The Informal Economy: A Reading of the Concept

Abstract

This study seeks to shed light on two important issues. The first relates to the methodological aspect concerning the crisis of concepts in the humanities and social sciences and the disputes surrounding them, particularly in how they are observed empirically in the field or converted into measurable indicators; thus, the concept becomes a variable. This situation is referred to as the "conceptual crisis." The second concerns the concept of the informal economy and the disputes surrounding its analysis across different knowledge fields and between official and academic discourse. This study addresses these issues through the following sections:
1. The a priori consideration of the concept in the social and human sciences.
2. From the conceptual crisis to the concept as a variable.
3. The informal economy: consensus in description and divergence in analysis.
4. Critical dialogue among researchers and the issue of adaptation-interpretation in the concept of the informal economy.