Informal Employment in Mexico and Central America: A Complex Phenomenon

This article is an approach to a study of informal employment in both Mexico and Central America. The first part shows how the informal economy is a structural phenomenon with a plurality of occupations, classified according to ILO’s international instruments. Subsequently, we analyse the multiplicity of jobs, which intersect repeatedly in the countries studied and the effects of public policies that intend to formalize informal employment. We stress out the low effectiveness of these policies.