Samenvatting

‘Informal economy’ is a controversial concept defined in many different ways. This is reflected in the amount of synonyms, such as shadow economy, parallel economy, hidden economy, black economy etcetera. On the international level the concept of the informal sector was first used in 1972 by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in its report on a mission to Kenya. The popular view of informal sector activities was that they are primarily those of petty traders, street hawkers, shoeshine boys and other groups ‘underemployed’ on the streets of the big towns. The evidence presented in the report suggested that the bulk of employment in the informal sector, far from being only marginally productive, is economically efficient and profit-making, though small in scale. The informal sector is formed by the coping behaviour of individuals and families in economic environment where earning opportunities are scarce, or where regulation is too complex. The informal sector can also be a product of rational behaviour of entrepreneurs wishing to escape state regulations. There is a relation between welfare (GDP per capita) and relative size of the informal sector. Richer countries have relatively a smaller informal sector. However, government policies and attitudes are important as well. The relative size of the informal sector depends, among other factors, on the ‘regulatory capacity’ and ‘regulatory intent’ of governments. There is little known about the relation between informal and criminal activities. The informal economy seems to be a permanent feature of both high, middle and low income countries. Due to the actual economic crisis, people are pushed from the formal to informal economy. Rapid urbanisation is a factor as well. While the problem of size measuring is not insignificant, most observers agree that the informal economy is large and growing and will be an enduring feature of the economy of mega-cities.