Informal Economy Budget Analysis

Informal Economy Budget Analysis (IEBA) asks how government budgets address the needs and interests of different groups of informal workers. It also investigates what opportunities exist for informal workers or their representatives to participate at different stages of the budget process.

IEBA draws inspiration from gender-responsive budgeting initiatives and participatory budget initiatives. Gender-responsive budgeting initiatives take many forms and can involve diverse actors. However, all the initiatives have the underlying question as to how government budgets differentially address the needs and interests of women and men, girls and boys. Participatory budget initiatives provide opportunities for ordinary citizens and/or representatives of organized groupings to participate in decision-making around how government budgets are allocated. They can also involve citizens and group representatives in implementation and monitoring of projects for which budgets have been allocated.

IEBA was developed and tested in South Africa by Debbie Budlender, Francie Lund, Caroline Skinner, and Imraan Valodia as part of the Durban Informal Economy Policy Process: see Durban Informal Economy Policy Process. In 2009, WIEGO commissioned the analysis of government budgets from an informal economy perspective under the technical guidance of Debbie Budlender in one city in each of four countries – Belo Horizonte in Brazil, Lahore in Pakistan, Metropolitan Lima in Peru, and Quezon City in the Philippines.

Each case focused on both the national budget and a city budget. In each case, country researchers drafted detailed research reports. See:

The preparation of each case concluded with a policy dialogue to share and discuss the findings with membership-based organizations of informal workers and other relevant stakeholders.

Debbie Budlender drafted popular versions of these reports. See:

For the consolidated report summarizing the findings from the four cities/countries, see Budlender, D. Informal Economy Budget Analysis in Brazil, Pakistan, Peru and Philippines.

Debbie Budlender also drafted a guide on how to conduct informal economy budget analyses. This guide is aimed at researchers and others who might like to undertake IEBAs in other cities and countries. See:

The research reference team for this project consisted of Marty Chen (WIEGO International Co-ordinator and Harvard University) and Francie Lund (WIEGO Social Protection Programme Director and University of KwaZulu-Natal).