Page 72 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.81, # 2, 2024, pp. 60-83

Correlation between the Informal Economy and Informal Employment in
Algeria for the Period 1993-2020
The results of Pearson's correlation coefficient calculation between the variables of
self-employment and the informal economy (see table 05) show that the coefficient is
estimated at 0.97, which is significant at the 0.01 significance level. This confirms a
very strong and positive relationship between self-employment in Algeria and the
informal economy. The explanation for this relationship is that many self-employed
workers in Algeria operate outside the formal framework, meaning that the large
proportion of this category in total employment directly impacts the informal
economy rates. Statistics from (National Office of Statistics, 2016) show high rates of
non-affiliation of self-employed professionals, artisans, and skilled trades people in
the industry to the Algerian National Social Security Fund. This contributes to the
high proportion of self-employed workers in the informal employment sector in
Algeria, which in turn increases the share of the informal economy.

Table (05): Pearson's correlation coefficient between the informal economy and
informal employment in Algeria for the period 1993-2020
Correlations
Informal Economy Self-employment
**
Pearson Correlation 1 ,977
Informal
Economy Sig. (2-tailed) <,001
N 28 28
Pearson Correlation ,977 1
**
Self- Sig. (2-tailed) <,001
employment
N 28 28
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Source: Prepared by the researcher based on SPSS.29 outputs.
The reality of freelancing in Algeria
Although freelancing is considered a form of self-employment and falls within the
second category of it (self-employed individuals), its value is not reflected in the
official data on self-employment in Algeria due to the lack of accurate data on the
dimensions and characteristics of the freelance community in the country.

Algerian freelancers showcase their skills through local, regional, and even well-
known international platforms across various fields and specializations. A large
portion of these skills is related to the state's new directions regarding digitization and
the development of knowledge-based economies. In this part of the paper, we aim to
highlight the key trends and skills of Algerian freelancers presented on specialized
electronic platforms through the studied sample of freelancers.

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