PurposeThis paper evaluates critically the assumption that the main reason for acquiring domestic services from the off-the-books economy is to save money. MethodologyData is reported from an Internet survey of 5,500 people living in households with one or more members in employment in the city...

PurposeUntil now, in the absence of direct survey data, economists have had to rely on indirect methods that employ proxy indicators to evaluate the size of the shadow economy. In this paper, however, the results of the first direct survey of business perceptions of the magnitude of the shadow...

Mirroring the representation of informal workers in a third world context as displaying entrepreneurial qualities, recent years have witnessed the emergence of a similar view of the informal sector in western nations as a hidden enterprise culture. Until now, however, few attempts have been made...

It is now recognized that many entrepreneurs operate wholly or partially in the informal economy. Harnessing this hidden enterprise culture by facilitating its formalization is therefore a potentially effective and innovative means of promoting economic development and growth. To start...

This paper evaluates critically the contrasting theories of the nature of the shadow economy that variously read this sector as a leftover of pre-capitalism, a by-product of a new emergent form of capitalism, a complement to formal employment or an alternative to the formal economy. Until now,...

PurposeAlthough there is emerging an understanding that many entrepreneurs conduct some or all of their transactions off-the-books, there has so far been little attempt to consider what can and should be done about entrepreneurship in the informal economy. The aim of this paper is to bridge this...

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...

This paper investigates the relationship between entrepreneurship and off-the-books work. Until now, although it has been recognised that a share of off-the-books transactions are conducted by nascent entrepreneurs and the established self-employed, few have evaluated what proportion of...