Objectives:
Labour regulations are likely to have strong effects both on the formal and informal economy. We are interested in their effects on workers (wages, employment, occupation, etc.) and firms (productivity, sales, exports, etc.). Rapid development of micro-databases on employment (labour force surveys) or firms (enterprise surveys) allows for the exploration of new dimensions of the economic effects of labour regulations. We are specifically interested in the effects minimum wages, social protection or employment protection bring about for workers and firms. A specific focus can be made on possible spillover effects on the informal economy.

The first goal will be to review different labour market institutions in Sub-Saharan countries. An exhaustive review of policy changes in these three dimensions (minimum wage, social protection and employment protection) should be made. The objective is then to conduct different empirical studies focusing on specific institutions and/or specific countries. Micro-Macro analyses can be used to assess the effects within and between countries simultaneously.

Expected Results:
Empirical studies identifying the causal effects of labour market institutions on firm- and worker-related outcomes.

Secondments:
The project involves a strong collaboration between the Centre National de Recherche Scientifique/ Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne at UP1 and the Institute of Development Research and Development Policy at RUB and includes mandatory research stays of the ESR in Bochum for six months in total.
Further secondments are planned at Agence Française de Développement (3 months) and as field research periods (1,5 months each) supervised by the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and Bahir Dar University (Ethiopia).