Informal-formal workers' transition in Nigeria: A livelihood analysis

Arbeitspapier

This study evaluates the effects of the informal sector on Nigerian workers' livelihoods and analyses workers' transitions within the informal sector and between informal and formal employment. A binary logit model is applied to General Household Survey panel data for the periods 2010/11, 2012/13, and 2015/16. We find that informal employment has the greatest impact on workers' livelihoods in terms of earnings. Results also indicate the existence of a high level of dynamic transition of workers within different types of informal employment. Our results further indicate that both self-employed and wage employed informal workers are likely to transit to formal employment, the likelihood being higher for the upper-tier informal wage employed. While informally employed workers have a very high chance of transiting to formal employment, formal workers have a much lower chance of transiting to informal employment. The policy implication of our results is the need to create better working conditions for informal workers.

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-92-9256-903-7
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WIDER Working Paper ; No. 2020/146

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Informal Economy; Underground Economy ; Agricultural Labor Markets ; Informal Labor Markets
• Subject: binary logistic regression ; employment ; formal ; informal ; Nigeria ; transition

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Folawewo, Abiodun Oluwole ; Orija, Olusegun A.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2020

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2020/903-7
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/229370
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET