Explaining participation in undeclared work

• Published in: European societies Vol. 12; no. 3; pp. 391 - 418
• Main Authors: Williams, Colin, Round, John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.07.2010
• Subjects: Economic integration; Informal groups; Informal sector; Labour policy; Russia; Russian Federation; Social integration; Working conditions
• ISSN: 1461-6696
• DOI: 10.1080/14616691003716910

This paper evaluates critically competing explanations for participation in undeclared work that either read engagement through a structuralist lens as driven by 'exclusion' from state benefits and the circuits of the modern economy or through a neo-liberal and/or post-structuralist lens as driven by the voluntary 'exit' of workers out of formal institutions. Reporting a 2005/6 household work practices survey involving 313 face-to-face interviews in contemporary Moscow, the finding is that there is no single unique logic underpinning undeclared work in this post-Soviet city; such work is neither universally driven by exclusion nor exit. Different mixtures of the two prevail across different populations and forms of undeclared work. The outcome is a call for greater appreciation of the multifarious character of undeclared work and a move beyond simplistic explanations and policy responses. Reprinted by permission of Routledge, Taylor and Francis Ltd.