desta política pública no decorrer do tempo. O recebimento do benefício do seguro-desemprego apresenta efeito negativo de 42% sobre a formalidade no trabalho principal no momento posterior ao recebimento do benefício. A análise dos termos interativos permite indicar que reajustes dos valores do benefício, realizados desde 1999, não causaram efeitos relevantes na formalização do trabalho.

The authors analyze the relationship between unemployment benefits and formal employment in the Brazilian labor market. The central hypothesis is that the receipt of such benefits has a negative impact on levels of formal employment, after benefits have been received. The data were extracted from the Brazilian Household Surveys between 1999 and 2009. Logistic regression models were estimated in order to evaluate the effect of unemployment benefits on the Brazilian labor market. The dependent variable is the occurrence of formal employment for workers. In addition to a set of independent variables (survey year, region of residence, census area, gender, race, age and education), the models include a public policy evaluation variable (unemployment benefits), as well as variables to analyze the trend of this public policy over time. After having received unemployment benefits, the occurrence of formal employment among workers falls by 42%. The analysis of interactive terms indicates that increases in the real values of the benefits, applied since 1999, have not caused significant effects on the dependent variable.

Este trabajo analiza la relación entre seguro de desempleo y empleo formal en el mercado de trabajo brasileño. La hipótesis central es que la recepción de dicho beneficio ocasiona un efecto negativo sobre la formalidad del trabajo en el periodo posterior a su recepción. Se utilizan datos de Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios - (1999-2009). Para evaluar el efecto del seguro de desempleo sobre el mercado de trabajo brasileño se estimaron modelos de regresión logística. La variable dependiente indica la formalidad en el trabajo principal. Además de una serie de variables independientes (año de la encuesta, región de residencia, situación censitaria, sexo, raza, edad y escolaridad), los modelos contienen una variable de evaluación de política pública (seguro de desempleo) y variables para analizar la tendencia de esta política pública con el paso del tiempo. La recepción del beneficio del seguro de desempleo presenta un efecto negativo de 42% sobre la formalidad en el trabajo principal en el momento posterior a la recepción del beneficio. El análisis de los términos interactivos permite indicar que los reajustes de los valores del beneficio, realizados desde 1999, no causaron efectos relevantes en la formalización del trabajo.