Perceptions of ‘Good Work’ in the Informal Urban Economy:
Evidence from Burkina Faso, Uganda and Sri Lanka
Will Monteith & Lena Giesbert
GIGA / KfW Project:
‘Employment, empowerment and living standards’
EADI, Bonn: 26 June 2014
Quality of work
Structural: control of the means of production
(Marx 1967)
Market-based: the concept of compensating differentials
(Smith 1996)
Fundamental to autonomy, self-respect and human flourishing
(Sen 1993)
Historical policy focus on job quality quantity
Sarkozy Commission, ILO’s ‘decent work’ initiative
Empirical literature: US & EU focus
Approach
Typical dimensions
Typical sub-dimensions
Economic
- Economic compensation
- Fringe benefits
- Hourly wage
- Working hours
- Insurances
- Pension
Sociological
- Personal outcomes
- Opportunities
- Skills involved
- Diversity of tasks
- Opportunities for learning
- Scope for using initiative
- Prestige
Psychological
- Relationships at work
- Personal satisfaction
- Quality of relationships
- Trust
- Job satisfaction
- Meaningful work
- Challenging work
The ILO’s ‘decent work’ initiative
“The primary goal of the ILO today is to promote opportunities for
women and men to obtain decent and productive work, in conditions
of freedom, equality, security and human dignity”
Quality of work as a multidimensional concept
4 dimensions: Fundamental rights at work
Employment conditions
Social protection
Social dialogue
ILO 1999
Critiques
“‘The priority given to these different dimensions of ‘decent
work’ will differ between societies and individuals… What is
regarded as decent varies across societies and cultures.”
Rodgers 2008: 66
“There is a need to collect data and information relating to
decent work characteristics for workers in non- formal
employment” !!
Ghai 2003: 144
Work and the informal sector
From a ‘black hole’ to an ‘entrepreneurial’ factory: the informal
sector is here to stay!
“Informal jobs can also be transformational”
World Development Report 2013: Jobs
30-40% of employment in the developing world
Becker 2004
Micro-economic literature: entrepreneurship
Socio-political literature:
What kinds of incorporation do informal workers seek:
- Freedom to operate?
- Greater access to social protection?
- Integration into markets?
- Meaningful political voice?
Meagher & Lindell 2013
What is the informal sector?
All entrepreneurial activities that are unregistered, and “lack
basic social or legal protections or employment benefits”
Includes:
(i) Self-employed entrepreneurs working in their own informal
sector enterprises;
(ii) Employees working in the informal enterprises of others and
(iii) Members of informal producers’ cooperatives
ILO 2012: 27
Empirical contributions
Motivations of young entrepreneurs in Uganda:
- ‘Independence and freedom’ a primary motivation
Langevang et. al 2012
‘Decent work’ survey of informal workers in Harare, Zimbabwe:
- Low income, long working hours, poor political representation
Luebker 2008
“What is missing in this approach is the view of work, not just as an
economic occupation and a social relation, but also as an activity,
one that impacts significantly on individual well-being inasmuch
as it mobilizes the body, mind and soul of the workers.”
“What is required, therefore, is a notion of work that is not limited to
employment but also takes into consideration the ‘poietic’ side of
work, or the content of work.”
Deranty & Macmillan 2012
Work and Capabilities
Sen on ‘entitlement exchange’ (1981)
Social & environmental
conversion factors
Features of work  Capabilities  Achieved functionings
Individual conversion
factors
After: Robeyns 2005
Methodology
- 13 FGDs in total (Ouaga, Kampala & Colombo) in 2012
with informal employment groups & associations
- Guidelines
- 2-stage approach to qualitative analysis (Saldana 2013)
Results
“Considering your own work and the work of others, what do you think
makes work good work?”
Avg. ranking
1
2
=3
=3
4
5
=6
=6
=7
=7
Feature of good work
Income
Health services / protection measures
Personal health
Fundamental rights
Trust at work
Availability of work
Security at work
Independence / personal freedom
Work-family balance
Opportunities for training / education
Results
Avg. ranking
1
2
=3
=3
4
5
=6
=6
=7
=7
Economic dimensions
Feature of good work
Income
Health services / protection measures
Personal health
Fundamental rights
Trust at work
Availability of work
Security at work
Independence / personal freedom
Work-family balance
Opportunities for training / education
Results
Social dimensions
Avg. ranking
1
2
=3
=3
4
5
=6
=6
=7
=7
Feature of good work
Income
Health services / protection measures
Personal health
Fundamental rights
Trust at work
Availability of work
Security at work
Independence / personal freedom
Work-family balance
Opportunities for training / education
Results
Psychological dimensions
Avg. ranking
1
2
=3
=3
4
5
=6
=6
=7
=7
Feature of good work
Income
Health services / protection measures
Personal health
Fundamental rights
Trust at work
Availability of work
Security at work
Independence / personal freedom
Work-family balance
Opportunities for training / education
Results
Significance of non-cognitive skills / modes of behaviour?
Avg. ranking
11
18
21
25
26
Feature of good work
Trustworthiness
Discipline
Making use of skills
Respect for job
Customer care
Thematic analysis: Income
Personal survival: working to ‘kill hunger’
“We use our income to resolve a number of problems. These
days, life is very difficult, especially when you have a family to
look after. We are responsible for our children’s education, their
health, as well as their [other] needs and it’s thanks to the money
we earn that we can cover these expenses.”
Burkinabé produce vendor
“Our job enables us to look after our family very well… I am
proud [of it] because I have been able to build, [and] educate
my children”
Ugandan carpenter
Freedom/independence
“Freedom is there, independence is there, variety is there, [we
are] financially good, so we are like birds on three-wheels, only
feathers are missing […] others envy us for having those
[features].”
Sri Lankan 3-wheel driver
“You are not supposed to fall sick, lose a loved one or go to
parties or ceremonies. You cannot tell a customer that you
delayed their work because you lost a loved one. That customer
will claim that tailors and carpenters are fond of losing loved
ones!”
Ugandan tailor
“The days we get more freedom we are not earning” … “If we
stay free, we have to stay hungry at home.”
Sri Lankan transport worker
Health
“[A good job] it’s a job that doesn’t provoke sickness. If you work
in certain jobs, you will get sick. Even if you take [FCA] 1million
per month […] it is not a good job.”
Burkinabé produce vendor
Bandages & traditional medicines: access to health services
Access to health services
Health & safety
at work
Capability to good
bodily health
Attainment of good
bodily health
Trust & relationships
Relationships with customers (trust) - informal contractual system?
Relationships with colleagues (solidarity) - informal insurance
mechanism?
“Good work does not exist when you are alone”
Burkinabé mechanic
“For around 30 years all [workers] near the Titus Stores Building
have been like brothers […] if someone goes down in business
we all discuss it and help him. It has happened to me, I’ve fallen
sick, they have come to the hospital and helped me […] I was
very happy when they came to see me, they even bought clothes
for me.”
Sri Lankan 3-wheel driver
Respect & recognition
“When the stomach is full any person looks for respect,
[however] the level of respect differs according to how the
stomach was filled.”
Sri Lankan transport worker
“I would not want my child to suffer like me. At least he
should work in an office where they will not despise or
mistreat him like my customers are doing to me.”
Ugandan tailor
Structural position of the informal sector in society (Meagher)
Class relations & social norms
pertaining to (informal) work
Features of
work
Capability to be
recognised/respected
Attainment of
respect/recognition
Conclusions
Informal workers understand good work not as a set of static terms
and conditions but instead a series of relationships - with customers
(the market), the household and broader society
Individual features of work are important insofar as they provide
particular capabilities (and resolutions to particular problems)
The idea of autonomy/independence appears to hold particular
significance amongst informal workers
The experienced benefits of informal work are heightened and
dampened by social and environmental conversion factors
Such structural factors are often backgrounded in studies of
entrepreneurship and universal frameworks of quality of work
The ILO’s ‘decent work’ initiative
4 dimensions: Fundamental rights at work
Employment conditions
Social protection
Social dialogue
M – Union density rate (S)
M – Enterprises belonging to employer organization [rate]
M – Collective bargaining coverage rate (S)
M – Days not worked due to strikes and lockouts**
END
Why do perceptions matter?
“People’s preferences are considered a fundamental part of wellbeing evaluation…
[In so far as] subjective information reflects people’s desires and
wishes, it is considered an important expression of the human life.”
Bagolin et. al 2004
Sampling
Fundamental rights
“Our problem is awareness. We are not aware of our rights because some of
us have been to places where your boss will tell you ‘now I have dismissed you
from the teaching profession’ and you walk out. That is it because you don’t
know your right; […] We are not aware of our rights.”
Participant ‘A’, Teachers FGD
“Fundamental rights are property of the boss. Especially in the private sector
he is the one to measure how much freedom to give you. […] It is the boss
who has the freedom. […] If you lose a loved one you cannot go for burial if
he does not allow you. If you are sick, he would tell you to be away for only
two days.”
Participant ‘K’, KACITA
Inter-group differences: Gender
•Women prioritise income, men prioritise capital
investment (survival/growth delineation)
•Women tend to prioritise health
psychological support)
(including
Inter-group differences: Profession
• Relationship between level of formality and knowledge
of rights at work
• Formal professions take longer-term view of work and
prioritise career development
• ‘Informal’ professions prioritise environmental factors
(infrastructure, utilities, safety)
• ‘Informal’ professions prioritise relationships at work
(enhanced significance of social networks)
Initial Findings
 People have multiple, heterogeneous perceptions of what constitutes
‘good work.
Langevang et al. (2012). ‘Beyond necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship’
 People’s perceptions and experiences of work are rooted in social and
cultural context
 To take these perceptions seriously, we need to move beyond universal,
term and condition-based understandings of ‘decent work’
 Health and environmental aspects are of primary importance to workers in
East/West Africa
 Knowledge of ‘decent work’ (esp. fundamental rights) is inconsistent
 The pressures/stresses of work come from below (e.g. customers, family) in
addition to above (bosses, legislation)
Implications for Measurement & Evaluation
Supplementation of universal ‘decent work’ indicators
with local ones
The separation of different elements of work is
problematic
Importance of network-based approaches to work
research
Questions
References
Anker, R., Chernyshev, I., Egger, P., Mehran, F. and Ritter, J. (2003). “Measuring Decent Work with Statistical
Indicators.” International Labour Review 142: 147–77.
Bagolin, I. Porsse, M. and Comim, F. (2004) “Adaptive preferences: a Problem or a Good Guide?” University of
Pavia Working Paper [Online]
Dejours, C. (2012). “From Psychopathology to Psychodynamics of Work.” In New Philosophies of Labour: Work
and the Social Bond, ed. N. Smith and J.-P. Deranty, 209–50. Leiden: Brill.
Deranty, J.P. and MacMillan, C. (2012). “The ILO’s Decent Work Initiative: Suggestions for an Extension of the
Notion of ‘Decent Work’.” Journal of Social Philosophy 43(4): 386-405
Ghai, D. (2003). “Decent Work: Concept and Indicators.” International Labour Review 142: 113–45.
Hennink, M., Hutter, I. and Bailey, A. (2011). Qualitative Research Methods. Sage: London
ILO (1999). Report of the Director-General: Decent work. International Labour Conference, 87th Session,
Geneva.
Rodgers, G. (2008) “The Goal of Decent Work.” IDS Bulletin 39(2): 63-68
Sen, A. (2000). “Work and Rights.” International Labour Review 139: 119–28.
1.3 Work and Capabilities
Sen on ‘entitlement exchange’ (1981)
Social and
environmental
conversion factors
(social norms, power
relations, market forces,
etc.)
Work features
(income, fringe
benefits, work
hours,
autonomy, skill
development
etc.)
Individual
conversion
factors
(priorities,
motivation,
health etc.)
Capabilities
(capability to
good bodily
health, to
housing etc.)
Achieved
functioning
(health, security,
standard of
living, leisure,
etc.)
Four strategic objectives of the Decent Work agenda:
•Creating Jobs – an economy that generates opportunities for investment,
entrepreneurship, skills development, job creation and sustainable livelihoods.
•Guaranteeing rights at work – to obtain recognition and respect for the rights of
workers. All workers, and in particular disadvantaged or poor workers, need
representation, participation, and laws that work for their interests.
•Extending social protection – to promote both inclusion and productivity by
ensuring that women and men enjoy working conditions that are safe, allow adequate
free time and rest, take into account family and social values, provide for adequate
compensation in case of lost or reduced income and permit access to adequate
healthcare.
•Promoting social dialogue – Involving strong and independent workers’ and
employers' organizations is central to increasing productivity, avoiding disputes at
work, and building cohesive societies.
(ILO website, 2013)
Research Questions
How is ‚good work‘ perceived by working groups in Uganda, Burkina Faso
and Sri Lanka?
a)
What features of ‘good work’ are identified by the groups?
b) What features of ‘good work’ are seen to be most important across
the working groups, and which least important?
c)
What connections are drawn between different features of good
work?
d) How and to what extent do the identified features of ‘good work’
differ to universal standards of work, such as those established by
the ILO?
e) What differences in the perception of ‘good work’ exist between
different occupational groups and countries?
f)
What implications can be drawn with respect to universal
standards of work and the measurement of ‘good work’?
International Labour Review 142 (2003)
Special Issue: ‘Measuring Decent Work’
Six dimensions of the DW agenda
1. Opportunities for work
2. Work in conditions of freedom
3. Productive work
4. Equity in work
5. Security at work
6. Dignity at work
Anker et. al 2003
ILO’s 11 elements of ‘decent work’
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Employment opportunities
Adequate earnings & productive work
Decent working time
Combining work, family & personal life
Work that should be abolished
Stability & security of work
Equal opportunity & treatment in employment
Safe work environment
Social security
Social dialogue, workers’ & employers’ representation
Economic and social context for decent work
“There is a misconception here in Uganda; we are looking at Social
Security only for people who are engaged in formal employment
So we are trying to advocate as Trade Unions [to] move from social
security to social protection so that it covers those who are in the
informal sector.”
FGD 9 participant 5
Profession / Informal sector
More customer-facing: relations are key
Bad knowledge of formal rights
Infrastructure (electricity, toilets, rubbish, space!)
Here in Uganda, things are not easy. There is a time when
electricity disappears completely and nobody seemed to care.
We could use candles but nobody compensated us. We spent
days without any light. And yet customers wanted their clothes.
Candles can easily burn the clothes. ‘v’, Tailor FGD