thank You Colin for starting this interesting topic!

In my research I deal with problems of development of small business in different institutional enviroments and investigate why enterpreneurs may choose "unproductive" opportunistic behavior (going into shadow economy, working in corruption, etc).

To do this I analyze different informal and formal rules "of the game" (new institutional theory), trajectory of past development, legal origins, national cultures to define major driving forces mooving business into unproductive behaviour from point of view of national economic development.

Also I conducted surveys of enterpreneurs in different countries which helps in analizing this questions.

Currently I am engaged in research similar to informal economy. My interest is informal institutions which would be the most influential factor in informal economies. More over, very interesting articles have been written by Fogel at al., (2006).

However, collecting reliable data in developing and transition economies is challenging. As a result conclusion drawn from such studies may questionable.

Further, In many developing countries informal economy is more important than the formal economy. Some countries use formal economy to camouflage the informal economy. Unfortunately research in this aspect are very few but it need a different research approach. Traditional survey method will not be helpful since very nature of informal economy does not allow researchers to collect data. Please refer Fadahunsi, A. and Rosa, P. (2002) for such an attempt.

Dear Colin,

I am looking at somewhat similar question, but my focus is more narrow.

I examine neoliberal argument versus what you call political economy thesis, which I elaborate based on Polanyi's theory on capitalist society and different transactional integrative modes (reciprocity, redistribution and market). I argue that explanatory power of neoliberal argument (which also is essentially new- institutionalist argument on informality) is limited as: firstly, it assumes universality of 'economic man', thus underplays the importance of non-economic motivations and social embededdness of informal economy. Secondly, this argument concentrates only on the regulations that enable market functioning, but dismisses the regulations that protect society versus the loses and insecurities that is imposed by advancement of markets. Primarily in the cases when informal economic practices are articulated as a direct response to the process of marketization, it is hard to imagine that further deregulation and withdrawal of the state will reduce prevalence and importance of informality.

I try to demonstrate this argument based on theory driven review of existing literature on informal economic practices and institutions in post-socialist states, and later I focus on my own ethnographic material on illegal vendors and petty traders in Georgia. Georgia is an interesting example as since the Rose Revolution the government implemented radical and quite successful neo-liberal reforms. The spread/size of informal economy reduced, but the performance of petty traders as well as small and medium businesses deteriorated.

Because my research is limited in scope, I am looking forward to see the results of your study, and see the merit of these competing explanations based on cross-country analysis.

Dear Colin,

I am currently investigating - in the larger frame of a labour regulation in SMEs national survey (www.regsmes.eu) - the link between informal employment and SMEs, in particular in the South of Italy.

The main idea is to investigate the labour regulation in SMEs in a context of informal economy (South of Italy).

At the same time I am studying the peculiar case of "confiscated firms " and their transition from the organized crime property to a legal managing. These firms are not criminals (they produce legal goods and services), but the property was held by the organized crime.

In this case, the transition is originated from a legitimate state intervention, and 95% of these firms go to bankrupt just after the confiscation.

A part of these firms is located in the South (Sicily and Campania), but the third area with more firms confiscated is Lombardy. Which factors most affect their performances? Is it just a problem of management (and state regulation), or even the result of a reaction of customers and suppliers?

Thank you for this topic!

I am wrestling with describing the distinction between informal and underground economies, and articulating those distinctions and the extent to which they exist through empirical case studies. Right now I am involved in a collaborative research project that focuses on the metal scrapping industry and "scrappers" in Detroit.  

Dear David

I think that most distinctions are distinctions constructed by academic researchers to make their job more manageable rather than distinctions that hold tightly and securely in lived practice. There are always blurred boundaries. It is more the fact that we are following the traditionally Cartesian mechanistic approach of breaking the world up into its basic building blocks in order to understand it, but the world is not easily divisable into such discrete basic building blocks.  In lived practice, activities merge with each other and inter-related in complex ways. In sum, you are not alone in struggling with articulating distinctions. The empirical research project sounds interesting though on the scrap metal industry in Detroit. That will be fascinating to read when you eventually do it.

Colin

Dear Sir (Collin),

The political economy thesis you mentioned 'thirdly, the political economy thesis that the informal economy is a by-product of too little intervention in work and welfare regimes and that state interventions in the labour market and social protection is required'.

The above thesis may applicable to Countries where such interventions are  minimum.  However, majority of countries in Asia is on the other side. Too much of political intervention.  For example,to get  a child admitted to good school, need political influence. As a result informal activities emerge either to get political influence or get into politics only to engage in informal/illegal  activities since politicians get state protection.  

Then your political economy hypothesis has to be refined or to confine to case studies where hypothesis fits (theoretical sampling). Therefore the thesis has to be refined to include both extremes: situations of too little intervention as well as situation of too much intervention.  both extremes give rise to informal activities.

Upananda (waymba University, Sri Lanka)

I am more than sympathetic of the view that ideas are not relevant in some contexts. However, the debate here is about political viewpoints I am afraid rather than tailoring solutions to particular contexts. For political economists, the problem of the informal economy is that there is too little social protection. Indeed, it might be asserted that the informal economy is not even the problem that needs to be resolved to tackle poverty. Rather, the problem is that there is simply too little social protection. What you argue is more akin to  neo-liberal or modernisation viewpoint that there is too much intervention, especially corruption. For me personlly, there is no doubt that the political economy thesis needs to incorporate this facet of development and that is why i have often argued for the adoption of a 'neo-modernisation' thesis which adds this facet to the tenets of the political economy thesis when explaining participation in the informal economy. So yes, I agree with your viewpoint. 

Indeed, the existence of guanxi, blat, wasta, pulling strings, etc I see as a very important component of the study of informality in general, and a topic that has been much under-researched in the context of studying informality.

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your candid opinion which is essential to uncover the truth which may expressed in different forms.  I believe that Baumol's (1990) argument on distribution of productive and unproductive entrepreneurship may enhance your argument. Because, entrepreneurship is the process which yield profit.  

Upananda (Sri Lanka)

Dear Upananda

The relevance of  institutional theory is central to understanding the informal economy and also contextualising the issues that you noted earlier. Such problems result in an asymmetry between the formal and informal institutions in a society which is the driving force behind the decision to operate in the informal economy.

colin

To see the key issues in Europe at the moment, please find attached the Newsletters of the European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work, which provide a useful summary of the key topics and research issues currently being addressed by European governments in relation to tackling undeclared work. 

I am currently doing a research and writing a paper on the relationship of the persistence of optical disc piracy and the prevalence of optical disc retail piracy in the Philippines.This dimension is often overlooked in most law-enforcement oriented research concerning the problem of copyright piracy in developing countries. Thanks for providing this question, Sir!

Thanks, Sir, for the recommendation. The Philippines, like other ASEAN countries, except Singapore, has a high level of informal economy, as the country is moving towards industrialization. Media piracy in relation to Muslim migration in Mindanao due to ongoing war is a least-researched and understood area of study on the informal sector. Cheers!

Thanks again, Sir, for your second recommendation. I am greatly honored. It would be my pleasure to assist in case you intend to do some research on the informal sector in the Philippines. Warm regards from Manila and best wishes!

I am currently researching the informal economy in the agricultural sector and how to formalise the informal economy in the agricultural sector. The ILO for instance exclude this sector when calculating the size of the informal economy. Do you know of any research on the informal economy in the agricultural sector and how it can be tackled?

Is not easy to analyse the state of formailty in the agricultural sector. First of all, the number of workers is variable between seasons, the same in terms of income (in special in the "micro" units). My question is, what is the gain for the economy of the formaliation of agricultural units? More taxes? I have a big doubt about that.

I am researching about information security economics. Please guide me with new trends about this topic.

Проблема формализации экономики сельскохозяйственного производства, особенно растениеводства, лежит в плоскости учета выращенной продукции. Пока урожай находится на поле, его учет ведется по затратам, понесенным в процесе его выращивания. Приходование полученного (выращеного в количественном измерении) производится непосредственно при доставке урожая к месту хранения или дальнейшей обработки (переработки). Именно на этом пути возможное распределение на формальную и неформальную (теневую) составляющую. Исследования в этом направлении имеют значение на уровне сельскохозяйственных предприятий (оценка работы для руководства и учредителей) и на уровне государственных органов (продовольственно-фуражный баланс, налогообложение).

TRANSLATION OF ABOVE. The problem of formalizing the economy of agricultural production, especially crop production, lies in the plane of accounting for the grown produce. While the harvest is on the field, its accounting is conducted on the costs incurred in the process of its cultivation. The receipt of the received (grown in quantitative measurement) is made directly at the delivery of the crop to the place of storage or further processing (processing). It is on this path that the possible distribution of the formal and informal (shadow) component. Research in this direction is important at the level of agricultural enterprises (assessment of work for management and founders) and at the level of state bodies (food and feed balance, taxation).

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Sir Colin C Williams , I am also working on informal sectors in Pakistan Economy.The informal economy in Pakistan is large where the informal sector accounts for more than 73.3 per cent of the employment in main jobs outside agriculture, more in rural than in urban areas. The informal sector has shown increase in its employment over the years year. The key sector of employment in the informal economy agriculture and other major sectors include wholesale & retail trade manufacturing, community/social and personal services, construction and transport.

I am researching on informal payments of the patients in Greece, due to my PhD Dissertation in University of Piraeus. I was wondering what do I have to focus on in order to construct the appropriate model for my research?

P.S. I have already the sample of the patients which is about 4,218 households...

doing research non informal housing with emphasis on risk, security and impacts arising from climate change. Welcome to exchange ideas....

https://www.usp.ac.fj/index.php?id=22667

I think with the rise of emerging economies and the trend towards "reverse innovation" the cultural economy and the kinds of innovation within it is quite interesting:

Article Adopting knowledge from reverse innovations? Transnational p...

Dear Professor,

I have prepared a very new ideas about informal sectors which is not only in micro-economic level but also the macro- one. I wonder whether your project or concern is still available. If you find it interest please let me have a chance to discuss with you. (I do have several data sources)

Thank you for your interests,

Bringing your best wishes and happiness,

Sincerely yours,

Kien.

Feel free to share your ideas with everybody on informal sector at the micro- and macro-level. I personally always work on the informal economy

Dear Professor Colin C Williams ,

In fact, I propose the theoretical framework of Nash equilibrium condition and production function that can predict the probability of informalization which means the micro-level estimation. Then, I will embed this structural movements into the growth pattern of shadow economy (which is the macro-level) by using an inclusive systematic model.

Thank you for your interests,

Bringing your best wishes and happiness,

Sincerely yours,

Kien.

Together with my colleagues at University of Antwerp, I am looking into the ways in which informal gold mining is functionally integrated into the global gold production system? Put differently: what is the logic of informality in gold mining. In line with dualist and legalist/neoliberal views, it is often seen as either a 'subsistence safety net' or as a consequence of exlusion from the formal mining economy (which is dominated by large mining companies). Instead, we argue that the massive expansion of informal gold mining (which now employs 20mio+ and produces 20%+ of global gold) responds to several structural challenges facing global gold mining, notably increased resistance, scarce reserves, and rising costs (by relying on informal labor). We'll have a book coming out soon that details these arguments: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030384852

I am currently undertaking a research on 'Assessment of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the war against corruption in Nigeria with particular emphasis on President Bihari's regime'. The findings of study of this nature will go along way to assist both public and private sector organizations to operate successfully in Nigerian economy with minimal or no frauds from unscrupulous elements that roam around to seek businesses to defraud or devour.

Verifiable information on the extent Nigerian EFCC has helped to reduce money laundering, advance fee fraud and outright embezzlement of public funds are welcome to assist me to come up with worthwhile results.

Dear Professor Williams,

I am currently researching a PhD Dissertation about informal patients payment in greek health care system!!! Our findings are published in our paper titled " Informal out-of-pocket payments for healthcare services in Greece". One more paper was published in May 2019 titled " Shadow Economy: Definitions, terms & theoretical considerations". Two other more paper are in progress...

Furthermore, I am interesting in papers about cybercrime about illicit drugs via dark net, smuggling, money laundering, digital shadow economy and do - it - yourself activities in agricultural sector....

My current research agenda revolves around the macroeconomic and policy implications of informal activities and markets. For this, I (together with my coauthors) construct dynamic general equilibrium models that are calibrated to specific economies (mainly developing countries). Most of these models involve heterogeneous agents and uncertainty of some sort (either aggregate or idiosyncratic).

impact of COVID-19 on state revenue and the peredictios of revenue assuming the continuation of the shock or pandemic.