Conference Paper
The Impact of the Informal Sector on Firm Performance: New Evidence for MENA Firms
No.
ERF_31_MIC166
Publisher
ERF
Date
March, 2025
Topic
D. Microeconomics
This study investigates the impact of the informal sector on firm performance for over 10.000 nonfinancial firms operating in the 8 MENA countries covering 1997-2020 periods. Using a Panel Dynamic Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), we find that the effect of the informal sector on firm performance is negative. These estimates seem strong according to robustness check. We also do the analyses for SMEs and non-SMEs and find that SMEs are more sensitive to the informal sector. In terms of its findings, the study sheds new light on the MENA region by analyzing the relationship between informal economy and firm performance in a highly heterogeneous manner.
Research Fellows
Hasan Murat Ertuğrul
Professor, Department of Economics, Anadolu University
Authors
Ömer Tuğsal Doruk
Associate Professor, Adana Alparslan Türkeş Science and...
Authors
Omer Faruk Tekdogan
Associate Professor of Finance, Department of Islamic...