Labor sociology has criticized neoclassical ideas about labor markets as a game of supply and demand, instead emphasizing the importance of social institutions in structuring access to labor markets. Most of this literature deals with developed economies, and I am looking for similar literature that deals with developing countries.
Wow, I think [email protected] is the perfect person to address this question. I would think about much of the work that has conducted in SOAS recently: Carlos Oya, Christopher Cramer and old-school Marxian studies of course (probably see also SOAS in this regard)
Been there, as well as Breman, Platteau, Harriss-White, Rao and the likes. Still, always nice to hear other people are working on these highly relevant subjects.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276026888_%282015%29_El_oficio_del_reciclador_de_cartn_en_Buenos_Aires_Argentina_Cali_Colombia_y_Monterrey_Mxico._Revista_Trayectorias_de_la_Universidad_Autnoma_de_Nuevo_Len._Ao_17._N._40._Enero-Junio._ISSN_2007-1205._Mxico._114-140_pp
Article (2015) El oficio del reciclador de cartón en Buenos Aires, A...
Haven't got very much to add really beyond the authors you mention.
Maybe you could take a look at the work of Alessandra Mezzadri and Guy De Neve, who focus on gender and labour in India in similar ways as Breman and Harriss-White. Beyond India, maybe Stephanie Barrientos, also taking a gender-focus?
The following draft paper on the Argentine labor market may be of interest. Good luck in this important topic of research.
The following article could be of some use
http://hrm.sagepub.com/content/2/1/12?etoc
http://hrm.sagepub.com/content/2/1/12?etoc
He escrito dos capítulos sobre y (I have written two chapters on (p. 71-91) and (p.93-124) in a small-scale family firm, dedicated to fishing , en el libro , Sánchez Fernández, Juan Oliver, (2014), Madrid, Escolar y Mayo.(Cantabric fishermen. Ecology, economy and social strategies,
I am unsure exactly what you are looking for. A little clarification would be helpful. If you are looking at entry into informal labour markets, the conventional assumption is that there are few barriers to entry and that it is much easier than to formal labour markets. The consequent result is an argument that informal economy can absorb surplus labour and that marginalised populations can enter such work as a means of livelihood when other opportunities are not available. However, there is little rigorous evidence that the barriers to entry to the informal labour market are lower. If nobody wishes to employ you in the formal economy, why would they want to employ you in the informal economy?
On another level, your question hints at an institutional theory analysis, suggesting that it might be useful to examine the role of informal institutions in determining entry into the informal/formal labour market. You may therefore be suggesting that you want material on whether informal institutions (word-of-mouth, kin, etc ) help access to the labour market. There is some excellent work on what can be negatively construed as nepotism or cronyism in determining entry into labour markets, but it comes under the literature on guanxi, wasta, blat, etc. You might usefully examine the role of such informal mechanisms in determining access to the labour market.
Colin
Hi Boris,
Just came across this.
It's not about 'entry' to labour markets per se, though links general analysis of industrial relations and labour control (of which 'entry' is obviously a central aspect) to discussions on the role of the state in the informal economy. I believe it might resonate well with your work.
Data Mezzadri, Alessandra (2010) 'Globalisation, informalisation ...
Thanks Colin for this very informative answer. My research focuses on artisanal mining, which is often presented in a 'dualistic' manner, as a subsistence-oriented activity that involves no entry barriers other than 'a pick and a shovel'. Reality, as always, is far more complex, and access to- and mobility in labor markets in artisanal mining (in my case in the Philippines) is structured along the lines of a series of social institutions, of which kinship and political support networks seem to be the most important ones.
In short, yes, your suggestions are extremely relevant for my purposes. So if you have others, or if you have specific authors you would like to suggest, please do not hesitate.
Hi Boris, on wasta, blat, guanxi, look at my literature review in the following
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265969109_Evaluating_the_prevalence_and_nature_of_blat_in_post-Soviet_societies_A_case_study_of_the_education_sector_in_Ukraine
There is also an excellent debate on using institutional theory to understand informal sector enterprise in the entrepreneurship journals,. Look at 2014 and 2015 issue sof Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. I also attach one of my own contributions to this literature
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266832354_Informal_entrepreneurship_and_institutional_theory_explaining_the_varying_degrees_of_%28in%29formalization_of_entrepreneurs_in_Pakistan
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275347819_Explaining_participation_in_the_informal_economy_An_institutional_incongruence_perspective
I hope that you find these perhaps new literatures for you useful to your project. I think that it will help you develop a more nuanced and variegated understanding.
Article Evaluating the prevalence and nature of blat in post-Soviet ...
Article Informal entrepreneurship and institutional theory: Explaini...
Article Explaining participation in the informal economy: An institu...