Completed Project

Informal Taxation and Gender in the Informal Economy in Accra

This project seeks to explore the prevalence and gendered nature of informal taxation in Accra, Ghana, while also addressing the scarcity of systematic data on these issues through novel data collection that relies on a mixed methods approach, close local partnerships and a new sampling frame. This will enable the research team to answer key questions around the prevalence of informal taxation in a major urban setting that rely on their ability to disaggregate commonly overlapping factors such as gender and sector.
At the same time, it will create a novel data set and sampling frame in a context where systematic information on this topic is extremely scarce and provide the empirical framework for future research in this area. This research project is designed as a collaboration between the ICTD, Women in Informal Economies Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO) and the University of Ghana/Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research.

Researchers

Max Gallien

Max Gallien is a Research Fellow at ICTD. His research specialises in the politics of informal and illegal economies, the political economy of the Middle East and North Africa and development politics. He completed his PhD at the London School of Economics. Max co-leads the informality and taxation programme with Vanessa, as well as the ICTD’s capacity building programme.

Nana Akua Anyidoho

Nana is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and the Director of the Centre for Social Policy Studies (CSPS), both at the University of Ghana. Her research areas focus on social policy and social development.

Vanessa van den Boogaard

Vanessa van den Boogaard is a Research Fellow at ICTD and a Senior Research Associate at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. She completed her PhD thesis on informal revenue generation and statebuilding in Sierra Leone, and has ongoing research on the topic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, and Somalia. Vanessa co-leads ICTD's research programme on informality and tax.

Michael Rogan

Michael Rogan is a Research Associate in WIEGO’s Urban Policies Programme. His work centres on statistical analyses of earnings and status in employment in the informal economy, and he leads WIEGO’s research on taxation in the informal economy. Based at Rhodes University in South Africa, Michael works in the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics & Economic History. He holds a BA in international studies from the University of Washington in Seattle and an MA and PhD in development studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
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