The Informal Economy There are two types of economies in the world, the formal and informal. Activities that have market value and would add to GDP or tax revenue if they were recorded define the informal economy (Delechat & Medina, 2020). Around the world, the informal economy employs more than 60 percent of the world’s employed population (International Labor Office, (ILO) 2018). The informal sector is found in all economies but may be more prevalent in developing countries. The artisan sector is usually a part of the informal economy because most artisans do work on their own and sell their items in local markets. My project and research seek to investigate how the artisan sector is being used to weave broken communities together and, more specifically, how artisan cooperatives are being used to help empower one of the most marginalized groups worldwide... women. Around two billion workers worldwide spend part of their time employed in the informal sector (Delechat & Medina