EMPLOYMENT Working Paper No. 247

New technologies and the transition to formality: The trend towards e–formality

This paper focusses on how technologies can enhance the impact of institutional public policies addressing informality. Today, an increasing number of governments are promoting the application of new technologies to simplify and facilitate the transition from the informal to the formal economy. These “e-formality policies”, as in some cases, are related to e-government initiatives. It analyses some emerging public policies or public-sector practices and tools where technologies have already been implemented directly or indirectly for the transition to formality. This raises the questions if these policy innovations will transform the way formalization policies will be implemented in the future.