Post on 07-Jul-2018
transcript
8/18/2019 Jan Breman- A Dualistic Labour System?
1/8
Economic and Political Weekly is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Economic and Political
Weekly.
http://www.jstor.org
A Dualistic Labour System? A Critique of the 'Informal Sector' Concept: I: The Informal SectorAuthor(s): Jan BremanSource: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 11, No. 48 (Nov. 27, 1976), pp. 1870-1876Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4365139Accessed: 09-02-2016 03:19 UTC
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of contentin a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
This content downloaded from 128.220.8.15 on Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:19:23 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/http://www.jstor.org/publisher/epwhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4365139http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4365139http://www.jstor.org/publisher/epwhttp://www.jstor.org/
8/18/2019 Jan Breman- A Dualistic Labour System?
2/8
SPECIAL
ARTICLE
Dualistic a b o u r
Syst em
A
Critique of
the 'Informal Sector'
Concept
I: The Informal Sector
Jan
Breman
This paper examines the utility of
the concept of the 'informal
sector'.
The author argues, partly
on the basis of research into labour
relations in a small
town in western
India,
that the concept of the
informal sector is analytically
inadequate.
The informal sector, he
suggests,
cannot
be demarcated as a separate
economic compartment
and/or labour
situation.
In Part
I
of the article
it is argued that any
attempt
to
demarcate the informal
sector will give
rise
to numerous inconsistencies
and difficulties.
Moreover, by interpreting
the relationship of the
informal
sector to the formal
sector in
a
dualistic framework
and
by focusing
on the
mutually excluisive
charac-
teristics,
we lose sight of the unity and totality
of the productive
system.
In Part
II of the article, the author
suggests that
rather than divide the urban system
into two
segments, it is preferable to emphasise the fragmented nature of the entire labour market.
Finally,
in
Part IlI,
the
author considers the social classes which are usually
associated with the
urban
labour
force.
[Part
I
of
the
article
appears
this
week.
Parts 11
and Ill will
be puiblished
in the
following weeks.]
INTRODUCTION'
SOCIAL
orders which are
based on agri-
culture
are generally
known in the
social
sciences as peasant systems.
This
signifies not only a particular type
of
society
but
also
the nature
of
the
developmnent
problem;
much
of the
literature on
the subject is rightly
devoted
to the
rural setting
and
tci
agrarian production. Nevertheless, a
considerable percentage
of the popula-
tions
of what are optimistically
knowr*
as developing
countries
live in towns
and
cities. The share
of
the
urban
population
varies from country
to
countrv,
but for the
third world as
a
whole
it amounts to roughly
25 per
cent.
In the rural areas the
greater majority
of the population works
in agriculture;
similarly, urban living
is usually
con-
sidered to
be
associated
with an indus-
trial way of
life. But the
lattei
assumption
is
in
no
vay
related to
reality. Only half and somnetimes ess
of
the urban
population
usually
finds
employment
in factories
and other
establishments
in
the so-called
modern
sector. No one who is
at all familiar
wvith the socio-economic
situation
in
the cities of the third
world will be
surprised by
this fact. But
for
a
long
time
little
if
any
attention was
given
to
the economic
activities and
the
incomes
derived therefrom
with which
the
other part,
often the majority,
of
the urban population has
to try to make
ends meet. This
limbo continued
until
the concept 'informal sector' appeared on
the scene a few
years ago, since
when
it
has
steadily gained
in popularity.
The term
was first launched
by Hart
[1971]
wtho
described
the
informal
sector
as that part of
the
urban
labou?
force
which falls outside the
organised
labour
market.' The informal sector
has
since been
greeted as a
promising con-
cept
and
has been
further refined
by
a mission
of
the
International Labour
Office (ILO)
which
studied the
employ-
ment situation in Kenya within the
framewvork f
the
World
Employment
Programme.2
The aim of
this paper
is
partly
to
establish
the
utility of the
concept.
Most
discussions of
the
informal sector
take
as their
point of
departure the
dualistic character
that is
ascribed
to
the
urban
economy of
the
non-socialist
countries
of
the third
vorld.
This
implies that
the term
informal
sector
refers
to a
dichotomy in which
the
characteristics of the two
parts
form
each
other's
contrasts. The
formal
sector is taken to mean wage labour in
permaneent
employment,
such as
that
which
is
characteristic
of industrial
enterprises,
governrment offices
and
other
large-scale
establishments.
This
implies
(a) a set
number of
inter-related
jobs which
are
part of
a
composite,
internally
well-organised
labour struc-,
ture; (b)
work
situations
which are
officially
registered in
economic statis-
tics; and (c)
working
conditions
which
are
protected by
law.
Some
authors
therefore
speak
of the
organised,
registered
or
protected
sector.
Econo-
mic activities which do not meet these
criteria
are
then
bundled
under the
term
informal
sector, a
catchword
covering a considerable
range
of
econo-
mic-activities
which
are
frequently mar-
shalled
under
the
all
inclusive
term
of
'self-employment'. This
is employment of
a sort that is
very
little
organised
if
at
all, 'vhich is
difficult to enumerate and is
therefore often
ignored by
official
cen-
suses and,
finally, employment in
wvhich
wNorking
onditions are rarely covered
by legal statutes. As this description
of the
informal sector
is rather
imade-
quate,
the lack of a
proper definition is
very often,
although not
satisfactorily,
compensated by a
somewhat arbitrary
listing of
those
activities which meet
the
eye of
anyone who strolls
through
the
streets of a city in
the third world:
street
vendors, newspaper
sellers,
shoeshine
boys,
stall
keepers, prostitutes,
porters,
beggars, hawkers,
rickshaw
drivers,
etc.
In
other
words,
the
exten-
sive
collection
of
small
tradesmen, the
loose and
unskilled
workers and other
categories wvith low and irregular in-
comes
who
lead a
laborious,
semi-
criminal
existence
on
the
margins
of
the
urban economy.
ORIGIN
OF
THE
CONTCEPT
From the content
which is
given to
the
informal sector
concept
it
is
clear
that it
should be
regarded as a iiew
variant of the
dualism
theories which
earlier
gained
popularity.
In
Boeke's
classical
explanation
the
phenomenon
of
dualism refers
on
the
one
hand
to
an
urban
market
economy, usually
of
a capitalistic nature, and on the other
hand
to
a rural subsistence
economy
mainly
characterised
by
a
static
agri-
1
O"7Yn
This content downloaded from 128.220.8.15 on Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:19:23 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/18/2019 Jan Breman- A Dualistic Labour System?
3/8
ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL
WEEKLY
November
27, 1976
cultural
system
of
production.
Boeke's
reasoning that this
type
of
segmented
society,
which
originated
in
a
colonial
situation,
can
be
explained
by
funda-.
mental
and
permanent
differences
in
economic
behaviour, has
long
been
dis-
missed
as
untenable
by
many critics.3
Less
controversial
is the
assumption
of a certain socio-economic
duality
which
originates
in
a
different
phasing
of
development,
a
process
that
evokes,
or
at
any
rate
strengthens,
the
contrast
between
i
modern and
traditional,
capitalistic
versus
non-capitalistic, in-
dustrial-urban
as
against
agrarian-rural
modes
of
production.
Arthur
Lewis
and
later
Fei-Ranis have
used
the
con-
cept
of
dualism
in this
sense to
investi-
gate
how
surplus
labour
can
be
transferred
from
the rural
subsistence
sector in
order to
help
increase
non-
agricultural
production.
These
econo-
mists see the cities with their modern
industries as
dynamic
centres
from
which the
static
character of
the
rural
order,
characterised
by
stagnating
agri-
culture
with
very low
labour
producti-
vity,
can
gradually
be
overcome.
But
the
assum-ption
hat the
surplus labour
that
thus
becomes
available
will
be
absorbed
in
the
modern
sector
is
not
proven.
During
the
last
few
decades
we
have
seen
that
expansion
of
indus-
trial
employment
opportunities
lags
far
behind
the
growth
of the
urban
labour
force.
The
urban
dualism
that
is
nowadays apparent in many deveIoping
countries
is
not
due
to
any
gradually
disappearing
contrast
between
a
modern-dynamic
growth
pole
anxl
a
traditional-static
sector
which
has
tena-
ciously
survived
in
an
urban
environ.
ment,
but
rather
to
structural
distur-
bances
within
the
entire
econ'omy
and
society.
The
lowv
rate
of
industrialisa-
tion
and
the
presence
of
surplus
labour
are
listed
as
principal
reasons
why
a
dualistic
system
has
sprung
up
in
the
cities
of
the
third
world.4
The
informal
sector
contains
the
mass
of
the
working
poor whose productivity is much lower
than in
the
modem
urban
sector
from
which
most
of
them
are
excluded.
DIFFERENCES
IN
INTFRPRETATION
The
over-stereotyped
image
of
the
onerous
existence
led
by
sizeable
groups
in
the
lower
echelons
of
the
urban
economy is
undoubtedly due
partly
to
processes
of
stagnation
or
involution
which
are
the
root
cause
of the
rapid
growth
of the
informal
sector.
How-
ever,
the
idea
that
this is a
source
of
unproductive
labour
and
loafers,
of
social
isolation
if
not
dislocation
and
other evils which stress
its
residual
character,
doehs
not
sufficiently
depict
reality.
In
contrast
to this
negative
evaluas
tion, recent
literature shows
that acti-
vities
in the informal sector can
be
economically quite efficient and
profit-
able.
The
emphasis
is then less
on
actual labour
performance
and more
on the
context within which
people
workc.
This is an
amplification
of
an
urban dualism
in
which
stress
is
placed
not
on the
nature of the
employment
but on
the
mode of
production.5
According to
this more
positive
ap-
proach,
the distinction
formal-informal
refers to
two
economic sectors,
each
with
its own
structural
consistency and
dynamics.
Activity
in
the
informtial
sector
is
characterised,
for
instance,
by
low
capital
intensity, a low level
of
productivity,
a
small and
usually
poor
clientele, a low
level of
formal
schooling,
intermediate
technology,
preponderance of family labour and
ownership, ease
of
entrance
and,
last
but
not
least,
lack
of
support
and
recognition
on the
part of the
govern-
ment.
In
brief,
according
to
a recent
survey by
the
World
Employment
Pro-
gramme, the
informal
sector
consists
of
many
small-scale
enterprises
whose
labour
input is
predominantly provided
bv
relatives of
the
owner.6
It cannot
be denied
that the
itntro-
cluction of
the
concept
informal
sector
has
drawn
attention
to the
nebulous
complexity of
activities,
unorganised
fragmented and
divergeht
in
character,
with
which
a large
proportion
of the
population,
both urban
and
rural,
has
to
earn
its
daily bread. Until
recently,
research into
non-agragrian
employ-
ment
was
almost
entirely
confined
to
labour in
industries
and other
eniter-
prises
with, as
ever-recurring
themes,
the
social
background of
the
labour
force, their
adaptation to the
urban
and
more
particularly to the
industrial
way
of
life
and, of
course,
work
conditions
and
circumstances
in
these
large-scale
economic
establishments. The
recent
shift in focus from the formal to the
informal sector,
strongly
encouraged
by
the ILO,
has
brought an end
to the.
obstinately-held
belief
that
those
who
do
not
acquire
their
incomes in
a
regular
and
standardised
manner, as is
customary
in
the
modern
economic
sector,
have to
be
regarded as
under
or
unemployed.
On
the other
hand, discussion
of
the
informal sector
seems to give
rise to
more
questions
than
it
has
solved.
This
is due
primarily to the
lack of
precise
definition.
The
concept
-
is
taken to cover everything that
does
not belong
to the formal
sector,
and
it has rightly been pointed out that
this gives
the
distinction a tautologi-
cal character.7
The
notion of dualism
refers sometimes to distinctive em-
polyment situations, sometimes to sepa-
rate economic circuits, and frequently
to
a
combination of
the
two.
To
illustrate the latter alternative
Jet
me
cite Oteiza, who finds it conceivable
that
the end of the
century
will see, to
an even more
pronounced
degree,
the existence of two labour markets
with two very different
occupational
structures and
levels of inome, cor-
responding to two clearly distinctive
sectors of the economy
-
the mod-
ern and the traditional sector.8
But Oteiza's hypothesis, which is im-
plicitly also to be found in many other
essays, that the dichotomy in the two
meanings runs parallel, has yet to be
proven and can therefore not be taken
as a point of departure for empirical
analysis.
The
vagueness
and
iniconsistency
of
the definition
is
said
to
be due to
the
fact
that the
informal sector
has
only
recently
become
a
subject
of
study.
On the
other
hand,
it could
be
posited
that
the lack
of a
hard
empirical
basis
was perhaps
the reason
for
the cele-
rity
with which
the
concept
has
foundi
acceptance. It
is
noticeable
that
reports
which are based on
factual
research
are
often
particularly
critical
of the
conceptualisation.
At
any rate,
I have
come to the conclusion, partly on the
basis of
research
into labour
relations
in
a
small
town
in
western India,
that
the
concept
is
analytically inadequate.
In
my opinion,
the
informal sectou
cannot
be
demarcated
as a
separate
economic
dompartmnent
nd/or labour
situation. Any attempt to do so will
give
rise
to numerous inconsistencies
and
difficulties,
such as will
be
shown by
even a
sketchy discussion
of
social
background,
size and
compo-
sition. Moreover, by interpreting the
relationship to the formal sector in a
dualistic framework and in focusing
on the
mutually exclusive characteri-
stics,
we
lose
sight of
the
unity and
totality
of.
the
productive system.
Rather
than dividing the urban systeni
into
two segments, I prefer to empha-
sise
the
fragmented nature of the
entire
labour market (Part II). Finally,
I
shall
consider
the
social classes which
are
usually associated with the *urban
labour
force (Part III).
SOCIAL BACKGROUND AND SIZE OF
INFORMAL SECTOR
Social Background
Surprisingly little is
knownl
about
the relationship
betw-een
the informal
1871-
This content downloaded from 128.220.8.15 on Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:19:23 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/18/2019 Jan Breman- A Dualistic Labour System?
4/8
November 27,
1976
ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL
WEEKLY
sector
and
social
stratification.
It
seems
reasonable
to
assume
that
workers
in
the
formal
sector are
mostly
recruited
from the
higher
social
strata
whose
edtucational level
is
also much
higher;
conversely,
low
social
positions
and
informal sector
activities are also
like-
ly
to
go
hand in
hand.
This
is
not
much
more
than an
assumption, how-
ever. The
question
of
how
this
social
distribution
originates
is
usually
left
unanswered.
On
the other
hand,
the
infonnal sector is
inevitably
seen
as
connected
to urban
poverty
and
to
its
social
determinants,
e
g,
low
incomes,
irregular
work,
inadequate
educatioin,
a
low
degree
of
organisation,
and
other elements from
which
a lack
of
security
and
protection
can
be
inferred.
Various
authors
have drawn
attention
to the fact that
non-economic
aspects
have
been
insufficiently considered
in
the
conceptualisation
of
the
informaI
sector. It is
remarkable,
for
instance,
that
many
discussions make little
or
no
mention
of
the
extensive
social
research
that
during
the
last few
years
has
been
carried
out
in
neighbourhoods
where
the
urban
poor
congregate.
Thig
shows
once
again
that a
thorough in-
ventorisation
of
existing
knowledge
based on
interdisciplinary
research
is
of
more
benefit
than a
proliferation of
studies
that do
not
cross
narrowly-
defined
professional
borders.
Receni
sociological and
geographical
investi-
gations of urban slums in third world
countries
have
shown
that
their
popu-
lations
are
extremely
heterogeneouE.
Apart
from
the fact
that
here is
no
evidence
of an
amorphous
and
disin-
tegrated
multitude, it
appears
repeated-
ly
that
the
inhabitants of
low-income
pockets
and
of
shanty towns in
the
ur-
ban
periphery
do
not form
a
separate
and
distinctive
social order.
Studies of
slums show
a
varied
composition
and
strong
and
close
ties
with
institutions
of the
general
urban
system
rather
than
any
deviating pattern
of
norms and
values.9 The
objections made in
many
recent
publications
against the
defini-
tion of
slums as
locations
with
specific
characteristics
and
problems are
irr
effect
also
addressed
to
attempts to
represent
the
informal
sector
as
a
clearly
distinguishable
circuit
of
the
urban
economy.
The
tendency
to
consider the in-
formal sector
as a
residue
primarily
of
rural
migrants
helps to
strengthen
tho
image
of
marginal
labour.
This em-
phasis
on
the
rural
background
is
hardly
surprising
when
we
consider
that
the origins
of the
informnal
ector
are
attributed
to a
continuing
process
of
urbanisation,
i e,
the massive
out-
flow of
surplus
labour
from the
country-
side. And
although
these rural
ini-
grants indeed
forn
a
substantial
part
of the urban
poor,
studies
based
on
empirical
research
have
shown
in
the
first place,
that
in the formal
sector
this percentage is not
necessarily
much
lower,'0
and
in the
second
place
that
a
great many of those
who
earn
their
living
in
the informal sector were either
born in urban
areas or have
long
re-
sided there.11 There
are
indications
that the rate
of
urbanisation
might
be
gradually
declining,
particularly in
heavily
populated countries
where the
large cities have
for
many decades
been
subjected
to conditions
of extreme
scarcity.
In a
study
of
Calcutta,
Lubell
concludes
that
population
growth in
the
surrounding
districts
is
much
higher
than
in
the
urban
agglomeration.
In his
opinion, migration
from
the
rural areas to the cities has
decreased
during
the last
quarter of
a
century,
not
only in
West Bengal
but in India
as
a whole.
This
decline
is certainly
not
due
to a massive
and
pronounced
improvement in
employment
opportu-
nities
and incomes at the
bottom of
the
agricultural
production
system.
However meagre
the income
eamed
by labour
in the
urban
informal sec-
tor,
the
chances
of
employment
in the
city
are
always greater
than
in
the
rural
areas and
the
minimum standard
of
urban
living is
also
considerably
higher. Even the
poorest people
in a
city such
as
Jakarta
are
probably
much better off
than the
low-income
strata in
the
villages of
Java.12 The
reason for
a
declining rate of
urbani-
sation should
therefore be
sought
rather
in the
tendency to
seal-off
the,
urban
sector.
Saturation is
also given
as a
reason
for
official
attempts too
check
a
continuing
inflow
and to
make
domicile
in
the
major cities de-
pendent
on
sparingly
distributed per-
mits.
But
there
seems to
be a ten-
dency
to define
the cities as
closed
areas even
without
government
inter-
vention. The
absorptive
capacity
of
the lower
levels of
the
urban
economy
is
anything but
unlimited
and cliches
regarding shared
poverty
and employ-
ment
opportunities
notwithstanding,
the
inhabitants show
growing disincli-
nation to take
relatives
with a rural
background
into
their
homes and to
help
them
find their
place
in the
urban
economy.
The
discharge
from
agri-
culture
continues,
but is no
longer
automatically
converted into
definitive
departure to the
cities. Large
groups
of
seasonal migrants
wvander
wretched-
ly to
and
fro
between
town and
coun-
try, recruited
or
rejected
as need
arises.13
In
addition
to
this rural-urban
circulation,
the seasonal
movement
of
labour within rural
areas has lately
gained
in
significance.
So
far,
the lite-
rature has shown
little interest
in these
issues, which are also ignored in dis-
cussions
of the
informal sector.
Size of Informal Sector
Estimates of
the size
of
the
informal
sector are
varied.
Moreover,
the
data
supplied for various countries or
cities
show considerable
disparity
which
cannot
be
ascribed
to
actual differences
in
economic
structure. Most authors
seem to
hold the opinion that
half
or
even more of the
populations of the
large cities of the
third world should
be
included in the informal sector, but
the
varying criteria on which their
studies are based preclude any accu-
rate comparison of their percentages.
A
major conceptual
problem is
caused
by
the fact that
the
labour
forces
of
the
formal
and informal
sectors
of the
economy
have different
compositions.
The use of
the
term
labour
force
for
the informal
sector
may even be misplaced.
Not
only
women,
but the
old, the young and
the
maimed are found in this sector,
although
their
working capacity
cannot
always
or
sufficiently
be
put to use.
It
certainly would
be
misleading to look
upon them as non-working dependents.
An
analysis at the family level is essen-
tial
for
a proper understanding of the
living conditi;ons of
the
urbai
poor.
Only by assuming that most if
not all
household members
are
partially
if
not
entirely absorbed
in the
labour force
can
we
realise
the
comparative
elasti-
city
with which
unemployment, the
considerable
fluctuations
in
income and
other
vicissitudes
of daily existence
can
be absorbed.'4
The
specific char-
acter
of
the
informal
sector, typified
by fluctuating and discontinuous
em-
ployment and a gradual transition from
employment
to
unemployment, makes
any categorisation
of
labour
relationi
according
to current
terminology a
dubious
endeavour. By definition,
it
seems
only possible
to
measure
and
enumerate
employment
in
the
formal
sector. The
complaints
made
by
many
researchers
that
the
infonmal
sector is
disorderly
and elusive
have
to
be
seen
in
this
light.
Attempts
to reduce to the
usual
variables
and components
any employ-
ment which
is
non-standardised and
non-organised from the point of view
of the formal sector are mere statis-
tical exercises which
cannot do justice
1872
This content downloaded from 128.220.8.15 on Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:19:23 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/18/2019 Jan Breman- A Dualistic Labour System?
5/8
ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL
WEEKLY
November
27, 197E1
to the
actual situation.
All this
may
explain
w-hy sociological and
economic
analyses of the
labour
market are
principally
if
not solely
concerned with
the formal
sector of
economic
activity,
but this
preference
can in no
way
be
justified.
NVhether
our margins are
broad
or
narrow,
we must
accept
that
a
very
large part
of
the
urban
multi-
tudes
are
dependent
for their
very
existence on
employment
in
the infor-
mal
sector.
If
roughly
half the
popu-
lations
of the
large metropolitan
centres
where
the
modern
enclaves
can be
found are
employed
in
this
sector,
it
may
safely
be assumed that
the
per-
centage
will be even
higher
in
the
smaller
towns.
If,
in
addition, part
of the
rural
population
can be
includ-
ed in the informal
sector,
it
might
well
be asked what
significanoe can be
attached to a
concept that
covers
such
a large and so little homogeneous sec-
tion
of
the
labour
force.
COMPOSInON
Informal
Sector
as an U'rban
Segment
By definition,, most economic
acti-
vities
in
the
rural areas fall under the
informal
sector.
This
applies
not
only
to tradle
and handicrafts
but also
and
above
all to
agriculture.
Nevertheless,
very
few
publications, for
example
the
ILO
report on Kenya, give
this
broader
tenor
to the
distinction
formal-infor-
mal.'5 The concepts are usually ap-
plied
solely to
the
urban
systemn, gnor-
ing
rural labour and
production'
relations.
However,
there
is
much
to
be
said
for
including
certain
agricul-
tural
activities under
the
formal sector
and not
only
the
large
estates
in;
tropical
countries
which
have
long
grown
commercial
crops
for
the
world
market.
It can be
posited that the
new
agricultural
strategy which form-
ed the
basis of the
so-called green re-
volution has
strengthened the
dualistic
tendencies
within
peasant
economy in
various Asian countries. On the larger
farms
capital
intensity has been
in-
creased, more
complicated
technology
has
been
applied, and
modern
methods
of
management
have been
introduced.
DiscuLssions
of
the
informal sector
are too often
based on the
idea that
urban
production is a
more
tor
less
independent
segment
of the national
economy,
probably
due
to
the
fact
that
most
reports are
concerned with
large
cities
and national
capitals.
But
although
it
is
easier to show
that at
the
lower
levels
the urban
and rural
lal)our
markets
gradually
merge into
each other,
thus making a
regional;
analysis
essential, it is doubtful
whe-
ther the situation
is any different in
the metropoles.
The almost exclusive
linkage of the informal
sector to an
urban
environment entails that
the
considerable
seasonal migration
from
rural areas
to the major cities
is under-
estimated.
In discussions of
the infor-
mnal sector, the
significance of this
phenomnenon
of circulating
labour is
neglected
and it
will.
only
come to its
right if
emphasis is transferred
to the
interchangeability
of, rather
than
the
division between,
town and country
and the concomitant
modes of produc-
tion.
Services
One
opinion
that is
given fairly ge-
neral
credence
holds
that the
informal
sector
is
a
collection
of
petty
trades
and
services
which, although
thev
provide a meagre
existence for
poverty-
stricken people, are of doubtful eco-
nomic benefit
in tenns
of actual
pro-
duetion.
This
is
typically
an
{nter-
pretation
that
is based on
the
formal
sector,
and
the
activities
which
are
almost automatically
listed
-
street
hawkers,
becak-riders,
food
sellers,
shoeshines,
household
servants, beggars,
porters,
etc
-
are
also
recognisable
as
those which,
seen from the
vantage
point
of the
formal
sector,
are
to be
found
in
city
streets.
The attention
wvhich
ILO in particular
has given
to
the informal sector
has
caused
this
somewhat negative image to be revis4
ed, andl various
publications have flatly
contradicted
the sector's
asserted
parasitical
character.
A
shift
in
research
from services
and
distribution to proj
ductive activities has encouraged
a
more differentiated
view and
has
moreover
stressed
that the dichotomy
formal-informal cuts
right
across
all
sectors of the economy.
If
the
formalb
informal division
is accepted as validi hen
it has
to be
applied
not
only to per-
sonal services,
but also
to
building,
trade,
manufacture
and
transport.
LI
other words, if the distinction is at
all tenable
it
cannot
logically
be con-
fined to certain sectors
of the economy
or
to certain activities. It
is concern-
ed much
more with the context in
which
these economic activities
orgi-
nate, with the
manner in which they
are
carried out.
Self-Employment
Versus
Wage
Employment
Since
the
original
conceptualisation
by
Hart,
the
informal sector
has been
seen
as almost synonymous
for cate-
gories of small self-employed who,
independently or by enlisting
the
serE
vices of
householdl
or family
members,
try to keep their heads
above
water.
Wage-earning emiployment,
on the
other hand, is considered
characteris-
tic of the formal sector.16
It is
pro-
hablv not coincidental that
this con.
trast is particularly
emphasised in
studies of African
countries.
But even
if allowances are made
for the
differences
which
exist per
country
in the nature of economic productiory
and the composition of the
labout
force, the operationalisation of the
concepts formal-informal in this way
remains open to dispute.
On the basis of my
Gwn
research in
western
India
I have
ascertained
that
numerotus
small shops and one-man
firms
-
the latter particularly
in
the
self-employment sphere, such as those
of
the free professions
-
typically
bear
the
stamp
of formal sector activities.
On the other handl
it
is
quite common
for
small-scale enterprises
in the in-
formal sphere to employ
non-household
members. Besides, the
content given
to
the concept
of
self-employment is
somewhat pretentious.
It seems
rather
exaggerated to include,
in addition to
the owners of small workshops,
the
shoeshiner,
the
street
barber,
the
gar-
bage collector or casual labourers as
one-man
firms
in
the
sense
of small
entrepreneurs.
The peasant society has long been
identified with self-employment of the
m.ultitude of small producers,
the pea-
sant cultivators
thereby
overlooldng the
various classes in which the agrariain
population is divided.
Similarly, the
fiction
has now
been
introduced
of
ai-,
urban informal sector consisting of
self-employed who at the
most utilise
their household members as labour
force.
Ileterogenteitty
The informal
sector
is seen alter-
nately
as a
form
of
economic
activity
or as a
reservoir
of
labour.
In
both
cases, the discrimination from the
formal sector is
emphasised:
in
the
first case the
mode of
production
is
stressed,
and
in
the second the charac-
teristics
of
labour
per
se.
But
pre-
occupation
with
the
refinement of this
dichotomy has
distracted
attention
from the
great variety
of
activities
which make up
the infornal sector.
Fuirther considerationi shows
that
sys-
tematic
classifieation
of these
activi-
ties
into
one sector
is
not
feasible.
The
problem
is
solved
to some
extent
by
further subdivision
of the
urban
labour'
market,
while
differentiation
into threi
sections is notnfreq&uent.'7
However,
this can only be effective if the dua-
1873
This content downloaded from 128.220.8.15 on Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:19:23 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/18/2019 Jan Breman- A Dualistic Labour System?
6/8
November
27.
1976
ECONOMIC
AND
POLITICAL
WVEEKLY
lism concept
is abandoned. There is
no question
of a rift in production
oir
lal)our relations on the basis of which
the
urban
svstem can be
broken
down
into two sectors. It is rather
a con-
tinuum in which border-lines
between
the
composite
parts are drawn almost
arbitrarily and are also
difficult
to
locate in the actvtal
situLation.
RELATIONSHIP TO FORML
SECTOR
There are
two entirely different views
with regard to the relationship
between
the informal and the formal
sector.
The existenoe and continuing
expan-
sion
of
the informal sector is accept-
ed
in
some circles as an inevitable
phase
in
the
development process. Em-
phasis
is
then placed on
the function
of the informal sector as
a buffer zone.
Marginal productivity perpetuates
the
poverty of the urban masses in third
world countries, but economic activi-
ties
in
the
informal sector provide at
least some
income and employment.
however
meagre
and irregular, to peo-
ple for whom
even a
subsistence
level
would otherwise be hardly conceiva-
ble. But
it
is
not feasible
to expect
that
policies
should be oriented
to-
wards
maintaining
inefficient
and
small-scale
economic
activities
which
make use
of retrogressive technology.
Raising
the standard of
living
of
the
population demands the
fastest possi-
ble expansion of the formal sector.1s
This can
be contrasted by
the
ap-
proach,
stongly encouraged by
the
ILO and
at present
also
by the
World
Bank,
which
sees
the
relationship bet-
ween
the formal
and
informal
sectors
as one of structural inequality.
Accord-
ing
to
this
view,
the
much
praised
flexibility, viability
and
adapted
tech-
nology
of
productive
activities
in
the
informal
sector
are
hamstrung by
the
much
more
favourable
market condi-
tions
which
are
available
to
the mo-
dern
economic
sector, advantages
which are reinforced by political pat-
ronage
and
government
protection.
The
defenders
of
this
view
advocate
better
attunement
and
increased
com-
plementarity
of
the two
sections
of
the
urban
economy.
This would
necessitate
putting
an end
to
the discrimination
against
the activities of
the informal
sector
which
this
approach
sees as
the
mnostpromising
source of
development.
At
present
it
sometimes
seems
that it
is
an
offence
to
earn
a
living
in this
sector.'9
Apart
from
the
repeal
of
discrimi-
natory
regulations
and various
other
restrictive and
oibstrulctive
measures, it
is suggested that the government will
have
to
adopt
a
policy
of
active
sti-
mulation
by
providing
facilities
such
as
credits,
managerial
know-how,
up-
grading
of
skills, marketing
promotion,
supplies
of
raw material,
etc,
in
order
to
improve
the
competitiveness
of
labour-intensive.
small-scale
activities.
Support for entrepreneurial capabilities
can
be justified
by the
fact
that
the
informal
sector's
contribution
to
the
national
product
is
much
greater
than
had
originally
been
envisaged
and
moreover
indicates
possibilities
for
accumulation
of
capital
that
will
allow
small
enterprises
to
expand.20
Such
re-
commendations
form
part
of
a
policy
that
a ttempts
to
replace
the
present
hypothetical
distiniction
between
formal
and
informal
sectors
by a
strong
link-
age
intended
to bring
about
harmo-
nious
co-operation
on
the
basis
of
mu-
tual advantage.
According
to
this
rea-
soning.,
structural
inequality
can
be
strongly
mitigated
if not entirely
abo-
lished,
with
the
aid
of
especially
de-
signed
compensatory
programmes.
Emp-
loyment
for
the poor
is
the
motto
of
this
new
strategy,
which
-u
s
a
cen-
tral
theme
of
the recent
World
Emp-
loyment
Conferencec
of
the
ILO.
The
resolute
tone
is reminiscent
of
the
many
programmes
which
were
drawn
up,
not
very
eagerly
executed,
on behalf
of
the
small
cultivatots
in third
world
countries
when,
it
became
evident
that
the
agrarian
strategy
which
was
in-
troduced at the beginning of the
1970s
had
almost
exclusively
benefit-
ed the
larger,
financially
better-off
far-
mers.
The
ILO
report
on Kenya,
in
particular,
is
written
in
this spirit
and
has
been
strongjy
and
extensively
cri-
ticised
by
Leys.2'
In Ley's
opinion,
the
points
of
de-
parture
and
policy
lines
of
the
ILO
report
are
intended
to
encourage
an
autonomous
local
capitalisin,
divested
of
the
most
extreme
contrasts
but
still
based
on cheap
and exploited
labour.
Research
has
shown
that
offi-
cial programmes and plans which aim
at
stimulating
industry
in
the
infor-
mal
sector
are
of
little
practical
use.22
Neither
can
increased
aid
by
the
state
be
expected
as
long
as
the political
system
is
dominated
by
interests
which
are
linked
to the
formal
sector.
The
paradox
of
the
situation
is that
the
recormImended
piolicy
change
will in-
evitably
be
detrimental
to
an
elite
which
is
responsible
for
its
execution.
By
ignoring
this
fact,
says
Leys,
the
ILO
mission
in
Kenya
was
guilty
of
naivety.
As
is evident
from
a later
ar-
ticle the
compilers
of
the
ILO
report
seem
to have
been
aware
of
this
problem,23
but
they
sufficed
by
saying
that
the government
of
Kenya
had
publicly
committed
itself
to
a strategy
under
which
the
results
of
economic
growth
were
to
be
equally
distributed.
The
reference
to
this statement,
which
can
hiardly
be taken seriously,
illus-
trates
the
mixture
of optimism.
nai-
vety
and
reservation
that
is
inherent
to
most reports produced by inter-
national
bureaucracieS2'
or
their
con-
sultants.
Is
the
point
of
departure
tenable
that
there
are
separate
sectors,
each
of
which
has
its
institutional
facilities
and
rationale?
This
is
the
most
fundamental
diffe-
rence
of
opinion
in the
discussion
over
the
interpretation
of
structural
inequa-
lity.
Leys
is
not alone
in
giving
a
ne-
gative
answer.
Various
other
authors
have
come
to
the
same
conclusion
on
the
basis of
empirical
research.
I
be-
long to those who are sceptical of an
urban
dualism
in
which
emphasis
is
placed
on
the
nature
of activities
in
each
individual
sector
rather
than
on
the
relations
between
the
components
of
the system2.9
According
to
these
critics,
the
backwardness
and
impo-
tence
of
the
informal
sector
is
pre-
conditional
for
the
development
and
progress
of
the
formal
sector,
while
the
relationship
between
the
two
sec-
tors
is
expressed
in
the
dependence
and
subordination
of the former
on
the
latter.
Research
among
petty
pro-
ducers in Diakar has caused Gerry to
conclude
that
these
are exploited
un-
der
the
present
economic
system.
Bose
cormes
to the
same
conclusion
after
studying
small-scale
industries
in
Cal-
cutta,
stating
that
smallness
of
scale
or
inefficient
management
is
not
the
principal
cause
of the
poverty
of
those
who
are
employed
in
the
workshops
but
rather the
application
of
surplus
from above.26
The
inequality
between
the
twvo
sectors
of
the urban
economny,
according
to
Bose,
is
not
very
diffe-
rent
from
the
unequal
exchange
of
goods
during
the
colonial
period,
when not only the economic surplus
but
also part
of
what
otherwise
would
have
beenl
used
for subsistence
in
the
colony
was
withdrawn
for the
develop-
ment
of
the
mother
country."'
If
the
distinctionl
formal-informal
cannot
be
seen
as
a
duality,
and
there
is
no
question
of
individual
markets
in
terms
of production,
distribution
and
consumption,
how is the
charac-
ter
of
the
urban
system
to
be
defined?
In
particular,
are
some
modes
of
pro-
duction,
if
not
autonomous,
at
least
to
some
degree
exclusive
of
each
other?
This
issue
has been discussed in an-
other
framework.
Wallerstein
is
*of
1874
This content downloaded from 128.220.8.15 on Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:19:23 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/18/2019 Jan Breman- A Dualistic Labour System?
7/8
ECONOMIC
AND
POLITICAL
WEEKLY
November
27,
1976
the
opinion
that
there
is
no
question
of different
production
systems.
Like
Frank,
although
in
a
more
detailed
reasoning on
the
basis of
historical
data,
he
considers that
there
is only
one
capitalist
system
which
originated
in
Europe
and
centuries ago
permeat-
ed
and
transformed
the world
peri-
phery.28 But to submit that a system
of
international
division
of
labour
exists
does not
necessarily
imply
agreement
that
this
is
based
on
a
single mode
of
production.
To
regard
this
almost
solely
as
a
phase
in
world
history
-
at
present
with
almost
uni-
versal
validity
-
gives
rise to the
danger
that
widely
divergent social
configurations,
particularly
labour rela-
tions,
which
are found
in
the
third
world
are
brought
under
one
common
denominator. I
favour
an
approach
such
as
that
outlined,
e
g,
Bienefeld
who distinguishes between a capitalist
sector
which
is
narrowly
linked
with
the
international
economy,
and a
sec-
tor
consisting
of
pre-
or
non-capitalist
modes of
production.
The
component
parts
influence
each
other
and
gradual-
ly lose their
individual
identity
and
independence,
so
that we are
faced
with
one
coherent
whole, a
systerm
with its
own
character
and
dynamics.a9
For the
sake
of
clarity, let
me
reiterate
briefly
that in
my
viewv
the thesis of
an
urban
dualism is
untenable; instead
of
applying
the
concepts
formal-infor-
mal, we should distinguish in terms of
different articulated
production
rela-
tions
which can
be
found
within
the
economic
system
of
third
world
coun-
tries in
varying
degrees
and
gradations.30
To
return
to the
literature
over
the
informal
sector, it is
noticeable
that
predictions
with regard
to
the future
are
rarely
optimistic.
The
dismal
pros-
pect is
caused
by
a
variety
of
factors
of
which
the
most
important are:
as
yet
the
population
increase
shows
no
sign
of
decreasing
its
present high
level;
employment
in the
formal
sector
shows little if any expansion, govern-
ments show
little
inclination
to give
effective
aid
to
small-scale
labour-in-
tensive
industries,
and
finally, the
competitiveness
of
the
latter shows
continuous
deterioration
resulting
in
their being
ousted from
activities
whenever
these
appear
profitable
for
the
larger
enterprises.
Seen
from
the
viewpoint that
the in-
formal
sector only
exists
by the
grace of
the
formal
sector, the
under-
development
and
backwardness
of the
former
can
only
be brought
to an
end
by drastic
change of
the
entire
eco-
nomy, including agricultural
production.
The
likelihood
of such
fundamental
change,
which
would
in
fact incur the
transformation
of the
whole,
is diffi-
cult to
ascertain and would not be the
same for each country, but
for
the
short term at
any
rate it
does
not
seem
very feasible. On the other hand,
the involutionary trend of continued
expansion within an inelastic
frame-
work is not coming to an end.
How
long
and how far can those
activities
which are listed under the
informal
sector
continue?
The
rift between
the
extremes is becoming greater,31
and
various authors mention the growing
inequality in income and opportunity
within the lower regions of the urban
economy.32
In most
third world countries,
parti-
cularly those of Asia, it is
probably
too
late
for marginal corrections and the
populist climate no longer
exists with-
in
which such a policy would fit. Where
the capitalist development strategy is
still
maintained there is little latitude
for
effective support of small-scale and
labour-intensive activities.
Moreover,
measures which have so far
been taken
do not appear to be oriented
primarily
towards structural improvement,
but
rather to have originated in the fear
that
the
growing tension among
the
urban
poor might get out of hand. In
addition to attempts to control the in-
flow of new migrants by sealing-off the
major cities, forced outflow is becom-
ing more frequent.
Groups
which are
poorly
housed
and
without steady employment
-
usually
called beggars so as to imply that they
are
'unproductive'
-
are
rounded-up
and deported. The 'hard state'
which
has come into being, as shown
in
many
countries of the third world
during
the
last decade,
indicates
a
policy
under
which at least 30 per cent of the
popu-
lation
will be declared
socially
and
economically superfluous; redundant
also in
the sense that no measures
are
taken which
would allow them
to
lead
a
life of human dignity. The
leaders
of these countries, according to a re-
cent article, have
to face the
follow-
ing choice: to take the part
of
those
who own
the instruments
of eco-
nomic power and to maintain political
stability by repressing the poor
and
their
spokesmen, or to take the
side
of
these rural and urban
population
groups and to bring about an
econo-
mic
system that couples growth with
increasing equality.33 Verbal promises
are
generous, but
when it
comes
to
actual
policy implementation
it
does
not
seem that this second option
is
much favoured.
(To be continued)
Notes
1
For
a
brief
description,
see
Hart
(1973).
2
See,
in
particular,
the
Introduction,
Chapter
13
and
Technical
Paper
No
22
of
this
report:
"Employ-
ment,
Incomes
and
Equality".
3
The
volume
"Indonesian
Econo-
mics"
provides a systematic ela-
boration
of
Boeke's
theory
toge-
ther
with
the
most
important
cri-
tical
comments.
For
a
critical
ap-
praisal,
see
also
Higgins
(1955).
4
Prior
to
this,
dual
labour
market
theories
were
formulated
with
re-
gard
to
major
cities
of
the
USA.
See
Piore
(1973)
and
particularly
Gordon
(1972);
Mok
(1975)
has
examined
the
applicability
of
this
concept
to
the
situation
in
the
Netherlands.
5
Geertz
was
probably
the
first
to
make a
distinction
within
the
ur-
ban
system
subdivided
between
the
firm-oriented
sector
and
the
pa-
sar economy. See also Santos
(1971),
McGee
(1973)
and
Coutsinas
(1975).
6
ILO:
"World
Employment
Pro-
gramme;
Research
in
Retrospect
and
Prospect"
(Geneva,
1976).
7
Gerry
(1974),
1.
8
Oteiza
(1971),
196.
NVithout
using
the
terms
modem
and
traditional,
Sethuraman
gives
a
similar
dis-
tinction
(1976),
10-12.
9
Cf
Leeds
(1969);
Mangin
(1967);
Portes
(1972);
Brett
(1974);
MacEwen
(1964).
10
Bienefeld
(1974),
18-19.
11
Gerry,
90-91.
12
Papanek
(1975),
8-9;
see
also
Friedmann and Sullivan (1974),
398,
note
28;
Papola
(1974),
8;
and
Temple
(1975),
80.
13
Van
den
Muijzenberg
(1973),
Chapter
8
and
Appendix
A;
Bre-
man
(1974),
103-106.
14
Cf
also
Bienefeld
(1975),
20.
A
complicating
factor
is
that
all
members
of
a
household
are
not
necessarily
employed
in
the
same
sector.
In
effect,
this
necessitates
a
choice
in
terms
of
income
levels
or
of
economic
activities
when
elaborating
the
distinction
formal-
informal.
A
combination
of
income
level and
activity
can
cause
con-
tradictions
in
the
operationalisa-
tion of the concept informal sec-
tor.
15
"Employment,
Incomes
and
Equa-
lity",
504.
16
Hart,
66;
McGee,
33;
Bienefeld
(1974),
Introduction,
iii.
17
See
the
papers
by
Pang
Eng
Fong,
Papola
and
Standing
pre-
senting to
the
conference
on
the
urban
labour
market
held in
Ge-
neva
in
1974.
The
more
detail-
ed
outline
given
by
Friedmann
and
Sullivan
(p
388)
seems
to
me
to
be
the
most
successful.
18
McGee
(p
37) refers
to
a
sector
working
paper
of
the
World
Bank:
"Urbanisation"
(1972). Until
re-
cently this used to be the appraisal
of
the
Bank.
XVith
McNamara's
speech
for
the
Board
of
Gover-
1875
This content downloaded from 128.220.8.15 on Tue, 09 Feb 2016 03:19:23 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
8/18/2019 Jan Breman- A Dualistic Labour System?
8/8
November
27, 1976
ECONOMIC
AND
POLITICAL WEEKLY
nors
(1975)
this negative
approach
seems
to have
been
left. The
new
position
which the
Bank has
taken
during the
last few
years
with
regard to
the problems
of
rural and
urban poverty
is
evi-
dence
of a significant
change
of
the Bank's
policy and indicates
an
approach
to the
informal
sector
which at present differs little if
at
all to that of
the
1LO.
See
in
particular
Emmerij
(1974)
for
an
elaboration
of
this
inherent
dis-
advantage approach
as
against
the
structural
disadvantage
concept.
19 See in particular
Inukai (no
date);
also, e g,
McGee (29-30)
and
Pa-
panek,
10.
20
In
addition
to suggestions
in
this
respect made
in the
ILO study on
Kenya, see
the similar
report
ma(le
on the
Philippines,
"Sharing in
Development",
180; also
Weeks
(1975),
'8.
Entrepreneurial
talent,
the
lack
of which
has for
so long
been
seen as one of the most importanit
institutional
obstacles
in a large
part
of economic literature
on
de-
velopment
problems,
suddenlx
seems
to be plentiful.
21 For a
more
detailed analysis,
see
his recent
book
"Underdevelop-
ment
in
Kenya:
The
Political Eco-
nomy
of Neo-Colonialismn"
(Lon-
(Ion,
1975).
22 Gerry,
Chapter VII,
74
ff;
Bose
(1974),
3.33-3.35.
23 Singer and Jolly (1973), 115.
24 Weeks (1975,
100) finishes a cri-
tical reaction to this as follows:
"Such a fundamental shift is un-
likely,
and
it
is
open
to serious
question whether an international
mlission, made up primarily of non-
Kenyans, is at
liberty to sugges'
it, even by
implication."
25 Gerry (p 5)
".. .
it is the rela-
tions between
these different
sys-
tems or
sub-systems of
production
which
determine those phenomena
which will
characterise each of
the
elements of the ensemble, an(d
will lay the
foundations for the
functioning of the whole."
26
Bose,
4.23-4.24:
".....
the
dominat-
in(g
large-scale
oligopolistic sector
compels the small units in the
informal sector to operate in a
different
market where the input
price is
higher and the output
price is lower,
and the main bene-
fit of
the price differential is re-
aped by the
large-scale sector.
It also confirms that those whonm
we often
call
large industrial
houses are, in
effect, commercial
in
nature
and
earn a major part of
their
profit by trading goods pro-
duced by
smaller units. But
des-
pite this
relationship of what
may
be
called exploitation
be-
tween
the
large
and
the
small
units, the latter
can exist,
given
the
present
socio-economic struc-
ture, only when
they can get
the
opportunity of offering
themselves
to
be 'exploited' by the
larger
units."
27 Ibidem, 5.2.
28
For those who,
with me, have
not yet had
the
opportunity
to
read
Wallerstein's recent study:
"The Modern
World-System; Ca-
pitalist Agriculture and the
Ori
gins of the European World-Eco-
nomy in the
Sixteenth
Century",
I recommend his
article in Com-
parative Studies
in Society and
History (1974).
29 Bienefeld
(1975), 54. Alavi, who
holds a similar
position, has deve-
loped this in the concept colonial
mode of
production.
30
In
an
article
regarding
the
rural
system
of
Peru,
Long differen-
tiates between a number of modes
of
production, usinig
as
criteria
the
difference in access to land
for
varying categories
in
the agrarian
structure (see in
particular
pp
265-272). In similar fashion,
but
without here going into further
detail, I would draw a distinction
for
the urban
system
on
grounds
of
difference in access to capital
and
to
the institutions which
are
instrumental in
the use of capital.
31 Miller
(1971), 221;
Mazumdar
(1974), 10; "Sharing in
Deve-
lopment",
177.
32 Friedmann and Sullivan,
401;
Papanek,
14;
Standing,
4.
33 Friedmann
and
Sullivan,
405.
FOREVER
TTHE
SERVICE
f
Services:
OUROUNTR
INDIA-W;
K.
&
TH
CONTINENT
AT
HOME
ABROAD
It.
MDITE-tBACEA
FOAST
INDIA-POLAND
AND INDIANCOS
INDIA
STEAMSHIP
CO.,
LTD.
"INDJA
STEAMSHIP
OUSE",
21, OLD
COURT
HOUSE
ST.,
CALCUTTA1I.
1876
This content downloaded from 128 220 8 15 on Tue 09 Feb 2016 03:19:23 UTC