ABSTRACT
Social and economic restructuring, together with government policies, has resulted in the existence of a large sphere of paid work outside of formal employment. This work has been given a multitude of different names, including the 'black economy', the 'underground sector', 'the subterranean sector', 'hidden work', 'informal employment' and the 'shadow economy' to name but a few (Thomas, 1992; Williams and Windebank, 1998a).1 Despite this array of names, however, there is a strong consensus over its definition. It involves the paid production and sale of goods and services that are unregistered by or hidden from the state for tax, social security and/or labour law purposes but which are legal in all other respects (Commission for the European Communities, 1998; Feige, 1990; Partes, 1994; Thomas, 1992; Williams and Windebank, 1995b, 1998a,b, 2000a,b, 2001a,b). In consequence, this paid informal work covers only activities that are illegal because they are not declared to the state for tax, social security and/or labour law purposes. Activities in which the service and/or good itself are illegal (e.g., prostitution, drug trafficking) are not defined as paid informal work.
