Project description

More than half of the global workforce have their main employment in the informal economy, displaying that this is a major sphere of production and consumption across the world. Therefore, to omit to study the actors` behaviour in this large and extensive realm is to ignore a major source of the goods and services consumed in the world and an important facet of contemporary consumer culture. Despite the important share of the informal exchange of goods and services in both, developing and developed countries, little is known so far about the behaviour of the actors on this market. Furthermore, the vast majority of studies on the informal economy have adopted a supply-side perspective focusing upon those working in the informal economy, examining the type of work that they undertake, their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, or, with a lower prevalence, the motives for working in this realm. Much less attention has been paid to the consumer of the goods and services from the informal markets (i.e., demand-side). Considering that many exchanges in the informal economy are initiated by those employing such labour, exemplified by consumers asking ‘how much for cash?’, the project aim is to start filling the gap in the literature on the demand of undeclared goods and services. We propose a novel approach drawing from the neo-institutional theoretical perspective according to which individuals` behaviour is shaped by the institutional environment they are embedded in, defined by three pillars namely, the regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive pillars. A mix-method approach is employed including secondary data and primary data collected via in-depth interviews and a national survey. Understanding whether the customer decision is mainly influenced by a certain pillar (e.g., normative pressure to conform to wider societal expectations) will open new research directions and will provide evidence-based policy-relevant findings.