Explaining Participation in Undeclared Work

Williams, Colin C.; Round, John

doi:10.1080/14616691003716910

Cited by 34 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Similarly, one can find in this study the evidence for both social as well as economic determinants of the informal economy. In consequence, and as also argued by Williams and Round (2010) and Williams (2010), the mutually exclusive character of the structuralist, neo-liberal and post-structuralist theories is strongly contested, with of course the neo-liberal theory explaining the bulk of the Pakistani informal economy. On the whole, all these theorisations are found to be coexisting within the given context, each describing a different percentage of informal work conducted by Pakistani immigrants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the participation of an ethnic minority group in informal employment: a product of exit or exclusion?

Shahid

Rodgers

Williams

2017

Review of Social Economy

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This paper critically evaluates competing explanations for the participation of ethnic minority groups in informal employment. These interpret their participation either through a structuralist lens arising out of 'exclusion' from formal employment or through a neo-liberal and/or post-structuralist lens driven by voluntary 'exit' from formal institutions. To evaluate critically these competing explanations, this paper reports a survey of the experiences of Pakistani immigrants in informal employment in Sheffield, including fifty face-to-face interviews and two focus groups. The findings highlight informal employment amongst this Pakistani ethnic minority group is neither universally driven by exclusion nor exit. Instead, some participate mostly due to exclusion, others mostly for exit rationales and some for a combination of the two, with different mixtures across different groups and types of informal employment. The outcome is a call for greater appreciation of the multifarious character of undeclared work and a move beyond simplistic explanations and policy responses.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the participation of an ethnic minority group in informal employment: a product of exit or exclusion?

Shahid

Rodgers

Williams

2017

Review of Social Economy

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“…It has been contested for instance that the political economy perspective explains the informal economy in relatively deprived population groups and neo-liberal perspective in relatively affluent population groups (Gurtoo and Williams, 2009;Williams and Round, 2010;, that neo-liberal explanations are more relevant to developed economies and political economy explanations to developing economies (Oviedo et al, 2009) and that women are driven more by political economy exclusion motives and men more by neo-liberal voluntary exit motives (Franck, 2012;Grant, 2013;Williams, 2011).…”

Section: Evaluations Of the Rival Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining the Informal Economy: an Exploratory Evaluation of Competing Perspectives

Williams

2016

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Tous droits réservés © Département des relations industrielles de l'Université Laval, 2015Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne.https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit.Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l'Université de Montréal, l'Université Laval et l'Université du Québec à Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. Résumé de l'article Le but de cet article est de procéder à une analyse exploratoire des conjonctures économiques et sociales générales associées aux grandes économies informelles. À cette fin, trois perspectives concurrentielles font l'objet d'une évaluation critique qui confirme, à maints égards, que les variations observées d'un pays à l'autre quant à la taille de l'économie informelle sont associées aux facteurs suivants : 1-le sous-développement (perspective de modernisation); 2-une taxation élevée, corruption et ingérence de l'État (perspective néolibérale); ou 3-une intervention étatique inadéquate pour protéger les travailleurs (perspective d'économie politique). En analysant la taille variable de l'économie informelle dans 33 économies développées et en transition, soit 28 pays européens et cinq autres pays membres de l'OCDE (Australie, Canada, Japon, Nouvelle-zélande et États-Unis), l'auteur arrive à la conclusion que les grandes économies informelles sont associées au sous-développement, lequel est mesuré en fonction de plusieurs facteurs : niveaux inférieurs de rNB par habitant; taux de participation à l'emploi; salaires moyens; force et qualité institutionnelle de la bureaucratie; taux élevés de corruption perçue au sein de la fonction publique; faibles niveaux de dépenses au chapitre de la protection sociale; et intervention du marché du travail pour protéger les groupes vulnérables, mais, également, recours restreint à des contrats de travail temporaires et des affectations temporaires. Au final, cette analyse est un encouragement à combiner les facteurs associés à ces trois perspectives pour en arriver à une compréhension plus nuancée et plus fine de la mesure dans laquelle les variations transnationales de la taille de l'économie informelle sont associées à des conjonctures socioéconomiques plus générales. En conclusion, l'auteur s'interroge sur les implications de cet exercice sur la théorie et la politique, et il souligne la nécessité de pousser plus loin l'analyse des différents impacts qu'aurait, sur la taille de l'économie informelle, une gamme plus large d'indicateurs de modernisation, de corruption, de taxation et de types d'intervention étatique. Explaining the Informal Economy: an Exploratory Evaluation of Competing PerspectivesColin C. Williams this paper evaluates critically whether the cross-national variations in the size of the informal economy are the result of: under-...

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“…For instance, the political economy theory has been argued to be more relevant to explaining work in the shadow economy among relatively deprived populations and neo-liberal theory to relatively affluent populations (Evans et al 2006;Gurtoo and Williams 2009;Williams and Round 2010;, that neoliberal exit motives are more common amongst populations in developed economies and political economy exclusion motives among populations in developing countries (Oviedo et al 2009) and that women are driven more by political economy exclusion rationales and men more by neo-liberal voluntary exit rationales (Franck 2012;Grant 2013;Williams 2011). …”

Section: Previous Evaluations Of the Rival Explanationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining Cross-national Variations in the Size of the Shadow Economy in Central and Eastern Europe

Williams¹

2014

Debatte: Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe

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Cross-national variations in the size of the shadow economy have been variously explained to be a result of: economic under-development (modernization theory); high taxes, public sector corruption and state interference in the free market (neoliberal theory) or inadequate levels of state intervention to protect workers (political economy theory). The aim of this paper is to start to evaluate critically these competing theories by comparing cross-national variations in the size of the shadow economy with the various aspects of the broader economic and social environment denoted as determinants of the shadow economy in each of the theories. The finding is that across Central and Eastern Europe, smaller shadow economies prevail in wealthier, more modern and equal societies and countries with higher levels of social protection expenditure, greater state intervention in the labour market, more effective social transfers and lower levels of poverty. No evidence is therefore found to support the neo-liberal suggestion that decreasing tax rates, de-regulating the economy and cutting back work and welfare expenditure by the state will reduce the shadow economy. The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and policy implications of the findings.2

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Explaining Participation in Undeclared Work

Cited by 34 publications

References 46 publications

Evaluating the participation of an ethnic minority group in informal employment: a product of exit or exclusion?

Evaluating the participation of an ethnic minority group in informal employment: a product of exit or exclusion?

Explaining the Informal Economy: an Exploratory Evaluation of Competing Perspectives

Explaining Cross-national Variations in the Size of the Shadow Economy in Central and Eastern Europe

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