Empowering Women in the African Entrepreneurial Landscape: Micro-entrepreneurs to Business Globalists in the Formal and Informal Sectors

Abstract Background Thai society is becoming an ageing society. Independent older persons need to be able to continue to work after retirement. The Work Ability Index (WAI) is an assessment tool for improving the health and work environment of the older workers. The objective of this study is to explore work ability and its related factors among older workers in formal and informal sectors in southern Thailand. Methods This cross-sectional study with multistage sampling focused on 324 Thai older workers, aged between 45 and 70 years, working in Nakhon Si Thammarat province. Data on sociodemographic status, health history, and work-related factor questionnaires were collected, including anthropometric measures and the WAI instrument between March and September 2019. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations. Results The participants were predominantly general labourers (23.8%) and female (70.7%). Nearly half of them had noncommunicable chronic diseases (NCDs) (48.2%) and were obese (more than 60%). Approximately 60% (59.9%) engaged in safe working practices. The participants sometimes received occupational health services (51.9%) and frequently accessed health promotion services (78.1%). There was a significant difference in the total average WAI score of the formal and informal workers: 40.6 (S.D. = 4.6) and 37.5 (S.D. = 5.0), respectively. The multivariate analysis showed that workers aged 55 years and older (adj. OR = 1.45; 95% CI [1.21, 1.74]), those with NCDs (adj. OR = 2.85; 95% CI [1.69, 4.80]), and those who were exposed to unsafe working practices (adj. OR = 2.11; 95% CI [1.26, 3.55]) had a higher risk of a poor to moderate WAI. Conclusions Most of the older workers had good to excellent work ability. Older age and the presence of NCDs were negatively associated with good to excellent work ability. Safe working practices improved older workers’ work ability. Integrated occupational health protections and health promotion programmes for older informal workers should be provided by community health services to improve work ability.

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Labour relations in the ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ sectors: Report of a case study in South Gujarat, India—Part I

The Journal of Peasant Studies ◽

10.1080/03066157708438019 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 171-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jan Breman

Keyword(s):

Labour Relations ◽

Formal And Informal Sectors

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Towards a well-informed rental housing policy in Ghana: differentiating between critics and non-critics of the rent advance system

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis ◽

10.1108/ijhma-12-2020-0146 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Richmond Juvenile Ehwi ◽

Lewis Abedi Asante ◽

Emmanuel Kofi Gavu

Keyword(s):

Housing Policy ◽

Goodness Of Fit ◽

Rental Housing ◽

Chi Square ◽

Content Type ◽

Housing Characteristics ◽

Employment Sector ◽

General Elections ◽

The One ◽

Formal And Informal Sectors

Purpose In Ghana, the practice of landlords demanding that renters pay rent advance (RA) of between six months and five years is well noted. Surprisingly, renters appear divided into the benefits and drawbacks of the rent advance payment. Ahead of the 2020 general elections, the two leading political parties in Ghana promised to establish a rent assistance scheme to help renters working in the formal and informal sectors and earning regular incomes to pay their RA. This paper aims to scrutinize the differences in the demographic, employment and housing characteristics between the critics and non-critics of the RA payment in Ghana and the factors that predict the likelihood of being a critic of the RA system. Design/methodology/approach The study is exploratory and draws empirical data from surveys administered to 327 graduate renters from 13 regions in Ghana. It uses non-parametric and parametric tests, namely, Chi-square goodness-of-fit and T-test to explore these differences between both critics and non-critics of the RA. Findings There are statistically significant differences between critics and non-critics in terms of the association between their educational attainment on the one hand and their marital status, employment status and employment sector on the other hand. The research also reveals that monthly expenditures, number of bedrooms and RA period significantly predict the likelihood of being a critic of the RA payment or otherwise. Practical implications The study provides evidence which policymakers can draw upon to inform housing policy. Originality/value The study is the first to study the housing characteristics of graduate renters and to quantitatively distinguish between critics and non-critics of RA payment in Ghana.

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Informal Economies of the Sahel

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198816959.013.18 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 310-328

Author(s):

Fatou Guèye ◽

Ahmadou Aly Mbaye

Keyword(s):

Informal Sector ◽

Social Inclusion ◽

Growth Dynamics ◽

Business Environment ◽

Security Challenges ◽

Informal Economies ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

National Economies ◽

Formal And Informal Sectors ◽

Formal Business

Sahelian countries, while sharing many features of other Sub-Saharan African economies, face some unique economic challenges, which merit particular scrutiny, notably: a sizable demographic bulge, being landlocked, a lower income per head, and a higher poverty incidence. The picture is further darkened by critical governance weaknesses, political instability, and radical Islamist threats, which, as discussed in other chapters in this volume, have caused serious security challenges within, and across, national borders. All these factors have contributed to a downsizing of the formal business environment and an expansion of the informal sector. This chapter assesses the relative weights of the formal and informal sectors in Sahelian national economies, its growth dynamics, as well as employment and productivity patterns. It also examines the implications of the rise of the informal sector for institutions and governance, social inclusion, and stability.

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INFORMAL BUSINESS TOURISM IN CAMEROON

GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites ◽

10.30892/gtg.38437-771 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 1289-1298

Author(s):

Tembi Maloney TICHAAWA ◽

Keyword(s):

Informal Sector ◽

Tourism Development ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Economic Sectors ◽

Multiplier Effect ◽

African Context ◽

Using Data ◽

Formal And Informal Sectors ◽

Business Travellers ◽

Local Farmers

The uniqueness of business tourism in the African context is argued to be an amalgam of several clusters of activities manifested in both the formal and informal sectors. In this study, business tourism in the global south, with a specific focus on the informal sector in Cameroon is analysed. Using data that was collected from a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with three hundred and seventy-seven business travellers, the study reveals that informal business tourism includes domestic business travellers classified into five distinctive categories: (1) informal salespeople (2) shopowners (3) herdsmen (4) local farmers and (5) wholesalers. The study concludes that informal business tourism represents an important sector that contributes to tourism development and if well harnessed, its multiplier effect could be widespread amongst the different economic sectors of Cameroon.

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Barriers to Prisoners’ Re-Entry into Formal and Informal Labour Market

International Journal of Business and Society ◽

10.33736/ijbs.3190.2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 479-495

Author(s):

Taksaorn Phuchongpravech ◽

Thanee Chaiwat

Keyword(s):

Labour Market ◽

Cosmetic Surgery ◽

Odds Ratio ◽

Criminal History ◽

Job Opportunities ◽

New Knowledge ◽

Informal Labour ◽

Criminal History Records ◽

Male Prisoners ◽

Formal And Informal Sectors

Aside from academics suggesting that low-physical-attractive prisoners may face difficulty reentering the labour market: permitting employers to access criminal history records aggravates the situation. The current study aims to alleviate this discrimination by generating more beauty premiums to prisoners through cosmetic surgery. The choice experiments (CEs) on hypothetical cosmetic surgery faces of 18 Thai male prisoners were conducted. In which every choice set, the respondents were required to make a tradeoff between beauty and criminal history records. The results show that cosmetic surgery generates beauty premiums to prisoners in both the formal and informal sectors with the odds ratio or increase of the utility of 1.75 and 1.754, respectively. Contrarily, the criminal history records result in discrimination to prisoners’ employments: decreasing job opportunities by 82.8% and 51% in the formal and informal sectors, respectively. The MWTP values show an additional salary to the cosmetic surgery groups for 2,600 baht approximately in both sectors. Besides contributing to the literature, the current study sheds light on the importance of physical appearance and criminal history records as one of the main barriers to prisoners’ re-entry. The findings could serve as new knowledge for policymakers to improve the success rate of prisoners’ reintegration.

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The Whole-of-Nation Approach

Handbook of Research on Global Challenges for Improving Public Services and Government Operations - Advances in Public Policy and Administration ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-4978-0.ch015 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 291-309

Author(s):

Abdul Malik Omar

Keyword(s):

Industrial Revolution ◽

Oil And Gas ◽

Body Politic ◽

Political Stability ◽

Small Population ◽

The Body ◽

Policy Recommendations ◽

Brunei Darussalam ◽

The Government ◽

Formal And Informal Sectors

Microstates face innumerable challenges in braving the 21st century. Limited resources, a small geography, and a small population are just some of the constraints faced. None is more so pressing that the case of Brunei Darussalam, where its heavy reliance on Oil and Gas may have afforded it economic prosperity and political stability since its independence in 1984, but the changes in market structure and global forces have resulted in it facing serious issues, such as its increasing unemployment rate. The Government of Brunei have taken steed in the advice of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah to unify the body politic through the “Whole-of-Nation” approach and bring about the harmonious constellation of state actors and non-actors, from both the formal and informal sectors, to realizing the country's ambitious Wawasan 2035 and to adapt to the 4th Industrial Revolution. This work will unpack whether the Government has been successful in its efforts to do so. Policy recommendations will also be presented.

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