07.08.2022

This study is produced by EuroMeSCo, it aims to investigate the role of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in the process of job creation and formalisation of the informal economy, an issue that has not
been tackled to date and is worth considering for three main reasons:

(1) the informal economy is lagging behind in terms of value-added, fiscal receipts and social protection
of informal workers; hence, formalisation would design a virtuous circle.

(2) there is untapped potential in the labour force as regards youths, who are deeply involved in the
informal economy, large unemployment of young graduates and very weak female participation in the labour market.

(3) risk sharing in the SSE is akin to the joint liability scheme of the microfinance industry and should be appealing to Islamic cultural patterns.

The study is focused upon widespread youth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region facing high unemployment rates and mismatch between labour supply and demand to promote the creation of start-up businesses with incentives in order for these to formalise (i.e. register). The issue is building ecosystems friendly to the SSE, expanding the size of business and employment thanks to partnership and the establishment of cooperatives, with the help of the microfinance institutions (MFIs).

About EuroMeSCo:

EuroMeSCo is the main network of research centres and think tanks in the Euro-Mediterranean area. Founded in 1996, in the aftermath of the Barcelona Declaration, the network currently comprises 115 institutes from 30 European and Southern Mediterranean countries.