The informal economy is ever-present in developing countries. It is present in any worker and small business out of the state’s regulatory environment. Moreover, high poverty rates are also present...Show moreThe informal economy is ever-present in developing countries. It is present in any worker and small business out of the state’s regulatory environment. Moreover, high poverty rates are also present in such developing countries. Therefore, finding a way to address the informal economy to see whether poverty can be reduced is paramount. Thus, this thesis will explore the research question of: What state interventions to the informal economy can affect the countries’ poverty rates across different levels of economic development? For this purpose, this research will explore two state interventions: those facilitating business formalization and those providing social protection. By analyzing over 100 countries and conducting a multiple linear regression, this research has found a statistical effect of state interventions on the countries’ poverty rates. The findings show that state interventions can affect the poverty rates of developing countries. However, such an effect is contingent on matters such as the level of corruption and government effectiveness. Thus, these findings pave the way for future focus on how the countries’ institutional environment must be addressed when looking into how to target the informal economy to reduce poverty.Show less
Sierra Leone is the perfect example of the resource curse. Despite 80 years of diamond, gold and gemstone mining, the country ranks low on global development. This thesis examines the main...Show moreSierra Leone is the perfect example of the resource curse. Despite 80 years of diamond, gold and gemstone mining, the country ranks low on global development. This thesis examines the main recommendations in the World Bank's Strategy for Africa Mining paper (1992) in order to determine how they affected the (informal) ASM sector in Sierra Leone and therefore shaped its political, social and economic structures in the long-run. In the literature review, topics on the distinctive features of ASM in sub-Saharan Africa, informality, formality, hierarchy, gender- and power relations are discussed. Using thematic analysis (deductive approach), this thesis identified four themes on economic growth, African agency, modernisation and formalisation in the strategy report. These re-occuring themes and the focus on LSM gave an incomplete understanding of ASM. This resulted in Sierra Leonean authority grouping all types of illicit mining activities altogether. Economic liberalisation policies and formalisation efforts implemented in the African mining sector paradoxically led to mass unemployment and the proliferation of informal ASM in Sierra Leone. Several trends and patterns in the contemporary (informal) Sierra Leonean ASM sector are examined and linked back to the main recommendations in the strategy report.Show less
Solid waste management is one of the main problems worldwide. Especially in developing countries, different factors such as rapid population growth, migration to urban areas, and lack of financial...Show moreSolid waste management is one of the main problems worldwide. Especially in developing countries, different factors such as rapid population growth, migration to urban areas, and lack of financial resources make difficult to implement an efficient system of collection. Waste–pickers have an important role in the solid waste management but they normally work under hazardous and precarious conditions. In Brazil, in particular, although most of scavengers work informally, there are also many formal cooperatives of waste pickers that collaborate each other and contribute significantly to clean the cities and reduce the volume of solid waste destined to the dumps. Nevertheless, solid waste management is still a complex issue in the country and there is still a lot do in order to integrate waste–pickers within the society and in the waste management system. This study analyzes the social impact of waste–pickers’ cooperatives in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Duque de Caxias, using data collected in five cooperatives during five weeks fieldwork research.Show less
