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This paper estimates the impact of informality on firm profits using a new firm-level survey designed specifically for this study. The survey was administered to about 1,200 firms with 50 employees or less in Ecuador's two largest cities, Quito and Guayaquil, plus two main centers of economic activity near the northern and southern borders. The paper's results confirm that the extent of firms' compliance with a set of regulatory requirements is linked to the perceived costs and benefits of informality, such as the probability of detection by the authorities and the likelihood of being fined. Nonetheless, taking into account the non-random placement of firms along the formality-informality spectrum and controlling for a large set of firm, owner, and location characteristics, the paper finds that more formal firms tend to be more profitable and have higher output per worker. This impact operates, inter alia, through more formal firms' ability to obtain improved access to credit and achieve higher sales by issuing receipts to clients.

Access to Finance --- Banks & Banking Reform --- Debt Markets --- E-Business --- Firm survey --- Informality --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Microfinance --- Poverty Reduction --- Profitability --- Latin America

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Entrepreneurs in Myanmar face many challenges to starting and operating a business. As is the experience globally, women often experience these challenges to a greater extent and face additional sociocultural barriers, limiting their equal participation in the economy. To develop a better understanding of the dynamics holding back private sector development, especially for women, this paper uses data from the first-of-a-kind, firm-level data set available in Myanmar. The analysis explores the variance of experience female-owned micro, small, and medium-size enterprises face compared with their male-owned counterparts. The paper assesses the barriers imposed on entrepreneurs and their businesses and identifies firm-level characteristics leading to the use of good business practices. Further, the analysis investigates the adoption of gender and family-friendly policies, as an outcome and as a determinant of business success. The purpose of the study is to gain a better understanding of the barriers to gender-inclusive private sector development in Myanmar and provide tangible recommendations to private- and government-level actors. Overall, the analysis finds the major constraints for women entrepreneurs are access to finance and sociocultural factors, such as family responsibilities and household work.

Access To Finance --- Female Entrepreneurs --- Firm Survey --- Gender --- Gender and Development --- Gender and Economic Policy --- Gender and Economics --- Gender and Poverty --- Gender and Social Policy --- Gender Bias --- Inequality --- Sociocultural Barriers --- Women --- Women Entrepreneurs

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Firms have multiple options at the time of adjusting their wage bills. However, previous literature has mainly focused on base wages. This paper broadens the analysis beyond downward rigidity in base wages by investigating the use of other margins of labor cost adjustment at the firm level. Using data from a unique survey, the authors find that firms make frequent use of other, more flexible, components of compensation to adjust the cost of labor. Changes in bonuses and non-pay benefits are some of the potential margins firms use to reduce costs. The paper also shows how the margins of adjustment chosen are affected by firm and worker characteristics.

Early retirement --- Economic shocks --- Economic Theory & Research --- Employee --- Employment --- Environment --- Environmental Economics & Policies --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Firm level --- Firm survey --- High wage --- Labor cost --- Labor Markets --- Labor markets --- Labor Policies --- Labour --- Labour cost --- Labour costs --- Labour market --- Labour market institutions --- Labour markets --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Microfinance --- Real wages --- Retirement --- Social Protections and Labor --- Wage level --- Worker --- Workers