Informal laborers make up a large part of the urban economy in Bangladesh. However, little work has been done to understand why informal labor persists and why workers with similar backgrounds may end up working at very different jobs (e.g. formal vs. informal sector jobs).
Understanding the interaction of formal and informal workers is especially crucial to understand how labor market policies like a minimum wage can affect the well-being of the average urban worker. In this project, the aim was to (i) understand the types of workers working in informal and formal labor as well as the mobility between sectors, and (ii) identify the factors that allow informal work to persist and even dominate the urban economy in Bangladesh. In this study, 700 urban workers were targeted in various neighborhoods of Dhaka.
Serial No: 256
Theme: Governance and Legal Issues
Research Method: Mixed Method
Partner: Tanya Rajan, PhD Student, The University of Chicago
Starting Year: 2023
Study Area: Dhaka
