Research Update Cluster for Research on the Informal Sector and Policy (CRISP) www.sheffield.ac.uk/creed/crisp
A nuanced approach – CRISP’s mission According to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report, of the global working population of Director of CRISP, Colin C. Williams some three billion, nearly two-thirds (1.8billion) work in the informal sector (Jütting and Laiglesia, 2009). Across the world, what needs to be done about this informal sector is becoming a priority issue for many governments. Until now, most of the focus of scholarly attention has been on measuring its size and growth. Although this is important for raising awareness of the importance of this realm, such research provides few clues about what needs to be done about this issue.
The mission of the Cluster for Research on the Informal Sector and Policy (CRISP) is to seek understanding of the characteristics of the informal sector and the motives for people working in the informal sector so that policies can be formulated for tackling this issue. Our starting point is that different policy approaches and measures will be required in different populations to deal with different aspects of the informal sector. By adopting a more nuanced approach towards understanding the nature of the informal sector and the various forms of informal work, the intention is to develop a range of policy approaches and measures suited to the plurality of informal economic practices and the diverse social, economic, cultural and political contexts in which this endeavour occurs in a global context.
Policy brief for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) As part of the OECD/ European Commission programme on ‘inclusive entrepreneurship’, in 2014 CRISP was commissioned to produce a background paper on informal sector entrepreneurship, as the basis for an OECD policy briefing on this topic.