Publications on informal economy

  1. ILO Working paper 38

    Freelance platform work in the Russian Federation: 2009–2019

    26 July 2021

    This paper traces the development of freelance platform work in the Russian Federation based on unique data from four online surveys conducted over the period 2009 and 2019 via the leading platform for creative and knowledge-based work and analyses the working conditions and well-being of the workers.

  2. International Labour Review, Centenary Collection (2021), No. 1

    Introduction: The long discourse on informality as reflected in selected articles of the International Labour Review

    19 July 2021

    This article presents a Centenary Issue on Informality to mark the 100th anniversary of the International Labour Review (ILR). The issue brings together ten articles published in the ILR between 1975 and 2016 that are de­voted exclusively to the analysis of informality. This introduction begins with an analytical framework, considers the origins of the informality discourse and then discusses the articles in this Centenary Issue, locating them in the broader literature through illustrative rather than comprehensive referencing. It concludes by looking ahead to what the coming decades of analysis and pol­icy discourse may bring.

  3. ILO Working Paper 33

    Preferential tax regimes for MSMEs: Operational aspects, impact evidence and policy implications

    17 June 2021

  4. ILO Working paper 32

    Digital Work in Eastern Europe: Overview of Trends, Outcomes, and Policy Responses

    25 May 2021

    This paper presents the emergence and growth of digital labour markets in Eastern Europe over the period 1999-2019. It presents the profiles of digital workers, their working conditions and discusses how these are shaped by the business models of digital labour platforms.

  5. Publication

    Youth employment in conflict and fragile settings (Elisa Selva and Federico Negro)

    07 May 2021

    Is the future ready for youth? Youth employment policies for evolving labour markets

  6. ILO News

    ILO Pasifika Update March 2021

    31 March 2021

    In this edition of the ILO Pacific Newsletter, you will find updates on events and other news highlights of ILO’s work in the Pacific from December 2020 to March 2021.

  7. ILO Working paper 27

    Platform work and the employment relationship

    31 March 2021

    This working paper analyses national and supranational case law and legislation about the employment status of platform workers. It does so by referring to the ILO Employment Relationship Recommendation, 2006 (No. 198). It finds that this Recommendation provides for a valuable compass to navigate the issues that emerge from the analysis of the existing case law and legislation about platform work.

  8. Book

    Is the future ready for youth?

    18 March 2021

    How do we ensure that the policymakers and the global community prioritize youth employment, so essential for sustainable development and social justice? This book brings together contributions from ILO with broad global experience in successful youth employment policies. They discuss the policies needed to address the challenge, in a time of rapid transformation, of achieving a better future for the youth.

  9. Policy resource package

    Extending social security to workers in the informal economy. Information and awareness

    15 March 2021

    If workers and employers do not know what social protection schemes are available to them, what their rights and responsibilities are and how they can access such schemes, then social protection policies and programmes have little chance of succeeding. Limited access to information and awareness may significantly hinder the extension of social security.

  10. Policy resource package

    Extending social security to workers in the informal economy

    12 March 2021

    Key lessons learned from international experience