Workshop Agenda and Participant List | Plenary Report | Background Paper

A growing number of entrepreneurs of modest means operate informally because they are locked out of the political and economic system by ill-designed, complex laws and regulations that raise the cost of doing business in the formal sector. This has serious implications for the future of political and economic transition in emerging democracies and economies and calls for targeted reform efforts.

To this end, CIPE sponsored a workshop, "Barriers to Participation: The Informal Sector in Emerging Democracies," that was part of the National Endowment for Democracy’s Second Global Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy in São Paulo in November 2000 (see www.wmd.org). The workshop brought together 41 people from 24 countries from all regions of the world and different sectors of society including informal sector experts and representatives from civil society such as business associations, think tanks, universities, labor unions, and human rights and pro-democracy groups.

A background paper offering an overview of the challenges that a growing informal sector poses to economic and political reform in emerging democracies was prepared and distributed in advance in order to stimulate focused workshop discussions on the specific sources of and effective strategies for removing obstacles to formality. The lively exchanges between the participants in São Paulo yielded valuable insights on the reasons for informality and generated useful suggestions, strategies and policy initiatives on how to reduce these barriers. This feedback is summarized in a plenary report and has been incorporated into a revised version of the paper.

If you would like further information, please contact Catherine Kuchta-Helbling at: ckhelbling@cipe.org

COMING SOON! A special CIPE Web site section devoted to the informal sector!