Call for papers International Conference "The Informal Sector and Informal Employment: Statistical Measurement, Economic Implications and Public Policies"

Hanoi - May 6-7, 2010

Objective of the Conference

In spite of its predominant economic weight in developing countries, little is known about the informal sector and informal employment, which is still a “huge black hole” of our knowledge and largely neglected by public policies. However, an increasing number of surveys have been conducted over the last few years; concepts and methodology to measure this sector have progressed; some international research has also been done. It is therefore time to take stock of all these advances and to think of new directions.

Moreover, in Vietnam as in other developing countries, the current international economic crisis is provoking huge employment losses and employment restructuring. This increases the interest for the informal sector, which is one of the main victims of the crisis.

The purpose of the International Conference on the Informal Sector and Informal Employment is to look into the definition and statistical measurement of the concepts, analyse the economic implications of these phenomena, and study the public policies implemented. More than fifteen years have passed since the 1993 adoption of a common international definition of the informal sector (ILO, SNA). The time has come to look at what we have learned from all the experiences worldwide, as much in terms of economic analyses and statistical measurement as in terms of policies implemented.

In addition to this theme, which has taken on new significance with the process of globalisation and crisis, the International Conference will break new ground by bringing together three types of audiences who rarely have the opportunity to discuss and compare their approaches: researchers, statisticians and the development community that develops and implements the economic policies.

Organization and venue

Taking advantage of the favourable background, the VASS (Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences) and the IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), in partnership with the GSO (General Statistical Office), the MOLISA* (Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs), for the Vietnamese institutions, the AFD (Agence Française de Développement), the ILO (International Labour Organization), the World Bank and PARIS21/OECD*, for their international counterparts,  have decided to launch an International Conference to address these issues. It will cover experiences from a broad range of Developing and Transition Countries (Africa, Asia, Latin America), with a special attention to the Vietnamese case. The aim of the Conference is to move forward along three directions:

- Advance towards defining common approaches to the measurement and definition of the informal sector and the informal employment in developing countries, on the basis of the work by the Delhi Group co-ordinated by the United Nations and the ILO (national experiences of informal sector and informal employment surveys, implementation challenges);

- Present and discuss the comparative outcomes of recent economic papers on the informal sector and the informal employment (and related issues as SME, etc.) by academic researchers and international organisations that have benefited from the availability of new data drawn from statistical surveys; this work provides a better understanding of how the sector operates and its dynamics;

- As regards the new international poverty reduction strategies and in the crisis context, use the diagnoses and past experiences to help define targeted assistance policies for the informal sector and job creation (in particular, impact evaluation papers).

The Conference will take place at VASS, 1 Liêu Giai, Hanoi, Vietnam.

Submission of papers

We invite economists, statisticians, policy makers and other scientists to submit abstracts for presentation at the Conference. The abstract should be less than 400 words (approximately one page). Preceding the abstract, clearly state the title of the paper. The abstract (or the full paper if available) is due November 15, 2009, and should be submitted electronically to isconfhanoi@yahoo.com and dial@dial.prd.fr. Authors will be notified of the status of their paper by November 30, 2009.  Authors whose abstracts are accepted must submit their full-length papers before February 28, 2010.

Authors from developing countries should indicate if they wish to get funding for their trip. The requests will be examined by the Scientific Committee, according to the contribution’s quality and the available budget.

For further enquiries regarding the Conference kindly contact the Steering Committee, at isconfhanoi@yahoo.com or dial@dial.prd.fr.