A structural model of heterogeneous agents is built to account for the labor market dynamics of an economy with a large informal sector and to quantify effects of labor market policies on employment, worker flows, savings and welfare in a dual economy. The introduction of unemployment insurance has only a small impact on unemployment but induces a sectoral reallocation of formal labor into informality. Generous severance payments lower the wage of formal jobs and reduce flows from unemployment to formality. In financing expenditures, shifting a tax burden from labor income to consumption increases the size of a formal sector, enhancing productivity and welfare. Economic and welfare consequences of policy reform can significantly differ from those in a single-sector economy due to workers’ incentives to avoid taxes and maximize transfers by moving across sectors.

建立了异质主体的结构模型，以解释具有大量非正规部门的经济体的劳动力市场动态，并量化劳动力市场政策对二元经济中的就业，工人流动，储蓄和福利的影响。失业保险的引入对失业影响很小，但会导致将正式劳动力按部门重新分配到非正规部门。大量的遣散费降低了正式工作的工资，并减少了从失业到正式工作的流动。在财政支出方面，将税收负担从劳动收入转移到消费上，增加了正规部门的规模，提高了生产力和福利水平。