Informal Employment in Advanced Economies: Implications for Work and Welfare

Informal Employment in Advanced Economieschallenges many of the popular myths surrounding informal economic activities. This book tackles the popular belief that informal employment is growing throughout the advanced economies; it challenges the myth that this work is undertaken mostly by marginalized groups such as the unemployed, poor and immigrants; it evaluates the dominant view that we should replace informal with formal employment through enforcement of stringent laws and regulations. Examining policy options and their consequences, the authors show that conventional regulatory and deregulatory approaches merely exacerbate inequalities and a radical alternative solution, grounded in a "new economics" vision of the future of work and welfare is essential.

Colin C. Williams is a Senior Lecturer in Economic Geography at the University of Leicester. Jan Windebank is a Senior Lecturer in French Studies at the University of Sheffield.