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The objective of this paper is to explore the skill acquisition process of informal economy workers and how it affects their current skills and productivity levels. We used a mixed method and multilevel sampling design with the aid of questionnaires and interviews. We found that trainings provided and skill-levels of workers were basic, and this affected their performance and productivity. We recommend that skill development policies for informal economy workers need to be specific, comprehensive, all-inclusive and peculiar to their challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper explores the possibility that unregulated FDI flows are causally implicated in the decline in labor productivity growth in semi-industrialized economies. These effects are hypothesized to operate through the negative impact of firm mobility on worker bargaining power and thus wages. Downward pressure on wages can reduce the pressure on firms to raise productivity in defense of profits, contributing to a low wage-low productivity trap. This paper presents empirical evidence, based on panel data fixed effects and GMM estimation for 37 semi-industrialized economies that supports the causal link between increased firm mobility and lower wages, as well as slower productivity growth over the period 1970–2000. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]