Informal Labor Markets and Macroeconomic Fluctuations

This paper examines the adjustment of developing country labor markets to macroeconomic shocks. It models a two sector labor market: a formal salaried (tradable) sector that may or may not be affected by union or legislation induced wage rigidities, and an unregulated (nontradable) self-employment sector facing liquidity constraints to entry. This is embedded in a standard small economy macro model that permits the derivation of patterns of comovement among relative salaried/self-employed incomes, salaried/self-employed sector sizes and the real exchange rate with respect to different types of shocks in contexts with and without wage rigidities. The paper then explores time series data from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to test for cointegrating relationships corresponding to the patterns predicted by theory. We identify two types of regime. The first corresponds to periods where demand shocks to the nontradable sector offer new opportunities to (informal) entrepreneurs, the informal sector expands ?procyclically,? and the exchange rate overshoots toward appreciation in the short run, or remains at its productivity determined levels. The second corresponds to periods of negative shocks to the formal salaried sector in the presence of wage rigidities where the sector plays a more traditional ?buffer? role during downturns. --Informality,Labor market dynamics,Self-employment,Real exchange rates

Informality and Macroeconomic Fluctuations

This paper examines the adjustment of developing country labor markets to macroeconomic shocks. It models as having two sectors: a formal salaried (tradable) sector that may or may not be affected by union or legislation induced wage rigidities, and an informal (nontradable) self-employment sector facing liquidity constraints to entry. This is embedded in a standard small economy macro model that permits the derivation of patterns of comovement among relative salaried/self-employed incomes, salaried/self-employed sector sizes and the real exchange rate with respect to different types of shocks in contexts with and without wage rigidities. The paper then explores time series data from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to test for cointegrating relationships corresponding to the patterns predicted by theory. We confirm episodes of expansion of informal self-employment consistent with the traditional segmentation views. However, we also identify episodes consistent with the sectoral expansion being driven by relative demand or productivity shocks to the nontradables sector that lead to “procyclical” behavior of the informal self-employed sector.informality, labor market dynamics, self-employment, real exchange rates

Informality and macroeconomic fluctuations

This paper examines the adjustment of developing country labor markets to macroeconomic shocks. It models as having two sectors: a formal salaried (tradable) sector that may or may not be affected by union or legislation induced wage rigidities, and an informal (nontradable) self-employment sector facing liquidity constraints to entry. This is embedded in a standard small economy macro model that permits the derivation of patterns of comovement among relative salaried/self-employed incomes, salaried/self-employed sector sizes and the real exchange rate with respect to different types of shocks in contexts with and without wage rigidities. The paper then explores time series data from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to test for cointegrating relationships corresponding to the patterns predicted by theory. We confirm episodes of expansion of informal self-employment consistent with the traditional segmentation views. However, we also identify episodes consistent with the sectoral expansion being driven by relative demand or productivity shocks to the nontradables sector that lead to procyclical behavior of the informal self-employed sector

Informal Labor Markets and Macroeconomic Fluctuations

This paper examines the adjustment of developing country labor markets to macroeconomic shocks. It models a two sector labor market: a formal salaried (tradable) sector that may or may not be affected by union or legislation induced wage rigidities, and an unregulated (nontradable) self-employment sector facing liquidity constraints to entry. This is embedded in a standard small economy macro model that permits the derivation of patterns of comovement among relative salaried/self-employed incomes, salaried/self-employed sector sizes and the real exchange rate with respect to different types of shocks in contexts with and without wage rigidities. The paper then explores time series data from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to test for cointegrating relationships corresponding to the patterns predicted by theory. We identify two types of regime. The first corresponds to periods where demand shocks to the nontradable sector offer new opportunities to (informal) entrepreneurs, the informal sector expands ?procyclically,? and the exchange rate overshoots toward appreciation in the short run, or remains at its productivity determined levels. The second corresponds to periods of negative shocks to the formal salaried sector in the presence of wage rigidities where the sector plays a more traditional ?buffer? role during downturns

Informal self-employment and macroeconomic fluctuations

a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Informal self-employment is a major source of employment in developing countries. Its cyclical behavior is important to our understanding of the functioning of LDC labor markets, but turns out to be surprisingly complex. We develop a flexible model with two sectors: a formal salaried (tradable) sector that may be affected by wage rigidities, and an informal (non tradable) self-employment sector faced with liquidity constraints to entry. This labor market is then embedded in a standard small economy macro model. We show that different types of shocks interact with different institutional contexts to produce distinct patterns of comovement between key variables of the model: relative salaried/self-employed incomes, relative salaried/self-employed sector sizes and the real exchange rate. Model predictions are then tested empirically for Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. We confirm episodes where the expansion of informal selfemployment is consistent with the traditional segmentation views of informality. However, we also identify episodes where informal self-employment behaves "pro-cyclically"; here, informality is driven by relative demand or productivity shocks to the non tradable sector

Direct peroral cholangioscopy in the management of difficult biliary stones: a new tool to confirm common bile duct clearance. Results of a preliminary study

Background and aims: Endoscopic sphincterotomy (ES) with stone extraction is the standard treatment for choledocholithiasis. After stone retrieval, balloon-occluded cholangiography is generally performed to confirm bile duct clearance but can miss residual stones particularly in patients with residual small-sized stones, a large bile duct or pneumobilia. In addition, difficult common bile duct (CBD) stones requiring advanced endoscopic techniques for retrieval are a potential risk factor for choledocholithiasis recurrence. Methods: We performed a retrospective evaluation of a prospectively maintained procedures database. From July 2016 to December 2017, all patients with difficult CBD stones who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) with papillary balloon dilation-assisted stone retrieval and subsequent direct per-oral cholangioscopy (DPOC) using standard gastroscopes to confirm CBD clearance were analyzed. Results: Thirty-six patients who underwent ERCP and DPOC were included. Technical success, defined as deep intubation of CBD with hepatic hilum visualization, was achieved in 31 of 36 patients (86%). During DPOC, residual CBD stones were visualized and removed in 7 of 31 patients (22.5%). After a mean of 241 +/- 56 days of follow-up post-DPOC, no serious adverse events were reported, and there was no evidence or suspicion of recurrent choledocholithiasis. Conclusions: Direct per-oral cholangioscopy immediately following difficult CBD stone removal was safe, feasible and accurate. In this setting, DPOC at the time of ERCP appears to be a very useful tool to achieve complete clearance of choledocholithiasis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

GRB 000911: Evidence for an Associated Supernova?

We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the late afterglow of GRB 000911. We detect a moderately significant re-brightening in the R, I and J lightcurves, associated with a sizable reddening of the spectrum. This can be explained through the presence of an underlying supernova, outshining the afterglow ~ 30 days after the burst event

Probing the complex environments of GRB host galaxies and intervening systems: high resolution spectroscopy of GRB050922C

The aim of this paper is to investigate the environment of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) and the interstellar matter of their host galaxies. We use to this purpose high resolution spectroscopic observations of the afterglow of GRB050922C, obtained with UVES/VLT 3.5 hours after the GRB event. We found that, as for most high resolution spectra of GRBs, the spectrum of the afterglow of GRB050922C is complex. At least seven components contribute to the main absorption system at z=2.1992. The detection of lines of neutral elements like MgI and the detection of fine-structure levels of the ions FeII, SiII and CII allows us to separate components in the GRB ISM along the line of sight. Moreover, in addition to the main system, we have analyzed the five intervening systems between z = 2.077 and z = 1.5664 identified along the GRB line of sight. GRB afterglow spectra are very complex, but full of information. This can be used to disentangle the contribution of the different parts of the GRB host galaxy and to study their properties. Our metallicity estimates agree with the scenario of GRBs exploding in low metallicity galaxiesComment: 11 pages, 12 figures, accepted by A&