The Position of Migrants in the Urban Informal Labour Markets in Côte d'lvoire

Abstract

The paper describes the formal and informal sectors of the urban labour markets in Côte d'Ivoire, and investigates the determinants of access to each, with a focus on the role of migrant status. A direct definition of the formal sector is used which captures the degree of legal and institutional protection available to workers. The frequently used proxy criterion, size of enterprise, is shown to misclassify many workers. The results indicate that the informal sector is not internally homogeneous, and consists of a self-employed and an employee segment. The results do not support the hypothesis that the informal sector serves as a waiting area for workers, especially migrants, while they search for formal sector jobs. Only the employee segment displays a transitory work nature, and prepares workers for moving to the self-employed segment.