THE PLACE OF MARKET ASSOCIATIONS AND INFORMAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES IN DEVELOPING ECONOMIES: A SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW

The term ‘informality’ was conceptualised by the International Labour Organisation to describe labour force which operates outside the formal labour market. The idea of informality used in this paper covers a wide spectrum of unregulated economic activities such as vending and small-scale manufacturing which are carried out by operators outside the regulatory framework of the state. There is a consensus of opinion by scholars that connection exists between informality and vulnerable populations. Several authors have studied the nexus between informal sector and economic growth. So far, a perspective that highlights the implications of market associations and networks in the socio-economic development of the areas which the enterprises are located is still not being exhaustively addressed in existing literature. Leveraging on secondary elaboration technique, this paper presents a modest review of extant literature on norms of market associations and some of the challenges encountered by informal sector operators. The ultimate goal of this enterprise is to provoke intellectual discourse to achieve deeper understanding of the mediating role of market associations and other informal economic activities in developing economies