Understanding the Determinants of Economic Informality in Paraguay

Michael J. Pisani is Professor of International Business at Central Michigan University (CMU), USA. Dr. Pisani has taught collegiately for 28 years at ten institutions and has been a full-time member of the CMU faculty since 2002. During 2019, Dr. Pisani is a US Fulbright Scholar in Paraguay. Dr. Pisani has (co-)authored more than 100 journal articles, reports, and book chapters. He is also the author or co-author of three books on South Texas, two of which are focused on the informal and underground economy of the Texas-Mexico (or South Texas) borderlands, including Consumption, Informal Markets, and the Underground Economy: Hispanic Consumption in South Texas (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).  Fernando G. Ovando Rivarola is a researcher and active member of the research group in the Centro de Análisis y Difusión de la Economía Paraguaya (CADEP), Paraguay. He is an economist from the Universidad Nacional de Asunción (UNA) and earned a master’s degree in Economics at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP)—Argentina. Mr. Ovando has written articles and working papers on the labor market and unemployment in Paraguay. His research interests include the labor market, income distribution, impact evaluation of public policies, fiscal policy, and public finances.

• 1. Introduction: Informality in Paraguayan Context.- 2. Literature Review: The Informal Economy.- 3. Informality Measure and Models.- 4. Logistic Regression Results of In/Formality in Paraguay.- 5. Discussion of Results.- 6. Policy Recommendations and Conclusions.