On Redefining the Urban Informal Manufacturing Sector: A Study of Micro Businesses, Petty Producer Units and Small Capitalist Producer Firms in Sambalpur, Orissa

Abstract

In this paper the author has tried to redefine the concept of the informal manufacturing sector (IMS) based on two surveys done in 1985 and 1994 in Sambalpur, Orissa. In the benchmark study (1985), size of the unit was used as the first-order condition for demarcating the informal sector, while all the other characteristics were taken as second-order conditions. In the follow-up study, the existing units were classified into three groups using the labour composition establishment approach. It was concluded that irrespective of size, the IMS includes (a) micro businesses, (b) petty producer units, and (c) small capitalist producer units involving unprotected wage work and operating in an unprotected economic environment.