Informal Development and Involuntary Employment

Abstract

A fundamental differentiation of the informal sector , and the inner city street trader sector , from the corresponding formal sector might be taken to exist on the basis of the inherently involuntary nature of much informal employment. Using data from a street trader upliftment research project undertaken in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Pearson parametric, Spearman non- parametric and hierarchical linear regression tests were used in a cross-sectional exploratory research design to investigate the extent to which gross earnings, dif ferent types of product provision or biographic factors contribute to continuance satisfaction. Traders who earn less, are the most vulnerable to a context of relatively involuntary work, were found to be the most dissatisfied with continuing in street trading. It is recommended that policy makers empower such traders to increase the capital intensity of their offerings, or to rather provide services in this context of both extrinsic and intrinsic scarcity .