REVISITING INFORMAL EMPLOYMENT THROUGH THE LENS OF INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION AND EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION: NEW GENDER-BASED EVIDENCE FROM TURKIYE

Serving both as a passageway and a host country, Türkiye has emerged as a major hub in global migration movements, particularly for migrants originating from the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. This situation has also brought about various problems in the domestic labour market, particularly informal employment. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of the gender-specific determinants of informal employment in Türkiye for the period 2000-23, emphasizing the dynamic roles of migration, gender inequality, and employment protection legislation. Utilizing the Fractional Fourier AutoRegressive Distributed Lag (FA-ARDL) model with interaction terms, the research distinguishes between male and female informal employment rates, allowing for the examination of heterogeneous effects across genders. The empirical results demonstrate that both migration and gender inequality significantly contribute to the prevalence of informal employment. Furthermore, employment protection legislation is found to moderate these effects, particularly through its interaction with migrant labour participation, indicating a complex interplay between regulatory frameworks and labour market dynamics. Granger causality tests provide evidence of both short- and long-term causal relationships, highlighting the evolving and multifaceted nature of labour market informality in Türkiye. These findings underscore the importance of integrated policy measures that address migration, gender disparities, and employment protection simultaneously to effectively reduce informality and promote equitable labour market outcomes.