Asian Informal Workers

Santosh Mehrotra is a senior policy advisor for the United Nations Development Program based in Bangkok, Thailand. His books include Development With a Human Face (edited with R. Jolly, 1997); Eliminating Human Poverty: Macro economic Policies for Equitable Growth; and The Economics of Elementary Education in India.Mario Biggeri is senior lecturer in development economics at the University of Florence, Italy. His research interests include economies of transition, international aid, clusters and informal activities, rural development, and child labour and child's capabilities, and he has published widely in these areas.

• Part 1: A Cross-Country Analysis of Industrial Outwork in Asia 1. The Empirical Context and a Theoretical Framework 2. Research Methodology 3. Subcontracting and Homework in the Value Chain 4. Homeworkers 5. Child Labour in Homework Part 2: The Country Studies 6. Subcontracted Homework in India: A Case Study of Three Sectors 7. Hazardous Subcontracted Homework in Pakistan 8. Women and Children Homeworkers in Indonesia 9. Subcontracted Homework by Women and Children in The Philippines 10. Subcontracted Homework in Thailand Part 3: Policy Implications 11. Upgrading Informal Micro- and Small Enterprises through Clusters – Towards a Policy Agenda 12. Extending Social Insurance to Informal Wage Workers

".. a very interesting book which breaks new ground in examining the interconnection between child labour and women's home-based work...essential reading for anyone working on child labour, women's work, and informal work. "The policy recommendations are well-argued and innovative... It finds a way through the dilemma that attempts to outlaw child labour in home based work will not work and can harm those they seek to help." a book that Routledge can be proud of." - Diane Elson, University of Essex "...This book is an empirically grounded and policy focussed contribution to debates about how to enhance human security in conditions of flexibility and change." - Bob Deacon, Professor of Global Social Policy, Sheffield University