Employment, Informality and Growth: a persistent dilemma in Latin America

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86833421093?pwd=T1dBQXI4L1dDQ3Iwb0RGcERySEJPUT09

Convener(s): Diego Sanchez-Ancochea

Speaker(s): Janina Leon (ACADEMIC VISITOR)

Following a development economics approach, this study analyzes the labor markets dynamics in relation to economic growth in Latin American countries. The key issues of my applied research include the analysis of the large proportion of non-waged labor (usually named “informal”) in Latin American labor markets. For decades, in Latin America the self-employed and microenterprise workers have accounted for more than 50% of employed workers, mostly in urban areas.

As a result, labor poverty and labor inequalities (among workers and individuals by gender, race and age) have been significant, with several determinants from the worker side as well as from the firm side. Several development and political arguments have been proposed from those stressing the role of the legal framework and individual behavior, to those explaining labor outcomes in relation to historical heritage, structural changes, changing paradigms and political perspectives. Recent events like the COVID19, as well as the increasing use of digital platforms, online jobs and similar processes have posed serious economic challenges. The increasing inflows of regional labor immigration has been an additional variable to consider as it is the accelerated use of artificial intelligence.  

This study explores these dilemmas and its impact on economic activity, the workers and the poverty reduction in Latin America, for the present and near future.