This paper reviews the literature on taxation of the informal economy, taking stock of key
debates and drawing attention to recent innovations. Conventionally, the debate on whether …

This chapter reviews the recent literature in economics on small-scale entrepreneurship (“
microentrepreneurship”) in low-income countries. Major topics in the literature include the …

In developing countries, informal firms account for up to half of economic activity. They
provide livelihood for billions of people. Yet their role in economic development remains …

The African Economic Outlook is the only annual report that monitors in detail the economic
performance of 53 individual countries on the continent, using a strictly comparable …

To advance understanding of the entrepreneurship process in developing economies, this
article evaluates whether registered enterprises that initially avoid the cost of registration …

A field experiment in Sri Lanka provides informal firms incentives to formalize. Information
about the registration process and reimbursement of direct costs does not increase …

The majority of microenterprises in most developing countries remain informal despite more
than a decade of reforms aimed at making it easier and cheaper for them to formalize. This …

We conducted a field experiment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil to test which government actions
work to encourage informal firms to register. We find zero or negative impacts of information …

Based on unique panel data consisting of both formal and informal firms, this paper uses a
matched double difference approach to examine the relationship between legal status and …

How many businesses start-ups conduct some or all of their trade 'off-the-books'? And how
many enterprises continue to do some of their work off-the-books once they are more …