Williams, C.C., Horodnic, I.A. and Windebank, J. (2015) Explaining participation in the informal economy: An institutional incongruence perspective. International Sociology, 30 (3). pp. 294-313. ISSN 0268-5809
Abstract
Drawing inspiration from institutional theory, a small sub-stream of literature has proposed that participation in the informal economy arises from the lack of alignment of a society’s formal institutions (i.e. its codified laws and regulations) with its informal institutions (i.e. the norms, values and beliefs of its population). To further advance this explanation, this article reports a 2013 Eurobarometer survey involving 27,563 face-to-face interviews across 28 European countries. The finding is that there is a strong association between the degree to which formal and informal institutions are unaligned and participation in the informal economy. The greater is the asymmetry between the formal and informal institutions, the more likely is participation in the informal economy at the individual-, population group- and country-level. A new policy approach for tackling the informal economy which focuses upon reducing this institutional incongruence is then discussed.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 SAGE Publications. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in International Sociology. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | European Union; informal employment; informal sector; institutional theory; undeclared economy |
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 Feb 2015 15:43 |
Last Modified: | 12 Mar 2016 19:08 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0268580915578745 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0268580915578745 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:83589 |