Is the informal sector constrained from the demand side? Evidence for six West African capitals

Arbeitspapier

Employing a unique dataset that covers households from six West African capitals, this paper provides new evidence on the demand for informal sector products and services. We first investigate whether demand linkages exist between formal and informal products and distribution channels, and whether there is an overlapping customer base, which would imply that both formal sector wage earners and informal workers buy both formal and informal products using both formal and informal distribution channels. In a second step, we estimate demand elasticities based on Engel curves. We find a strongly overlapping customer base and strong demand-side linkages between the formal and informal sector, with the exception that informal goods are hardly bought through formal distribution channels. The estimated demand elasticities tend to show that rising incomes are associated with a lower propensity to consume informal sector goods and to use informal distribution channels. We therefore conclude that the informal sector in West Africa is likely to be constrained from the demand side.

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• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: Kiel Working Paper ; No. 1683

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis ; Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
• Thema: Informal sector ; formal-informal linkages ; Engel curve estimates ; West Africa ; Informeller Sektor ; Preiselastizität ; Mikroökonomische Konsumfunktion ; Schätzung ; Hauptstadt ; Westafrika

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Böhme, Marcus ; Thiele, Rainer
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW)
• (wo): Kiel
• (wann): 2011

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/45876