scholarly journals Challenges to Formality from Formal Firms Behaving Informally: Evidence from Central America

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 91-114
Author(s):  
Michael J. Pisani
Keyword(s):  
Central America ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Firm Organization ◽  
Web Presence ◽  
Quality Certification ◽  
Enterprise Surveys ◽  
Informal Practices ◽  
Firm Maturity ◽  
Ownership Composition

This research explores the competitive environment for urban formal sector firms competing against peer formal sector firms behaving informally in Central America. Explored is the upper bound of the formal-informal continuum in a regional economic environment of persistent and widespread economic informality where formal firms may employ informal tactics to gain competitive advantage versus their formal competitors. The 2010 World Bank Enterprise Surveys form the basis for empirical analyses. The results suggest formal firms utilizing informal practices is widespread and is influenced by firm maturity, firm location, industry sector, firm legal status, firm organization, ownership composition, regulatory environment, international quality certification, web presence, entry into global markets, and firm size.

Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (El Salvador/Honduras), Application to Intervene

1991 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 680-686 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Ratner
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Central America ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
Land Frontier

In this case before a Chamber of the International Court of Justice, El Salvador and Honduras, by a Special Agreement dated May 24, 1986, requested that the Chamber delimit the land frontier and determine the legal status of certain islands and waters in the general area of the Gulf of Fonseca. The gulf, located on the Pacific coast of Central America, is bordered by El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. Nicaragua filed an application for permission to intervene in the case on November 17, 1989, pursuant to Article 62 of the Statute of the Court, which permits a state to request intervention if the state considers “that it has an interest of a legal nature which may be affected by the decision in the case.”

The Post-1996 Immigrant Underclass

2019 ◽  
pp. 76-88
Author(s):  
Susan Bibler Coutin
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
Central America ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Undocumented Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Experiences ◽  
Educational Benefits ◽  
Immigration Control ◽  
Young Immigrants

This chapter shows how children who immigrate to the United States from Central America are at risk of becoming an underclass, a set of individuals whose life opportunities are powerfully constrained by legal status. Child arrivals, as those who immigrate to the United States before turning 16 have come to be known, may experience a number of adverse circumstances, including violence in their country of origin, lengthy family separations, the challenges of immigrating without authorization, being undocumented in the United States, a lack of work authorization, challenges pursuing higher education, poverty, racism, the threat of removal, no opportunity to permanently regularize, and a deep disjuncture between legal and social experiences of belonging. This chapter charts the contradictory outcomes as young people move through legal systems. Although local, state and federal measures have provided undocumented students with some legal protections and educational benefits, these remedies remain limited and the threat or the actuality of deportation looms large. This chapter details the structural obstacles that place young immigrants in an underclass, confining them to spaces of legal nonexistence and forcing them to linger rather than move out of systems of immigration control.

Burying the Knife, Building Communities

2018 ◽  
pp. 99-126
Author(s):  
Hannah Gill
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North Carolina ◽  
Central America ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
The United States ◽  
Raising Children ◽  
Transnational Communities ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Different Parts

Chapter 4 profiles the migration stories and integration processes of three individuals from Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean who have settled in different parts of the state, forming transnational communities linking North Carolina to cities and towns in Latin America. We observe how Latinos are building communities in North Carolina. We also witness how the migration process leaves an indelible imprint on immigrants’ communities of origin. These stories are emblematic of the challenges and opportunities that people face moving to the United States, settling and integrating into a community that may or may not be receptive to migrants, maintaining connection with home countries, and raising children in a new society. They highlight the diverse experiences of migrants that are shaped by circumstances in their countries of origin, their socioeconomic status and level of education, their experiences living in other parts of the United States, and their legal status.

How do immigrant legalization programs play out in informal labor markets? The case of Senegalese street hawkers in Argentina

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luisa Feline Freier ◽  
Bernarda Zubrzycki
Keyword(s):  
Labor Markets ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Experimental Situation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Subjective Expectations ◽  
Informal Labor ◽  
Informal Labor Markets ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In this article, we take advantage of the quasi-experimental situation of the 2013 legalization program for Senegalese citizens in Argentina to study its effects on immigrant street hawkers’ incorporation into the formal labor market, their working conditions, social integration, and collective mobilization. In order to understand the impact of legalization programs, it is important to acknowledge that in informal labor markets, the effects of amnesties are likely less pronounced than in predominantly formal markets. Furthermore, the scope of socioeconomic rights granted to unauthorized migrants and migrants’ subjective expectations and aspirations need to be taken into consideration. Based on 50 in-depth interviews and a small N survey, our study suggests that the legalization effect on Senegalese street hawkers’ access to the formal sector is limited. However, legal status does benefit migrants’ subjective well-being and their disposition to engage in collective action for labor and human rights.

From informal to formal: an exploration of firm-level sectoral change in El Salvador

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Pisani
Keyword(s):  
El Salvador ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Firm Maturity

Purpose Enterprises in developed and developing world environments often begin life in the informal sector operating outside the purview of government oversight. Sectoral firm change, however, from the informal to the formal sector is not well studied. The purpose of this paper is to answer the following research question: “What firm-level markers help explain the movement of firms from the informal to the formal sector?” Design/methodology/approach Data from 719 urban formal enterprises included in the 2016 El Salvador Enterprise Survey undertaken by the World Bank forms the basis of the empirical analyses. The survey questionnaire comprehensively encompasses business practices and performance and the overall business environment. Findings Multivariate results reveal location, firm maturity, problems with land acquisition, a line of credit or active business loan, extortion by street gangs and practices of informal competitors increase the odds of informal firms becoming formal enterprises. Lessening the odds of once informal firms moving to the formal sector include the lack of access to public utilities, visitation by tax officials, formation as a corporation, bank accounts, number of employees and time spent focused upon government regulations. Originality/value Contextualized within the national setting of El Salvador, the integration of informal enterprises into the formal economy and related public policy implications of informal firm regularization are discussed.

scholarly journals The Ambivalent U.S. Context of Reception and the Dichotomous Legal Consciousness of Unaccompanied Minors

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 763-781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Galli
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Central America ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Legal Consciousness ◽  
Unaccompanied Minors ◽  
Behavioral Norms ◽  
Immigration Laws ◽  
Legal Violence ◽  
Migrant Behavior

Abstract This article examines the effects of contradictory U.S. immigration laws on unaccompanied minors from Central America. As children, they are considered deserving of protection, but as undocumented immigrants, they are subjected to state legal violence. Apprehended at the border, they must interact with multiple immigration agencies and finally apply for humanitarian deportation relief. Interactions in these institutional spaces teach youths about U.S. laws and behavioral norms expected of young claimants deemed deserving of humanitarian protection, which are construed in contrast to discourses that stigmatize their co-ethnics as “bad” immigrants. These interactions shape youths’ sense of belonging and commonsense understanding of the law or legal consciousness. I argue that the “legal consciousness” of unaccompanied minors is dichotomous and characterized by: (1) a combination of trust and fear in the state; (2) concurrent feelings of deservingness/rights and stigma/subordination; (3) information and misinformation about U.S. laws. This dichotomous consciousness shapes how youths claim belonging and rights in social interactions and in their applications for legal status. To signal their own belonging and deservingness, youths leverage information about their rights and normative notions about desirable teen and migrant behavior. Yet, in the process, they also inadvertently perpetuate stigmas about co-ethnics.

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