ABSTRACT
The informal economy refers to the paid production and sale of goods and services which are unregistered by, or hidden from, the state for tax and/or benefit purposes but which may still be legal in all other respects (European Commission, 1998; Portes, 1994; Thomas, 1992; Williams and Windebank, 1998). As such, the informal economy includes only paid work that is illegal because of its non-declaration to the state for tax and/or social security purposes. Paid work in which the good and/or service itself is illegal (e.g. drug trafficking) is thus considered unpaid work (Williams, 2007).
