Number Theory: A peek inside India’s informal economy – II

The first part of this story situated India’s informal sector firms in the country’s larger economy, described their basic economic status and also flagged what can only be described as satisfaction despite economic precarity. The second part will use unit level data from AUSUE surveys to show that most of these firms are largely family-run establishments with very little paid employment generation, especially of better quality. While things such as having stayed in the business for a long time do not appear to make a difference to the fortunes of these firms, they do appear to respond to larger state-wise differences in economic situation.