Securing Livelihoods Informal Economy Practices and Institutions

by Hillenkamp, Isabelle; Lapeyre, Frederic; Lemaitre, Andreia

• ISBN13: 9780199687015
• ISBN10: 0199687013
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-01-07
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Author Biography

Isabelle Hillenkamp, Research Associate, Institute of Socio-Economics, University of Geneva,Frederic Lapeyre, Senior Employment and Informal Economy Specialist, International Labour Organization,Andreia Lemaitre, Lecturer in Development Studies, Universite catholique de Louvain

Isabelle Hillenkamp is Research Associate at the Institute of Socio-Economics, University of Geneva, attached to the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research - LIVES. Her research focuses on the informal and popular economy in Latin America, with particular interest in community and solidarity projects. Before joining the University of Geneva, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the University San Andres of La Paz (Bolivia) and the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM) in Paris. She holds a PhD in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.


Frederic Lapeyre is senior employment and informal economy specialist and Manager of the ILO-Technical Cooperation Project for Youth Employment in Katanga (PAEJK), International Labour Organization. He holds a PhD in Development Studies. Previously he was Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, Chairman of the Belgium Post-Graduate School for Development Studies, and Fulbright Post-doctoral Fellow at Brown University (Watson Institute for International Studies). His recent publications include 'The Contributions of the United Nations to Development Theory and Practices' (with R. Jolly, L. Emmerij and D. Ghai) and 'Poverty and Exclusion in a Global World' (with A. Bhalla).


Andreia Lemaitre is socio-economist and Lecturer in Development Studies at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. She is a member of the Centre for Development Studies (DVLP) and of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Work, State and Society (CIRTES). She holds a PhD in political and social sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain and the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, France. She was also a post-doctoral Fellow at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague. Her research focuses on popular and solidarity-based economy in the South, mainly in Latin America, and on substantive approaches to the economy.

Table of Contents

Dharam Ghai: Foreword
1: Isabelle Hillenkamp, Frédéric Lapeyre, and Andreia Lemaître: Introduction: Informal Economy, Vulnerabilities, and Popular Security-Enhancing Practices
Part I. A Plurality of Socio-economic Logics: New Polanyian Approaches to Informality and Vulnerability
2: Andreia Lemaître: Popular Cooperatives and Local Development in Southeast Brazil: Towards Socio-Economic Pluralism
3: Isabelle Hillenkamp: Solidarity and Protection in Bolivian Popular Economy
4: Gonzalo Vázquez: Self-managed Work, Social Protection, and Community Development: The Case of the UST Cooperative (Argentina)
5: Maïté le Polain and Marthe Nyssens: An Analysis of the Socio-economic Logics Underpinning Formal and Informal Strategies for Coping with Economic Hardships in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Part II. The Role of Financial Practices and Institutions in Securing Livelihoods
6: Hadrien Saiag: Financial Practices as Adaptations to Increasing Vulnerability: The Dynamics of Solidarity and Protection in the Suburbs of Rosario, Argentina
7: Genauto Carvalho de França Filho, Ariádne Scalfoni Rigo, and Jeová Torres Silva Júnior: Microcredit Policies in Brazil: An Analysis of Community Development Banks
8: Solène Morvant-Roux, Isabelle Guérin, and Marc Roesch: Demand for Microcredit, Informal Finance and Vulnerability in Rural Morocco
9: Pierre-Germain Umuhire and Marthe Nyssens: Informal and Formal Microfinance in Urban Sub-Saharan African Markets: The Case of Micro-Entrepreneurs in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
10: Edoardo Totolo: Exploring the Black-Box of Economic Informality: Social Networks and Institutional Change among Micro and Small Enterprises in Nairobi, Kenya
Part III. Formalizing the Informal? A Critical Assessment
11: James Heintz and Lynda Pickbourn: Determinants of Earnings in Informal Self-Employment: The Case of Ghana
12: Sergio Ferragut and Georgina M. Gómez: From the Street to the Store. The Formalization of Street Vendors in Quito, Ecuador
13: An Ansoms and Jude Murison: Formalizing the Informal in Rwanda: From Artisanal to Modern Brick and Tile Ovens
14: Basak Kus: Neoliberal Reforms, Regulatory Change and the Informal Economy: The Case of Turkey from a Comparative Perspective
Jean-Philippe Peemans: Postface: Another Look at the Informal Sector, its Many Stakes and Challenges
Foreword, Dharam Ghai
1. Introduction: Informal Economy, Vulnerabilities, and Popular Security-Enhancing Practices, Isabelle Hillenkamp, Frederic Lapeyre, and Andreia Lemaitre
Part I. A Plurality of Socio-economic Logics: New Polanyian Approaches to Informality and Vulnerability
2. Popular Cooperatives and Local Development in Southeast Brazil: Towards Socio-Economic Pluralism, Andreia Lemaitre
3. Solidarity and Protection in Bolivian Popular Economy, Isabelle Hillenkamp
4. Self-managed Work, Social Protection, and Community Development: The Case of the UST Cooperative (Argentina), Gonzalo Vazquez
5. An Analysis of the Socio-economic Logics Underpinning Formal and Informal Strategies for Coping with Economic Hardships in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Maite le Polain and Marthe Nyssens
Part II. The Role of Financial Practices and Institutions in Securing Livelihoods
6. Financial Practices as Adaptations to Increasing Vulnerability: The Dynamics of Solidarity and Protection in the Suburbs of Rosario, Argentina, Hadrien Saiag
7. Microcredit Policies in Brazil: An Analysis of Community Development Banks, Genauto Carvalho de Franca Filho, Ariadne Scalfoni Rigo, and Jeova Torres Silva Junior
8. Demand for Microcredit, Informal Finance and Vulnerability in Rural Morocco, Solene Morvant-Roux, Isabelle Guerin, and Marc Roesch
9. Informal and Formal Microfinance in Urban Sub-Saharan African Markets: The Case of Micro-Entrepreneurs in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Pierre-Germain Umuhire and Marthe Nyssens
10. Exploring the Black-Box of Economic Informality: Social Networks and Institutional Change among Micro and Small Enterprises in Nairobi, Kenya, Edoardo Totolo
Part III. Formalizing the Informal? A Critical Assessment
11. Determinants of Earnings in Informal Self-Employment: The Case of Ghana, James Heintz and Lynda Pickbourn
12. From the Street to the Store. The Formalization of Street Vendors in Quito, Ecuador, Sergio Ferragut and Georgina M. Gomez
13. Formalizing the Informal in Rwanda: From Artisanal to Modern Brick and Tile Ovens, An Ansoms and Jude Murison
14. Neoliberal Reforms, Regulatory Change and the Informal Economy: The Case of Turkey from a Comparative Perspective, Basak Kus
Postface: Another Look at the Informal Sector, its Many Stakes and Challenges, Jean-Philippe Peemans