MEI impacta informalidade? Saiba o que diz a ciência!

Has the MEI (Individual Microentrepreneur) reduced informality? Two studies published in leading international journals tested this using administrative data and impact assessment. The result: the MEI brings people into the formal business system, but formalized firms do not grow or increase revenue, and the program spends 2.56 times more than it collects. The value lies in social protection, not productivity. Confusing the two is the most common mistake in the debate. REFERENCES Rocha, Ulyssea and Rachter (2018), Journal of Development Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.201... Farias and Hsu Rocha (2026), Journal of Public Economics (forthcoming). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science... renanpieri.com.br #MEI #Economy #Informality