Informal Level Research Articles

Spinners or sitters? Regimes of social reproduction and urban Chinese workers’ employment choices

Despite China being the world’s factory, its labor market is now primarily service-based with a high level of informality. When formal manufacturing and informal service sectors co-exist, how do workers make their choices? While existing literature focuses on rural migrant workers’ experience in the Chinese labor system, this study extends the analytical scope to low-skill urban workers. Drawing on archival, interview, and ethnographic data in a large industrial city in central China, I compare urban women’s different trajectories in textile manufacturing and informal domestic service. Building on labor regime studies and Social Reproduction Theory, I develop a framework called “regimes of social reproduction” to explain workers’ job choices. I argue that China’s post-socialist industrial restructuring has given rise to a public–private hybrid regime of social reproduction, which keeps workers’ pension and healthcare schemes in the public domain and pushes childcare, elderly care, and domestic work to the private sphere and then marketizes them. For urban workers, when choosing between formal manufacturing and informal service, it is their position within the regime of social reproduction that plays a decisive role. Their position is assessed along the following two dimensions: (1) the degree of a worker’s dependency on the employment-based welfare provisions and (2) the degree of demand for reproductive labor in a worker’s family. Challenging the conventional view that formal manufacturing jobs are more desirable than informal service jobs, I conclude that under the current regime of social reproduction, the booming informal service market may provide some best earning opportunities for low-skilled urban workers. However, the same regime has also set significant limits on such opportunities as these urbanites’ availability to work is highly contingent on (lack of) demand for reproductive labor from their own family.

OS PROCESSOS METONÍMICOS EM PUBLICIDADE VERBO-VISUAL SOB ENFOQUE DA LINGUÍSTICA CRÍTICA E DA MULTIMODALIDADE

RESUMO A publicidade tem sido representada como um continuum de funções, flutuando entre informação e manipulação, frequentemente recorrendo à comunicação implícita. Pesquisas mostram que, nesse domínio, é crucial a orientação em direção ao leitor para assegurar objetivos retóricos de persuasão. Assim, diferentes pesquisas dedicam-se à linguagem e à comunicação na publicidade, analisando o uso de estratégias de comunicação, tais como, a personificação por meio de pronomes, a intertextualidade e estratégias persuasivas de suavização por meio da modalização (hedges). Em termos do discurso publicitário, faz-se necessário ir além do uso de adjetivos e expressões explícitas, para entender que a persuasão age também na subjacência do texto e por meio de recursos imagéticos. O objetivo deste artigo é examinar, anúncios de grandes instituições financeiras veiculados em diferentes mídias, como televisão, jornais, revistas e internet para identificar a contribuição dos processos metonímicos na persuasão que percorre o gênero publicitário. Para que os objetivos sejam alcançados, as análises partem dos microelementos até atingir os macroaspectos, onde as formas linguísticas e os atos de imagem agem em conjunto para transmissão de aspectos ideológicos e hegemônicos. Além disso, as análises contam com as teorias de Halliday (1994), Kress e van Leeuwen (1996; 2006), Feng (2017) e Fairclough (1994; 1995). Os resultados indicam que, os anúncios apresentam um alto nível de informalidade e situações rotineiras. Por outro lado, as análises baseadas nos processos metonímicos demonstram os caminhos e técnicas usadas na produção dos anúncios na busca de persuadir e vender os produtos.

Characterizing the growth of one student’s mathematical understanding in a multi-representational learning environment

The purpose of this study was to characterize the growth of one student’s mathematical understanding and use of different representations about a geometric transformation, dilation. We accomplished this purpose by using the Pirie-Kieren model jointly with the Semiotic Representation Theory as a lens. Elif, a 10th- grade student, was purposefully chosen as the case for this study because of the growth of mathematical understanding about dilation she exhibited over time. Elif participated in task-based interviews before, during and after participating in a variety of transformation lessons where she used multiple representations, including physical and virtual manipulatives. The results revealed that Elif was able to progress in her mathematical understanding from informal levels to the formal levels in the Pirie-Kieren model as she performed treatments and conversions, movements involving different registers of representations. The results also showed numerous examples of Elif’s mathematical understanding based on folding back activities, complementary aspects of acting and expressing, and interventions. Using the two theories together provides a powerful and holistic approach to a deeper understanding of mathematical learning by characterizing and articulating the growth of mathematical understanding and the way of mathematical thinking.

DETERMINANTS OF THE LEVEL OF INFORMALIZATION OF ENTERPRISES: SOME EVIDENCE FROM ACCRA, GHANA

Based on the recognition that enterprises operate at different levels of informality, this paper evaluates the determinants of their degree of informalization. To do so, a 2016 survey of the varying degrees of informalization of 171 entrepreneurs in Ghana is reported. The finding is that only 21% of enterprises were wholly informal and 16% wholly formal. Nearly two-thirds (63%) were neither wholly informal nor wholly formal. Higher levels of informalization are significantly associated with younger entrepreneurs, those with lower levels of educational attainment, lower household incomes and younger enterprises. It is also significantly associated with the wider institutional compliance environment. Higher levels of informality are present among entrepreneurs unaware of the need for registration, who lack vertical trust (i.e., do not believe the state does anything for them, and perceive there to be public sector corruption), view informality as normal (i.e., a normal practice in their family) and view all similar businesses as operating informally (i.e., lack horizontal trust). The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and policy implications.

A decentred assessment of the impact of ‘informal governance’ on democratic legitimacy

The aim of this article is to examine the impact of informal governance on democratic legitimacy. It draws on the literatures on informal governance and decentred theory to examine how governance mechanisms that are un-written, un-codified and non-institutional impact on democratic legitimacy in governance networks. Drawing on a case study of English devolution in the United Kingdom, this article explores how informal governance impacts on different dimensions of legitimacy – input, throughout and output. It does so by drawing on the narratives and stories of central government officials directly involved in English devolution between 2015 and 2018. Findings reveal that even when formal structures are weak, democratic legitimacy can be secured, especially in promoting effective decision making and problem solving – throughput legitimacy. Nonetheless, a decentred analysis has shown a high level of selectivity and differentiation in central-local relationships that undermine legitimation based on input (inclusiveness) and outcome (results) legitimacy. This assessment provides important new insights into how governance networks characterized by high levels of informality can promote democratic legitimacy in ways that reflect the nuances of political decision making in highly complex environments. The challenge for politicians and policy makers moving forward is to actively manage the inevitable trade-offs generated through the use of informality if accusations of a democratic deficit are to be averted.

Labor Market Dynamics, Informality and Regulations in Latin America

Labor markets in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are characterized by high levels of informality and relatively rigid regulation. This paper shows that these two features are related and together make the speed of adjustment of employment to shocks slower, especially when regulations are tightly enforced. Evidence suggests that strict labor market regulations also have an adverse effect on medium-term growth. While both regulations on prices (minimum wages) and quantities (employment protection) decrease the speed of adjustment to shocks, they appear to be binding in different phases of the cycle—the former affects mostly the (net) job creation margin and the latter the (net) job destruction margin. The results also highlight possible interactions between labor market regulations and the effectiveness of macro-stabilization tools—including exchange rate depreciation.

Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Through Education: A Vital Element for the Peace Process in the Gulf

While the fall of Raqqa signalled the steady decline and “defeat” of the Islamic State (IS), it did not guarantee the end of its ideology of violent extremism. The possibility of the organisation reinventing itself in different and perhaps more lethal ways is very high. States, therefore, must adopt measures that are based on holistic, multi-stakeholder approaches rather than on military and securitised responses to counter and ultimately prevent the spread of violent extremist ideology. The countries of the Gulf have the advantage of a “youth bulge,” with almost half its population under the age of 30 years. This “youth bulge” is however a double-edged sword. This large pool of human capital could be a demographic dividend, if harnessed intelligently, while conversely it could prove to be a demographic disaster if timely and plausible solutions to the various issues faced are not provided. This paper will explore ways in which preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) through education could be achieved by including a variety of stakeholders from faith based organisations, the corporate sector, media and academia in the formulation of appropriate educational responses which take into account issues like culture, identity and religiosity. These re-education programmes should form an integral part of P/CVE policies, thereby providing the much needed psycho-social angle to an otherwise hard security-driven discourse. It is against this rationale that this paper makes a case for P/CVE through education, encompassing the formal, informal and non-formal levels, as one of the possible means for promoting and fostering a peace process in the Gulf.

INTERNAL SYSTEM OF LABOR DISPUTES SETTLEMENT WITHIN INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL ORGANIZATIONS

The article analyzes provisions of the statutory and procedural acts (Statutes, Rules, Staff Manuals etc.) adopted within the international financial institutions (International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank) regarding the settlement of disputes emerging between the staff and the administration. It is emphasized that dispute prevention and resolution is today attracting more and more attention, as the effective prevention and resolution of labour disputes is critical for sound and productive employment relations worldwide. It is noted that the internal justice systems of these financial institutions are aimed primarily at resolving work-related issues and claims in order to ensure a harmonious and respectful working environment. It has been established that the internal mechanism for resolving labor disputes has a two-tier system, which includes informal (Ombudsman, mediation service, etc.) and formal levels (administrative review, Administrative tribunals, etc.). It is paid attention to the fact that administrative tribunals serve as the independent judicial forums for the resolution of employment disputes arising between international financial organizations and their staff members and application may be filed only after the exhausting all available channels of administrative review. It is indicated that all the resolution of labor disputes within the informal level is operational confidential and voluntary. Attention is drawn to the fact that, unlike the United Nations, the administrative tribunals established in the system of international financial institutions are single-level, and their decisions are final and are not subject to further appeal. The relevant conclusions have been drawn.

The Characteristics and Spatial Modelling of Informal Economies

The goal of this study is to identify the characteristics of informal economies. Specifically, we identify the factors that describe informal economies and summarize them into indices measuring informality. We use data on 189 countries and the method used to analyze the data focuses only on the year 2012. We perform an exploratory analysis to identify the variables which structure informal economies and use the scores from a logistic regression to measure the degree of informality of each country. The results show that the degree of informality a country is related to its level of development. Thus, developing countries are generally those where the degree of informality is highest while developed countries are generally characterized by a low level of informality. This study thus enables us to classify countries into groups according to the variables that determine informality and draw a chart representing the countries according to their level of informality.

Қытайдың «Бір белдеу, бір жол» стратегиялық жобасы және Қазақстандағы синофобиялық көзқарастың себептері

In this unstable world, where the future of not only nation-states, but of humanity as a whole is in an obscure situation, and the decisive destinies of nations, political elites and intellectual circles are not able to find solutions to many pressing problems, confident steps by the Chinese government to the future, on one hand, inspire great hope and, on the other hand, inspire a threat. In this regard, many studies are actively conducted in the scientific community regarding the modernization of China and from the pro-Chinese, as well as from the anti-Chinese point of view on this problem. The Chinese experience is interesting to everyone, but it is well known that the world community is not yet ready to adopt a Chinacentrist approach to development instead of the traditional Eurocentric approach. Despite the fact that Kazakhstan’s leaders speak of close relations with the Chinese government, “strategic partnership” and “mutual cooperation”, we must admit that on an informal level, tension between the two countries is growing today. In connection with this trend, the article discusses the relationship between Kazakhstan and China. The values and benefits for Kazakhstan of the Chinese strategy “One Belt, One Way” are noted. It also analyzes the issue of sinophobia in Kazakhstan, the causes and consequences for both countries. Key words: China, sinophobia, “One belt One road”, Central Asia, conflicts, politic.

Інституційні напрями дослідження моделі мовної політики

The purpose of the article – is to explore the basics of the model of language policy, which is base don language policy and the Ukrainian language which is a state institution and its indicator, based on such institutional areas as historical, discursive, constructivist, network, social and others. The methodological basis of the article are such institutional areas as: historical institutionalism, which analyzes the constructive and destructive problems of forming a model of language policy at certain stages of Ukrainian statehood; institutional constructivism (French construct, Latin constructio-construction), due to which the subjects of politics, which are the state, government, parliament, deputies, factions, political parties, etc. Institutions that regulate and direct language policy through formal and informal constructive institutions that operate on the basis of a political network of language policy models, which in each state has its own structure and history of formation; discursive institutionalism, through which the subjects of policy institutions of the language policy model interact in order to draw attention to the language – political problem and solve it (Bratski, 2012); network institutionalism, through which political networks are analyzed as structural institutions based on formal and informal, constructive and destructive institutions that shape and regulate language policy and solve language – political problems at the level of political communication. Scientific novelty. For the first time, the basics of the language policy model are studies on the basis of the activities of formal and informal institutions, which constructively or destructively influence the formation or inhibition of the development of the language policy model. It should be noted that formal and informal inhibitions Change depending on what ideology and political regime prevail at the state level, as they in one way or another influence the formation, renewal, change, development and inhibition of language policy model. Conclusions. The institutional approach to the study of the language policy model is: a conscious understanding of the activities of legislative, executive, judicial, formal and informal institutions of the state aimed at regulating and solving language and political problems and building a model on this basis; analysis of the implementation of language policy at the formal and informal levels, which provides communicative links in all spheres and areas of socio-political life of the state; comprehension of the institutional basis of the model, which in Ukraine is the Ukrainian language as a state institution that provides communicative relations and connections in educational, political, cultural, scientific, ets levels. Keywords: institutional directions; traditional and new; institutionalism; language policy; Ukrainian language as a state institution; language policy model; historical, constructivist, discursive, network, social institutionalism; constructive and destructive, formal and informal institutions.

Картируя университет: стратегии присвоения пространства в опыте повседневности

Recently in Russia, there has been a lot of debate about the university of the future. The focus is largely on educational programs, approaches to teaching and learning as well as career paths of graduates. However, the future is also about the everyday experience, which is crucial to decision making and success. The authors refer to the university as a physical environment of academic communities, and offer algorithms to study the everyday life on a university campus. The paper presents the results of the field research of the everyday life on a university campus from a student perspective. The research was carried out in 2009–2018 among the students of Saint Petersburg (Herzen State Pedagogical University of Russia, St. Petersburg State University, Folk Arts State Higher School). The paper reports that in addition to the university’s formal spatial structure, students construct a stable informal system of spatial and time axes, including sounds, smells, colors, objects, texts, and situations. On the informal level, students attach symbolic meanings to places as long as these meanings are important to the student community. The university space, as described by students, appears organized and differentiated; it also determines the identity of students and the prescribed norms of behavior. The research found that informal knowledge and strategies of the appropriation of space are more or less stable and may be passed down to future generations. Emotional and intellectual perceptions of the formal and informal concepts of the university space mainly depend on the efficiency of communication between students, academics, and university management.

Fiscal Consolidations and Informality in Latin America and the Caribbean

The transmission mechanisms of fiscal policy are significantly affected by informality in the labour market. Extending a narrative database of fiscal consolidations in 14 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean between 1989 and 2016 in order to account for heterogeneity in terms of commitment to the reforms, I show that tax-based and spending-based multipliers are both recessionary and do not significantly differ one from another in this region. Furthermore, these multipliers decline in absolute value as the level of labour informality increases in the economy, although evidences are less robust for spending-based consolidations. An analysis of the effects of tax-based consolidations on private demand suggests that labour market informality constitutes a short-term social buffer that attenuates the contractionary effects of this type of policy by increasing investment opportunities through tax evasion and entrepreneurial alternatives to unemployment for dismissed workers.

You Get What You Pay For: Sources and Consequences of the Public Sector Premium in Albania and Sri Lanka

We study the factors behind the public sector premium in Albania and Sri Lanka, the group heterogeneity in the premium, the sources of public sector wage compression, and the impact of this compression on the way individuals self-select between the public and the private sector. Similar to other countries, the public sectors in Albania and Sri Lanka pay higher wages than the private sector, for all but the most valued employees. While half of the premium of Sri Lanka and two-thirds of it in Albania are explained by differences in the occupation-education-experience mix between the sectors, and the level of private sector informality, the unexplained part of the premium is significant enough to affect the preferences of working in the public sector for different groups. We show that the compressed distributions of public sector wages and benefits create incentives for positive sorting into the public sector among most employees, and negative sorting among the most productive ones.

Does informality help entrepreneurs achieve firm growth? evidence from a post-conflict economy

This article evaluates the impact of starting-up unregistered and operating informally on small firm growth in Kosovo, the country with the highest levels of informality in Western Balkans. The study uses mixed research methods as an inquiry to combining both qualitative and quantitative forms. Reporting data from 487 business owners extracted from a 2017 nationally representative survey of 8,533 households in Kosovo, 47.7 percent had started-up unregistered and were operating informally at the time of the survey. Using an instrumental variable (IV) estimation with a binary endogenous regressor to estimate the impact of informality (a treatment group) on small firm growth (control group), while controlling for other entrepreneur and firm determinants, a strong positive effect of the informality on firm growth is identified. Entrepreneurs operating informally had an 11.6 percentage points higher probability of achieving their firm growth objectives compared with entrepreneurs operating formally. Yet, the qualitative interviews revealed that growth objectives of small firms were limited, so the unregistered firms outperformed registered firms only under the modest growth objectives. Taking into account the limitations of the study, the implications for theory and policy are proposed to tackle the informality such as incentives of government small business support programs.

Labor Market Dynamics, Informality and Regulations in Latin America

Labor markets in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are characterized by high levels of informality and relatively rigid regulation. This paper shows that these two features are related and together make the speed of adjustment of employment to shocks slower, especially when regulations are tightly enforced. Evidence suggests that strict labor market regulations also have an adverse effect on medium-term growth. While both regulations on prices (minimum wages) and quantities (employment protection) decrease the speed of adjustment to shocks, they appear to be binding in different phases of the cycle - the former affects mostly the (net) job creation margin and the latter the (net) job destruction margin. The results also highlight possible interactions between labor market regulations and the effectiveness of macro-stabilization tools - including exchange rate depreciation.

Beyond formalized plans: User involvement in support in daily living - users' and support workers' experiences.

User involvement, based on respect and carried out through dialogue, has been shown to lead to increased self-respect, self-confidence and positive identity. In Sweden, the Social Service Act requires that interventions be designed and implemented together with the individual concerned. The basic criterion for social support is prolonged severe mental illness (usually at least 6 months), with no criteria for specific diagnosis or institutional history. The most common form of social support is 'support in daily living', a community care intervention for people aged 18 years or older who have their own homes and living arrangements. This article aims to deepen our understanding of user involvement at the individual level in the provision of an ongoing social work intervention. What elements of user involvement can be found in users' and support workers' descriptions of helpful support in daily living? Qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 users, who had experienced support in daily living as helpful, and 16 interviews with the users' support workers. Three major, interconnected themes emerged: Constant dialogue; Framing the flexibility, in relation to formalized intervention plans and regulations; The importance of 'small things', decisions concerning daily life. Both users and support workers described user involvement at the individual, micro-level to be an integral part of helpful support in daily living. It was possible to create a space for dialogue and co-creation in which users were involved in formulating and deciding the contents of their support at an informal level, to influence their own everyday lives. While a formal framework of rules, restrictions and plans surrounds meetings between users and professionals, a facilitating factor may be the absence of too detailed plans and regulations, leaving trust to users and professionals and their capacity to manage most of the choices they have to make.

El panorama del trabajo decente en el Perú durante el periodo 2010 al 2016

En este artículo se ha llevado a cabo una revisión descriptiva sobre el trabajo decente en el Perú con la intención de formular un panorama general respecto al estado situacional de este tipo de empleo y establecer qué aspectos están limitando su avance y desarrollo en el país. La investigación se ha desarrollado mediante la búsqueda bibliográfica de artículos académicos, informes de autoridades competentes en la materia y al análisis de las estadísticas de algunos indicadores socioeconómicos relacionados con el trabajo decente principalmente del periodo 2010 al 2016. Los resultados obtenidos fruto de la investigación indican que existe un déficit significativo de trabajo decente tanto a nivel nacional y regional que afecta a un porcentaje importante de la población ocupada en el Perú debido principalmente a los altos niveles de informalidad y de pobreza presentes en nuestra economía. Esto evidencia que existe la urgente necesidad de orientar las políticas de Estado al mejoramiento de las condiciones laborales y la educación de la población en el país.

Informality in the Western Balkans: a culture, a contextual rational choice, or both?

ABSTRACT Using data compiled during extensive survey research carried out in the societies of the Western Balkans, we attempt to contribute to the discussion on whether informality, which in this region is largely present even in formal settings, is a consequence of a specific culture brought about by particular historical circumstances – several centuries of Ottoman rule, delayed modernization, and the legacy of socialism – or whether it is a manifestation of a contextualized rational choice, embodied as a response to the transitional environment in which citizens live. Trying to contribute to these deliberations and create a new basis for the better understanding of these ‘informal ways of getting things done’, we operationalize two sets of indicators that speak in favour of one or the other standpoint. We apply Multiple Correspondence Analysis and regression methods, but the complexity of the analysis produced results that defy simple oppositions. However, we identified perceptions of the level of informality, lack of trust in institutions and readiness to justify informality as the strongest predictors of informal practices, with a non-linear relationship between the age of respondents and their involvement in informal practices, and a rather weak correlation with indicators of their economic, social and cultural capital.

Brexit under Scrutiny in EU Member States: What Role for National Parliaments in Austria and Germany?

Among national parliaments (NPs) in the EU, the Austrian Nationalrat and the German Bundestag stand out as strong legislatures in EU affairs. Both parliaments have used their rights to great extent in recent EU negotiations on international agreements such as the one with Canada on a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. Yet, in the negotiations with the UK their involvement varies. Why is this so? Scholarly work on Brexit so far focused on the European Parliament or the UK parliament, while attention to NPs in the EU27 is scarce. This article fills this void in research by tracing the Austrian and German parliaments’ activities in the Brexit negotiations. Despite similar institutional strength I find that the German Bundestag is more extensively involved, particularly on an informal level, compared to the Austrian Nationalrat. The reason for this is Brexit’s varying saliency in these two countries given their different levels of exposure to the UK’s withdrawal. As saliency of a policy issue is considered a major explanatory factor for why NPs engage in EU affairs, the results of this article confirm this expectation within the realm of EU international negotiations.