Securing Livelihoods ― Informal Economy Practices and Institutions

Far from the vision of popular actors in the popular economy as reactionary and archaic, stubbornly resisting any move towards change, this book's overall aim is to contribute to a broadening and deepening of our understanding of the logic and socio-economic practices of those operating in the informal economy. It focuses on the vulnerabilities of these participants, resulting from high exposure to different risks combined with low social protection, and on the interactions between vulnerability and poverty. It considers security of livelihoods as the guiding principle for multiple practices in the informal economy. Thirteen studies, based on careful analyses of empirical data in different contexts in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, contribute to this multidisciplinary discussion.

This book describes how people develop their own strategies to solve their problems through the use of interpersonal networks, associations, and other community-based arrangements. Moreover, it shows that informal economy actors systematically reposition themselves vis-a-vis the State, markets, international, and national policies with the aim of enhancing their economic and social security, and they may do this either individually or collectively. The book emphasizes how adaptability of the informal economy can be influenced by such factors as the macroeconomic context, access to financial, technological, and information resources, infrastructure, social protection schemes, and the institutional environment within which adaptations occur. Case studies stress the need to reformulate questions relating to policy intervention based on a more thorough understanding of the perspective of informal economy actors.

Isabelle Hillenkamp, Research Associate, Institute of Socio-Economics, University of Geneva,Frederic Lapeyre, Senior Employment and Informal Economy Specialist, International Labour Organization,Andreia Lemaitre, Lecturer in Development Studies, Universite catholique de Louvain

Isabelle Hillenkamp is Research Associate at the Institute of Socio-Economics, University of Geneva, attached to the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research - LIVES. Her research focuses on the informal and popular economy in Latin America, with particular interest in community and solidarity projects. Before joining the University of Geneva, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the University San Andres of La Paz (Bolivia) and the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (CNAM) in Paris. She holds a PhD in Development Studies from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.


Frederic Lapeyre is senior employment and informal economy specialist and Manager of the ILO-Technical Cooperation Project for Youth Employment in Katanga (PAEJK), International Labour Organization. He holds a PhD in Development Studies. Previously he was Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, Chairman of the Belgium Post-Graduate School for Development Studies, and Fulbright Post-doctoral Fellow at Brown University (Watson Institute for International Studies). His recent publications include 'The Contributions of the United Nations to Development Theory and Practices' (with R. Jolly, L. Emmerij and D. Ghai) and 'Poverty and Exclusion in a Global World' (with A. Bhalla).


Andreia Lemaitre is socio-economist and Lecturer in Development Studies at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. She is a member of the Centre for Development Studies (DVLP) and of the Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Work, State and Society (CIRTES). She holds a PhD in political and social sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain and the Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, France. She was also a post-doctoral Fellow at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague. Her research focuses on popular and solidarity-based economy in the South, mainly in Latin America, and on substantive approaches to the economy.