Thoene, Ulf V. (2013) Social protection and labour law : regulatory approaches to the informal employment sector in Latin America. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The phenomena of high and persistent levels of informal employment and informal
entrepreneurial activity have been among the most pressing features undermining
the development of participatory socio-economic and political institutions in Latin
America over the past decades. The informal sector does not exist separately from
the formal economy. Although some individuals profit from shirking regulation
such as tax payments, others are denied their basic rights as citizens.
Many policy initiatives that set out to enable an increasing share of the
region’s population to enjoy protected workplace conditions, access the social
protective systems and nurture productive firms have had negligible or even
detrimental effects.
This research thesis argues that in order to understand the complex
mechanics of informal labour in Latin America, a wide analytical perspective must
be adopted, so that various interconnected developmental policy issues such as
citizenship, state capacity, the political economy of the region, the design structure
and the coverage of the contributory social protection regime, the quality of
political participation, access to the legal system, and education must be examined
with respect to their impact on social and labour rights.
Employing the analytical lens of institutionalist regulatory theory and
adopting central insights from Sen’s Capability Approach allow for the
identification of path-dependent patterns in Latin American labour law and social
polices, a reassessment of the role of the state as a regulatory actor, and the crucial
importance of lifting the quality of employment and social services delivery.
That approach allows this research dissertation to move beyond the
traditional discourses that advocate either state regulation in the areas of social and
labour legislation coupled with enforcement mechanisms, or alternatively
deregulatory policies that place their faith in market forces as the ultimate formula
to approach a societal issue that must actually be tackled from several vantage
points.
Fieldwork was carried out in Colombia in order to enrich this research with
data obtained from interviews, participant observation and library visits.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor K Law [LC] > K Law (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Labor laws and legislation -- Latin America, Informal sector (Economics) -- Latin America, Social rights -- Latin America
Official Date:	January 2013
Dates:	Date Event January 2013 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Law
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	[Information not provided]
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)
Extent:	x, 365 leaves : charts.
Language:	eng

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