The Informal Economy in Developing Nations

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.

• 1. The informal economy: definitions, size, contribution and main characteristics Jacques Charmes; Comment 1.1 Adriana Mata Greenwood; Comment 1.2 Johannes Jütting; 2. Innovation in the informal economy Jeremy de Beer, Kun Fu and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent; Comment 2.1 Colin C. Williams; Comment 2.2 Fred Gault; Comment 2.3 Xiaolan Fu; 3. A study of the informal metalworking sector in Nairobi Christopher Bull, Steve Daniels, Mary Kinyanjui and Barrett Hazeltine; Comment 3.1 Joseph K. Kiplagat; 4. Informal manufacturing of home and personal care products in South Africa Erika Kraemer-Mbula; Comment 4.1 Nonhlanhla Mkhize; 5. Herbal medicine in the informal sector of Ghana George Owusu Essegbey and Stephen Awuni; Comment 5.1 Peter Arhin; 6. Appropriation and intellectual property in the informal economy Jeremy de Beer and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent; Comment 6.1 Emmanuel Sackey; Comment 6.2 Dick Kawooya; Comment 6.3 Shamnad Basheer; 7. Innovation policy and the informal economy: toward a new policy framework Erika Kraemer-Mbula and Almamy Konte; Comment 7.1 Anneline Morgan; Comment 7.2 Judith Sutz; 8. Formulating an agenda for the measurement of innovation in the informal economy Jacques Charmes, Fred Gault and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent; Comment 8.1 Philippe Mawoko; Annex 1. Ad hoc interview guidelines and questionnaires; Annex 2. Extract 1 from the generic questionnaire of stage 2 of the 1-2-3 survey; Annex 3. Kenya 2014.

'This book is timely and important. Developing countries need to build development strategies and design public policies on the basis of what they have.' Bengt-Åke Lundvall, Aalborg University, Denmark and Secretary General, Globelics