(DP 1980-09) Output Productivity and Earnings: The Informal Manufacturing Sector in the Greater Manila Area

Abstract

A sketch of the informal imanufacturing sector in the Greater Manila area is presented using nformation drawn from a 1976 sample survey of informal enterprises. Estimates of regression models designed to explain variations in output and value added of enterprises and earnings of enterprise head show the insignificance of human capital-related variables. Low quality of workers and production techniques interact to produce low output and wages trapping workers in poverty and underemployment: A possible public policy measure is retraining these workers for more productive jobs in the formal sector.