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A Critical Evaluation of Competing Conceptualizations of Informal Employment: Some Lessons from England

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  • Colin Williams

Abstract

This paper evaluates critically the validity of the competing conceptualizations of informal employment that variously read such work as a leftover of a previous mode of production, a by-product of, alternative or complement to formal employment. Until now, the common tendency has been for commentators to universally privilege one conceptualization over the others. Reporting data collected through 861 face-to-face interviews in 11 deprived and affluent urban and rural English localities, the finding is that each conceptualization is a valid portrayal of particular types of informal employment, and that only by combining and using them all is it possible to achieve a finer-grained and comprehensive understanding of the complex and diverse nature of informal employment as a whole. The paper concludes by discussing the implications for both the way in which informal employment is conceptualized as well as how it is tackled by governments.

Suggested Citation

  • Colin Williams, 2011. "A Critical Evaluation of Competing Conceptualizations of Informal Employment: Some Lessons from England," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 69(2), pages 211-237.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rsocec:v:69:y:2011:i:2:p:211-237
    DOI: 10.1080/00346764.2010.502829
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Guillermo E. Perry & William F. Maloney & Omar S. Arias & Pablo Fajnzylber & Andrew D. Mason & Jaime Saavedra-Chanduvi, 2007. "Informality : Exit and Exclusion," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6730.
    2. Colin C. Williams, 2006. "The Hidden Enterprise Culture," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3948.
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    Cited by:

    1. Schneider, Friedrich, 2012. "The Shadow Economy and Work in the Shadow: What Do We (Not) Know?," IZA Discussion Papers 6423, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Hasan Yuksel, 2021. "An Investigation on the Link between International Labor Migration and Undocumented Employment: Evidence from Turkish Cinema," Journal of Economy Culture and Society, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 64(64), pages 21-46, December.
    3. Friedrich Schneider, 2013. "Work in the Shadow: Some Facts," Economics working papers 2013-18, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.

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