This report aims to deepen our understanding of informality of work and employment outcomes in Latin American and Caribbean labor markets, focusing on the interplay between personal income taxation, social protection policies and consequently firm and workers’ incentives to (in)formalize agreements. The report introduces a new analytical framework that centers on individual worker decisions, based on the value workers ascribe to present and future (contingent) benefits as compared with their costs, alongside negotiations with employers shaped by labor market competitiveness. The report provides a detailed mapping of taxes and benefits, which supports empirical analysis to identify and quantify incentives for (in)formal employment and to simulate how reforms to policies and programs affect these incentives. This analysis underpins recommendations to improve the incentives to formalize employment and participate in personal income tax and social protection systems across LAC countries.
| Repository name | URI | 
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org | 
Paper exhibits were reproduced in one computer with the following specifications:
• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
• Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1145G7 CPU @ 2.60GHz
• Memory available: 15.7 GB
• Software version: Stata version 18 MP
~20 minutes runtime
To reproduce the findings in this study, please follow the steps below:
main do file to your local setup so they match the directory where the data is stored.main do file.Because obtaining access to all required datasets will be very difficult for most users, this reproducibility package includes the outputs generated by the replicators:
Results/ folder.  Some data is restricted and has not been included in the reproducibility package. For more details, please refer to the README file.
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Truman Packard | World Bank | tpackard@worldbank.org | 
| Katharina Fietz | World Bank | kfietz@worldbank.org | 
| Josefina Posadas | World Bank | jposadas@worldbank.org | 
| Hugo Ñopo | World Bank | hnopoaguilar@worldbank.org | 
| Clement Joubert | World Bank | cjoubert@worldbank.org | 
| Alberto Ocampo | World Bank | aocampoarellano@worldbank.org | 
| Lourdes Rodriguez | World Bank | lrchamussy@worldbank.org | 
2025-08-11
| Location | Code | 
|---|---|
| Latin America | LAC | 
The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.
| Name | URI | 
|---|---|
| Modified BSD3 | https://opensource.org/license/bsd-3-clause/ | 
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Truman Packard | World Bank | tpackard@worldbank.org | 
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org | 
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DIME | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata | 
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