Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of State Regulations in the Process of Informalization of Labor in Argentina. The Case of La Rioja, 1991-2001

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation investigates how state actions help to create an informal labor sector in Argentina. Past theory and research has identified the informal sector with the absence of state protection, but this definition neglects the formal legislation that explicitly legitimizes informal sector work. For instance, a 1991 Argentine labor law legislated temporary, low-wage, unprotected employment with reduced employer contributions to social security. The research will investigate the impact of this law and its amendments on workers in La Rioja, Argentina. Studying a smaller city will help expand the scope of research on the informal sector beyond the usual focus on large global cities. A wide variety of data will be collected including surveys of workers, in-depth interviewers with political and labor leaders, official statistics, and content analyses of legislation and newspaper coverage.