Michael Rogan
Research Associate
“Anyone who is interested in reducing poverty and inequality needs to understand the livelihoods of the working poor. This is WIEGO’s unique contribution and its work continues to shape debates in the development community.”
Expertise
Survey methods, labour market dynamics, taxation, and gender
Bio
Professor Michael Rogan is a Research Associate in WIEGO’s Urban Policies Programme. His work centres on statistical analyses of earnings and status in employment in the informal economy, and he leads WIEGO’s research on taxation in the informal economy.
A development economist by training, he first worked with WIEGO in 2011 as part of the research team that conducted the 10-city Informal Economy Monitoring Study (IEMS). He later led the WIEGO-IDRC study on the impact of COVID-19 on workers in 12 cities.
He has published widely on the informal economy and was, in 2024, the co-editor (with Martha Chen and Kunal Sen) of the Oxford University Press volume, COVID-19 and the Informal Economy: Impact, Recovery and the Future.
Based at Rhodes University in South Africa, Michael works in the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics & Economic History.
He holds a BA in international studies from the University of Washington in Seattle and an MA and PhD in development studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
Selected Publications
- Journal Article Anyidoho, N.A., Gallien, M., Rogan, M. and van den Boogaard, V. 2025. "The Taxed Informal Economy: Fiscal Burdens and Inequality in Accra." World Development, Vol. 187, Article 106879. Read More
- Book Chen, M., Rogan, M. and Sen, K. (Eds.) 2024. COVID-19 and the Informal Economy: Impact, Recovery and the Future. Oxford University Press. Read More
- Journal Article Anyidoho, N.A., Gallien, M., Rogan, M. and van den Boogaard, V. 2023. "Mobile Money Taxation and Informal Workers: Evidence from Ghana's E-Levy." Development Policy Review, Vol. 41. Read More
- Book Chapter Rogan, M. 2022. "Taxation and the Informal Economy in the Global South: Strengthening the Social Contract Without Reciprocity?" In: Plagerson, S., Chen, M., and Alfers, L. (Eds.), Social Contracts and the Future of Work: A View from Informal Workers in the Global South. Edward Elgar Publishing. Read More
- Journal Article Ogando, A.C., Rogan, M. and Moussié, R. 2022. "Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Unpaid Care Work on Informal Workers’ Livelihoods." International Labour Review, Special Issue: “COVID-19 and the World of Work.” Read More
- Book Chapter Rogan, M. and Skinner, C. 2021. "The South African Informal Economy." In: Oqubay, A., Tregenna, F., and Valodia, I. (Eds.), Handbook of the South African Economy. Oxford University Press. Read More
- Journal Article Chen, M., Rogan, M., et al. 2021. "COVID-19 and Informal Work: Evidence from 11 Cities." International Labour Review, Special Issue: “COVID-19 and the World of Work.” Read More
- Book Chapter Rogan, M., and Cichello, P. 2020. "(Re)Conceptualizing Poverty and Informal Employment." In: Chen, M., and Carré, F. (Eds.), The Informal Economy Revisited: Examining the Past, Envisioning the Future. Routledge: London. Read More
Op-Eds
- Article M. Rogan, Gallien, M., Anyidoho, N.A., and van den Boogaard, V. 2023. "Ghana’s E-Levy Is Unfair to the Poor and Misses Its Revenue Target: A Lesson in Mobile Money Tax Design." The Conversation, June 7. Read More
- Article M. Rogan, Gallien, M., Anyidoho, N.A., and van den Boogaard, V. 2022. "New Data on the E-Levy in Ghana: Unpopular Tax on Mobile Money Transfers Is Hitting the Poor Hardest." The Conversation, October 10. Read More
- Article M. Rogan, Gallien, M., and van den Boogaard, V. 2021. "The World Bank and IMF Are Using Flawed Logic in Their Quest to Do Away with the Informal Sector." The Conversation, October 28. Read More
- Article M. Rogan and Skinner, C.. 2020. "Support for Women Informal Workers Is Urgent as Pandemic Unfolds in South Africa." The Conversation, May 26. Read More
- Blog Post Roever, S. and Rogan, M. 2020. "Informal Workers See a Long Road to Recovery Ahead — Unless Governments Act." WIEGO Blog, November 20. Read More