Littlewood, D.C. orcid.org/0000-0001-8994-1293, Rodgers, P. and Williams, C. (2020) Experiences, causes, and measures to tackle institutional incongruence and informal economic activity in South-East Europe. Current Sociology, 68 (7). pp. 950-971. ISSN 0011-3921
Abstract
To explain the prevalence and persistence of informal economic activity globally, scholars have recently advanced an institutional incongruence perspective. Institutional incongruence exists where there is a misalignment between what is considered legitimate by a society’s formal institutions (e.g. its laws and regulations) and its informal institutions (e.g. norms, values and beliefs). Reporting findings from a series of qualitative focus groups in Bulgaria, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, this paper explores relationships between such institutional incongruence and informal economic activity. In particular, it sheds light on how informality and institutional incongruence are experienced by individuals in South-East Europe. It furthermore provides insights on the causes of such incongruence, and how it can lead to informal economic activity. Finally, it reports on individuals’ perceptions towards different measures to tackle institutional incongruence and informal economic activity, with implications for policy makers in South-East Europe and more widely.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2018. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Current Sociology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Institutional Incongruence; Informal Economy; South-East Europe; Institutions; Trust |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 18 May 2018 12:04 |
Last Modified: | 22 Apr 2021 10:19 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0011392118788911 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:130920 |