It is widely assumed that informal sector enterprises have a harmful impact on the performance of formal enterprises. This paper aims to provide an evidence-based evaluation of whether this is the case. To do so, it reports World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data collected from 360 formal enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019. The finding is that formal enterprises viewing informal competition as a severe obstacle do not witness significantly lower sales growth, employment growth or productivity growth. Indeed, such enterprises witness significantly higher sales growth than those who do not view informal sector competitors as a severe obstacle. The theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

中文翻译：

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评估非正规部门竞争对手对正规企业绩效的影响：来自波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的证据

人们普遍认为，非正规部门企业对正规企业的业绩产生有害影响。本文旨在提供基于证据的评估是否属于这种情况。为此，它报告了 2019 年从波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那的 360 家正规企业收集的世界银行企业调查 (WBES) 数据。调查结果是，将非正规竞争视为严重障碍的正规企业并未出现销售增长、就业增长或生产力增长。事实上，这些企业的销售额增长明显高于那些不将非正规部门竞争对手视为严重障碍的企业。讨论了理论和政策影响。