Chronic Stress as a Hidden Development Cost of Informal Employment: Evidence from Urban South Asia

This thesis examines informal employment in urban South Asia through a psychological and human-centred development lens. It argues that chronic stress and emotional fatigue are hidden but consequential costs of informal work, shaping workers’ health, productivity, and capacity to invest in human capital over time. Using a mixed-methods design combining surveys, daily diaries, and qualitative interviews, the study shows how labour insecurity generates stress-mediated constraints on development outcomes.