Data and Countries
Use these links to scroll down the page to get more information about 1-2-3 surveys
- The 1-2-3 surveys
- History of the 1-2-3 surveys
- Datasets used in this project
- How does this data compare to other existing data sources on informality?
- Useful links
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The 1-2-3 surveys
The empirical analysis will mainly rely on a set of surveys called 1-2-3 surveys or in its French synonym “Enquêtes 1-2-3”. A 1-2-3 survey is a multi-layer survey organized in three phases and specially designed to study the informal sector.
- Phase 1 is a representative labor force survey collecting detailed information about individual socio-demographic characteristics and employment.
- Phase 2 is a survey which interviews a sub-sample of informal production units identified in Phase 1 (and as defined above). The focus of this phase is on the characteristics of the entrepreneurs and their production unit, including the characteristics of employed workers. It also contains detailed information on input use, investment, sales, profits and the unit’s forward and backward linkages.
- Phase 3 is a household expenditure survey interviewing (again) a representative sub-sample of Phase 1. The questionnaire of this phase also contains questions on the sectoral origin of purchases (informal vs. formal; local vs. imported).
The data from all three phases is organized such that it can be linked; hence, for a (representative) sub-sample of informal entrepreneurs information from all three phases is available.
History of the 1-2-3 surveys
After an initial partial experiment in Mexico (1987, 1989), the 1-2-3 survey was fully applied for the first time in Cameroon in 1993 (Roubaud, 1994). The methodology was then consolidated in Madagascar, where the survey was introduced in 1995 and is still in operation today.
Over the last few years, the 1-2-3 survey has spread widely. It has been conducted, is in the process of being conducted and/or planned on three continents: in Africa (Morocco, seven countries of the West-African Monetary and Economic Union (WAEMU), Burundi and Congo (RDC)), in Latin America and the Caribbean region (El Salvador, Bolivia, Colombia, Equator, Peru, Venezuela, Haiti, St. Lucia) and in Asia (Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Philippines and Vietnam).
Today, leading regional institutions consider the 1-2-3 survey as one of the most adequate instruments to measure the informal sector.
Datasets used in this project
In this project, we will in particular make use of the 1-2-3 surveys undertaken in seven economic capitals of the WAEMU in the early 2000s (Abidjan, Bamako, Cotonou, Dakar, Niamey, Lomé and Ouagadougou) as well as the 1-2-3 surveys undertaken in Madagascar at different points in time. Where we expect a cross-regional comparison to add particular value to our analyses, we will include the data from the 1-2-3 surveys undertaken in Vietnam and Peru. A particularity of the Peruvian data is that the data set has a panel dimension with more than six waves already today.
The strength of the data collected in the seven economic capitals of the WAEMU is that those surveys used exactly the same questionnaire and the surveys were conducted more or less simultaneously, such that these data sets are fully comparable. They were all organized within a project called 'PARSTAT' coordinated by AFRISTAT and DIAL and financially supported by the European Commission, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Bank. The data has the status of official data, which should add to the credibility of all results generated with it. So far the 1-2-3 survey data were mainly used for measurement purposes but have not yet been analyzed in the depth we are suggesting in this project.
We include Madagascar in our sample of countries for several reasons.
First, since Madagascar was one of the first countries where the 1-2-3 survey was implemented and where it has been undertaken a number of times since then, we can draw on 12 repeated cross-sections, which is truly exceptional, as it allows us to look at structural change in the informal sector over time.
Second, as mentioned above, members of our team initiated the data collection in Madagascar and have excellent knowledge of the prevailing context.
Third, in the year 2000 and 2001, the survey does not only cover Antananarivo but also all other urban areas allowing us to extend our analysis to secondary cities and to better capture links with the rural economy.
Fourth, and most importantly, the case of Madagascar provides us with the opportunity to make use of a quasi-experiment to evaluate a micro-credit scheme. In 2001, 2002 and 2004, members of our team interviewed clients of micro-credit program. These clients were matched with a control group (taken from the regular 2001 1-2-3 survey, Phase 2) that was also followed over time. We plan to extend this panel dataset by adding another round in 2010. This would then allow assessing the long-term impact of micro-credits.
How does this data compare to other existing data sources on informality?
In comparison to most other surveys specifically targeted at informal entrepreneurs, our data on informal production units entails the advantage that its sampling design ensures that we obtain a representative sample of entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals. Being sampled does for instance not depend on whether the entrepreneur has a fixed location or simply operates a business at home or in a fully mobile way. Thus this survey also includes entrepreneurs who are likely to be overseen in one-stage surveys where the sample population is produced from enterprise sampling frames.
The 1-2-3 surveys also offer a number of advantages against the well-known Living Standard Measurement surveys
Useful links
- Special issue of Stateco (no. 104 (2009)) about instruments to measure and analyze poverty and the informal sector in Africa.
- Special issue of Stateco (no. 99 (2005)) about the implementation and results of the 1-2-3 surveys in the WAEMU.
- Roubaud, F. (1994). L’économie informelle au Mexique: de la sphère domestique à la dynamique macro-économique. Karthala, Orstom, Paris [ISBN 2-86537-484-X].
- Roubaud, F. (forthcoming). Mixed surveys using the modular approach. In ILO Manual on Surveys of Informal Employment and Informal Sector, Chapter 7, ILO: Geneva.
