Risk sharing within firms: evidence from urban labour markets in Uganda

Policy brief Feb 2026

This brief reports findings from a study of small urban firms in Kampala (Uganda), examining how risk is shared between firms and workers and how these arrangements shape wage employment, firm growth, and self-employment transitions.

Workers at small urban firms bear a disproportionate amount of firm-level risk. Their earnings fall sharply when demand drops, while firms capture the gains when demand rises.