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The informal economy represents a significant share of output and employment in many developing countries. Yet little is known about this hidden engine of innovation. This pioneering study addresses some crucial questions, including: what is the role of the informal sector in economic development? How does innovation occur in the informal economy? How does it spread, who are the key actors and what impacts does it have? How do inventors and entrepreneurs in the informal economy reap benefits from their innovations? What stops informal sector innovation from scaling up? How can informal sector innovation in developing countries be measured? And what policies might support informal sector innovation and improve its impacts? This book will stimulate further work on this crucial but under-researched subject. As well as rich empirical evidence from several groundbreaking studies, it includes conceptual and methodological tools and policy recommendations to help researchers and policy-makers understand innovation in the informal economy

Of late, innovation studies have taken a keen interest in exploring various components of informal sector grassroots innovations. While recognising the immense contribution of this scholarship in sensitising researchers and generating awareness, its connections to policymaking remain inadequate. In the absence of comprehensive policy discussions, the policy makers have often attempted to extrapolate the policies meant for formal sectors to suit the innovation requirements of the informal economy. The diverse, idiosyncratic nature of the informal grassroots innovation processes have not received adequate attention. Keeping in view the divergent motives, underpinnings and the nuances of informal sector grassroots innovations, this paper has undertaken a critical review of the various policy suggestions including intellectual property rights, commercialisation and standardisation on a mass scale, the role of awards and recognition for informal sector innovations, and the importance of feedback and standardisation. Based on ten years of ethnographic research in Kashmir, we identify key thematic insights into policy formulations for these innovations.

Informal enterprises and their activities dominate the economy of the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, despise the increasing volume of eco-innovation research in recent years, the drivers of the eco-innovation of small medium enterprises (SMEs) in the informal sector remain largely unknown. Drawing from a triple theoretical anchoring method (entrepreneurship theory, shareholder theory, and resource theory), this study tests the validity of a set of eco-innovation drivers developed around the concept among firms of the informal sector in Ghana. The conceptual framework was tested using structural equation modeling and the data were obtained using the World Bank's Ghana Informal Enterprise Survey (GIFS) as an area-based frame to survey 285 local entrepreneurs (n = 285). The results confirmed that informal enterprises do eco-innovate (mainly incremental innovation), and that innovation activities are driven by a government's incentive regulations, market demand, and local entrepreneurs' characteristic of hometown identity. This research highlights the contributions of the informal sector to sustainable development and draws the attention of policymakers, non-government agencies, and researchers on the drivers leading eco-innovation activities in the informal sector. The results could be used for future policy formulation.

A new look at Pakistan's informal sector. Data on the informal sector, compiled from censuses & sample surveys in one major city (Rawalpindi), suggest that both real wages & employment have grown in the informal sector. The seeming paradox of real wage growth in a labor surplus economy is explained by its growth in both agriculture & large-scale manufacturing, both of which were made possible by Pakistan's growth performance during the 1960s. After adjusting for age & education, the differences in wages between the formal & informal sector are quite small, a reflection of high labor mobility between the two sectors. 9 Tables. HA.

The informal sector of the economy is becoming increasingly important for youth employment and national development throughout the continent. This paper argues that the vast majority of African youth are locked out of a system which was designed for the 20th Century. Commonwealth of Learning is mandated to support governments and institutions to benefit from educational technology. INVEST Africa is a COL‐CAPA collaborative programme which aims to build the capacity of TVET institutions to harness the potential of ICT to both meet the needs of this important group and also improve the quality of general TVET offerings. The paper will look at the findings of the recent Global Monitoring Report in relation to technical & vocational skills development for the informal sector in sub Saharan Africa and how it can harness ICT and flexible and blended approaches to provide for those who have been disadvantaged.