Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
percentage of operatives (see Blumberg 1995;
Tinker 1997; Rodgers 1989). There has also been
advocacy of decentralised policies to accord with
needs and skills in different localities (Portés and
Schauffler 1993: p. 56) and the orientation of
policies away from individual firms or workers as
a means of utilising the social networks and social
capital (reciprocity, trust, social obligations
between kin, friends, neighbours, and so on) that
so frequently fuel the operation of the informal
sector (Portés and Itzigsohn 1997: pp. 244-5).
competition (Thomas 1995: p. 111). This is
perhaps especially so given the the recent
explosion of debt crises in the newly industrialised
economies of Southeast Asia. On top of this,
increased capital intensity in the formal sector is
likely to push more people into informal
occupations over time
(ibid.)
.
Recognising that policies to bolster the informal
economy will have to address a wide range of
concerns simultaneously, and that it is important to
build on existing concerns and capabilities within
the sector, care should be taken to avoid
perpetuating the social and economic
marginalisation that deprives so many of the urban
poor from exercising determination over their
occupations in the first place. In this regard, it is
critical, for example, to protect, extend and enhance
systems of public education and training so that
young people in particular are in a better position
to obtain salaried employment and/or to establish
businesses with sturdy prospects of survival.
Education that encompasses commercial and
managerial training, as well as instruction in
cutting-edge developments such as information
technology, could bring about greater productivity
and employment in many ways. Not only is this
likely to enhance indigenous/informal economic
activity but it could also play a part in attracting
greater foreign investment. While offshore
production has not always been in the best interests
of developing economies, the youth of populations
in the South could place them in a stronger position
vis-à-vis multinationals in the future. As Mitter
(1997: pp. 26-7) speculates, an increasingly ageing
population in the North, set against demands for
new technological skills, is likely to spark greater
interest in spreading information-intensive aspects
of production to Asia, Africa and Latin America in
the next few decades.
Policies geared to supporting people's efforts to
sustain their livelihoods should also take due steps to
consult the groups concerned. As Alonzo (1991: p.
41) has argued: 'Policy reform tends to be more
lasting when pressure for it comes from the people
themselves, for only then does government see
popular will clearly. Institutions imposed from above
are likely to die a natural death; the ones that last are
CONCLUDING COMMENTS: THE
INFORMAL SECTOR IN THE TWENTY-
FIRST CENTURY
Regardless of the degree to which governments and
agencies may underpin the viability of the informal
sector in developing countries, there are many
indications that it will continue to be a significant
feature of urban labour markets well into the
twenty-first century. One important reason is
demographic pressure. The youthful age structure
of most developing nations will ensure that
population growth remains high, and in the
immediate future (probably at least until 2010) will
cause a rise in the numbers seeking work. Even if,
in the longer run, decreasing fertility rates lead to a
fall in new entrants to the labour force, this may be
offset by reductions in infant mortality and greater
life expectancies. In the context of a paring back of
(admittedly exiguous) state welfare, the latter may
well lead to greater numbers of older people having
to provide for themselves (Thomas 1995: p. 108; also
Lloyd-Sherlock 1997). Another important factor is
that recent rises in female employment are unlikely
to be reversed when, despite the competitive
conditions of informal employment and the rigours
of their dual labour burden, women are unlikely to
want (or be able to afford) to retreat into the home
on a full-time basis.
On the demand side of the labour market, the
current climate of deregulation is likely to provoke
further contraction in public employment and to
foster increasingly 'flexible' labour contracts in the
formal sector as firms face ever-tougher global
