The Informal Economy in Developing Nations: Hidden Engine of Innovation?

The informal economy represents a significant share of output and employment in many developing countries. Yet little is known about this hidden engine of innovation. This pioneering study addresses some crucial questions, including: what is the role of the informal sector in economic development? How does innovation occur in the informal economy? How does it spread, who are the key actors and what impacts does it have? How do inventors and entrepreneurs in the informal economy reap benefits from their innovations? What stops informal sector innovation from scaling up? How can informal sector innovation in developing countries be measured? And what policies might support informal sector innovation and improve its impacts? This book will stimulate further work on this crucial but under-researched subject. As well as rich empirical evidence from several groundbreaking studies, it includes conceptual and methodological tools and policy recommendations to help researchers and policy-makers understand innovation in the informal economy.

Erika Kraemer-Mbula is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. She is also a researcher at the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and STI Policy (SciSTIP). Kraemer-Mbula holds a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Oxford. Her research interests have focused on science and technology policy analysis, innovation systems, sustainable development, and various routes to the expansion of creative competencies in Africa. She is an active member of several academic networks (such as Globelics and Africalics) and an advisory member of international platforms advancing Africa-EU research collaboration in science and technology.

Sacha Wunsch-Vincent is Senior Economist at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and a lecturer in international economics at Sciences Po, Paris. He is one of the authors of the World Intellectual Property Report and editor of the Global Innovation Index. Wunsch-Vincent has served as an advisor to various governments, and to organizations such as the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. Before joining WIPO, he was an economist at the OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry and a Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, University of California.