ABSTRACT

This chapter draws on research from an Indo-British scientific project on Resources, Greenhouse Gases, Technology and Jobs in India's Informal Economy'. It discusses the informal economy is a primary source of innovation. The terms innovation' and informal economy' are typical of contemporary social science in generating a repertoire of fuzzy concepts' ones with multiple meanings and many associated thematic subfields. While the concept of the informal economy is of lasting value in drawing attention to the limits to existing regulative law, it must not be considered as a blanket category. Beyond the state's reach, informal economic activity is regulated either as though the law was being enforced, through authority based on identity, or through decisions of business associations. The informal economy is still deeply embedded in institutions of identity, and their intersection affects agency and innovation.