LIVELIHOODS & URBAN FORM: MUMBAI IN A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE SESSION 1: JANUARY 28 THEORIES, DEBATES & REPRESENTATIONS OF THE INFORMAL ECONOMY MARTY CHEN LECTURER IN PUBLIC POLICY, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL AFFILIATED PROFESSOR, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN INTERNATIONAL COORDINATOR, WIEGO NETWORK

PRESENTATION  Informal Economy  Definitions  Debates  Urban Informal Employment: Size & Composition  Developing World  Urban India  Mumbai  Informal Livelihoods & Urban Planning  Different Stances  Exclusion or Inclusion? But first a few words about my background – what I bring to this course

PERSONAL BACKGROUND  Professional Career: development anthropologist whose focus = livelihoods and employment of the working poor, especially women  1970s: Head of Women’s Program, BRAC, Bangladesh  1980s: Field Representative of Oxfam America, India & Bangladesh  since 1987: Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School  since 1997: International Coordinator of WIEGO Network  Perspective on Informal Economy  “informal is normal” majority of workforce/units in developing countries are informal majority of informal workers/units are not illegal majority of informal workers are poor; majority of working poor are informally employed informal economy contributes to the economy (urban, national, global)  but informal workers/units excluded in economic and urban planning

INFORMAL ECONOMY: DEFINITIONS & DEBATES

INFORMAL SECTOR, INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT, INFORMAL ECONOMY The informal economy is the diversified set of economic activities, enterprises and workers that are not regulated or protected by the state; and the output from them. There are three related official statistical terms and definitions which are often used imprecisely and interchangeably by analysts and observers: informal sector refers to the production and employment that takes place in unincorporated enterprises that might also be unregistered or small (1993 ICLS) informal employment refers to employment without social protection (i.e. without employer contributions) both inside and outside the informal sector: i.e., for informal enterprises, formal enterprises, or households (2003 ICLS) informal economy refers to all units, activities, and workers so defined and the output from them (ILO 2002).

INFORMAL WORKFORCE: STATISTICAL CLASSIFICATION  Self-Employed in Informal Enterprises (i.e. unincorporated enterprises that may also be unregistered and/or small)  employers  own account operators  unpaid contributing family workers  members of informal producer cooperatives  Wage Workers in Informal Jobs (i.e. jobs without employment- linked social protection)  informal employees of informal enterprises  informal employees of formal firms  domestic workers hired by individuals/households without employer contributions

INFORMAL ECONOMY: THEORIES & DEBATES  Who characterizes the informal economy? survivalists (Dualists/1972 ILO Kenya Employment Mission) plucky entrepreneurs (Legalists/Hernando de Soto & Voluntarists/William Maloney) subordinated or exploited workers/units (Structuralists /Portes and Castells)  What causes informality? voluntary choice of informal workforce (Voluntarists ) hostile regulatory environment (Legalists) or complicity of government (Structuralists) hiring/contracting practices of formal firms (Structuralists) lack of employment opportunities and/or necessary skills (Dualists)  What are the linkages between the informal economy, the formal regulatory environment and the formal economy? with formal regulations avoiding regulations (Voluntarists & Legalists) lacking protection & promotion (Structuralists) with formal firms/formal economy no links/limited contribution (Dualists & Voluntarists) no links/potential contribution (Legalists) many links/significant contribution (Structuralists)

URBAN INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT: SIZE & COMPOSITION

INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT AS % OF NON-AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT Average & Range by Regions South Asia: 82% 62% in Sri Lanka to 84% in India Sub-Saharan Africa: 66% 33% in South Africa to 82% in Mali East and Southeast Asia: 65% 42% in Thailand to 73% in Indonesia Latin America: 51% 40% in Uruguay to 75% in Bolivia Middle East and North Africa: 45% 31% in Turkey to 57% in West Bank & Gaza Source: Vanek et al. WIEGO Working Paper No. 2, 2014

Source: Herrera et al 2011; Esquivel, 2010; Wills, 2009 (WIEGO Working Papers) INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT AS % OF URBAN EMPLOYMENT

URBAN INDIA: RECENT TRENDS Urbanization in India: share of India’s population living in urban areas o 2000: 28 per cent (290 million) o 2008: 30 per cent (340 million) o 2030: 40 per cent (590 million) Source: McKinsey Global Institute 2010 Urban Employment in India: increase in services: both high-end IT & low-end personal services decrease in manufacturing: de-industrialization of some cities 80% of urban employment = informal ( )

URBAN EMPLOYMENT INDIA: FOUR GROUPS OF INFORMAL WORKERS % of Urban Employment % of Urban Informal Employment Total Male Female Total Male Female Domestic Workers Home-Based Workers Street Vendors Waste Pickers ALL FOUR Source: Chen and Raveendran WIEGO Working Paper #

Total Employment in Mumbai by Status of Employment & Enterprise Unit (% distribution) CategoryAGFEIEHHTotal Total Employed Formal Informal Wage Workers Formal Informal Self-Employed Employers Own-Account Workers Contributing Family Workers Source: G. Raveendran for WIEGO Network

Total Employment in Mumbai by Industry Group & Employment Type (% distribution) Industry Group MaleFemale FormalInformalFormalInformal Agriculture Manufacturing Home-Based Construction Trade Street Vending Non-Trade Services Transport Domestic Workers Waste Pickers Total Employed Source: G. Raveendran for WIEGO Network

Informal Employment in Mumbai by Industry Group & Sex (non-agricultural, % distribution) IndustryTotalMaleFemale Manufacturing Construction Trade Street Vendors Non-Trade Services Transport Waste Picking Domestic Work Total Source: G. Raveendran for WIEGO Network

Specific Groups of Informal Workers in Mumbai as Share of Total and Informal Employment (non-agricultural, %) Group % of Urban Employment% of Urban Informal Employment TotalMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemale Domestic Workers Home-Based Workers Street Vendors Waste Pickers All Source: G. Raveendran for WIEGO Network

INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS & URBAN PLANNING

INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS & URBAN POLICIES Urban informal livelihoods are… o impacted by urban or municipal plans, policies, regulations and practices – more so than by labor laws or national policies o often overlooked or undermined by municipal authorities and urban planners + excluded from or destroyed by urban renewal schemes

URBAN INFORMAL LIVELIHOODS: DIFFERENT POLICY STANCES  Conventional = exclusionary ignore/turn a blind eye repress relocate regulate  Alternative = inclusionary recognize protect promote

EXCLUSIONARY URBAN POLICIES: THREATS TO URBAN LIVELIHOODS Threats to livelihoods are often sector-specific… o home-based producers: lack of basic infrastructure services, especially irregular supply of electricity + single-use zoning regulations + slum relocations o street vendors: insecure workplace + abuse of authority by local officials and police, especially bribes and confiscation of goods + evictions and relocations o waste pickers: lack of rights of access to waste + lack of integration into solid waste management system o all three groups: lack of accessible/affordable transport + lack of integration into local economic planning

INCLUSIONARY URBAN POLICIES: SUPPORT TO LIVELIHOODS Home-Based Workers: quality housing + de facto tenure + basic infrastructure services Street Vendors: legal access to public space in natural markets Waste Pickers: inclusion in solid waste management All: recognition of contributions + representation in planning + affordable/accessible transport

THIS COURSE Designed to investigate: from a comparative perspective different sectors of urban informal livelihoods different urban planning and design approaches to urban informal livelihoods promising examples of inclusive urban planning and design in support of urban informal livelihoods Looking forward to investigating these topics together.

THANK YOU!