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The objective of this paper is to evaluate the impact of fiscal instruments for Colombia on two of the country’s main issues: income inequality and informality, phenomena that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. For this purpose, we built a DSGE model whose main differentiating element is the level of liquidity of households. The model carried out various simulations of transfers to households, and we examined the effects of these on different macroeconomic variables. We conclude that for the economy to return to the same fiscal adjustment it had before a transfer, the government will somehow have to increase the productivity of the formal sector, as this increase will have a positive effect on growth, increase income taxes and employment, and decrease informality.

This article uses transaction data from time banks to analyze their potential to generate bonding and bridging social capital among members, emphasizing community engagement and contributing to the circular economy. It also indirectly investigates members’ motivations to engage in time banks. Regarding bonding social capital, the findings are in line with the related literature in terms of the average number of trading partners and the ego-network density. However, reciprocity is a more frequent behavior in our data than in other time banks from other countries. With respect to bridging social capital and considering different age groups, the results show slight evidence of homophilic behavior, although intergenerational transactions are also present, being more frequent between closer age groups. Finally, regarding members’ motivations to participate in time banks, the analysis suggests that young people seem to be more driven by ideological reasons while the elderly members seem more motivated by economic reasons.

This article constitutes an empirical contribution regarding the correlation between economic informality and the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru. Based on interviews with merchants in the informal sector of the city of Huancayo, the pandemic-related impacts are analyzed in relation to income and livelihoods. It is argued that informal employment played an important role in the tragic indicators of public health in the country. The intrinsic flexibility of this type of activities, specifically for walking merchants, and the lack of access to systems and programs of social security were the main reasons that people worked in this sector to replace the income they lost due to confinement. Thus, the notion “replacement of income” in the economy appeared during the pandemic. The heterogeneity among those who carry out informal work, specifically in terms of their access to different resources, enabled such work and enabled some people to control their exposure to the virus. It is concluded that the focus on economic formalization of the last decades of financial liberalization are not considered advantages that informal activities offer in relation to formalization. In fact, informality continues to offer the best opportunity for immediate income and highly flexible options, in particular for adapting to crisis situations like the pandemic.

This paper estimates the size of the value added of the informal economy for 157 countries over 1991 to 2017 with the help of the MIMIC-method. The results show that OECD countries have by far the smallest informal economies, with sizes below 20 percent of official GDP. Moreover, informal economies are larger in Latin American and sub-Saharan African countries, averaging almost 38 and 39 percent of GDP, respectively. The average informal-economy size over all 157 countries and over 1991–2017 is 30.9 percent. The average decline in informal-economy size from 1991 to 2017 is a remarkable 6.8 percentage points. In addition, results of the size and development of undeclared or informal employment all over the world are shown. Except for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and Southern Africa, informal employment is above 50% of total employment and even over 88% in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, some policy measures to reduce the informal economy and conclusions are given.

This study examines the possible influence of formalising women's cooperatives on Jordan's informal economy. At the same time, to produce empirical evidence from a theoretical perspective, we study how the crucial challenges of the informal economy affect formalisation. This is an empirical study, both descriptive and inferential, in which several databases are used to extract the relevant data from the sample of 66 Jordanian women's cooperatives in the period from 2011 to 2020. A dynamic panel data model is used for the study variables with controlling for specific fixed effects. The findings indicate that the formalisation policy in the cooperative sector does not affect the informal economy. Instead, the challenges significantly affect the informal economy.

The main goal of the research will be to determine the size of the informal economy in Peru, Latin America and OCDE countries as well as to estimate the impact of the informal economy on tax revenues and the economic growth. To achieve the goal, the approach is made through MIMIC (multiple-indicator and multiple-cause) model. The main results show that the estimated average size of the informal economy as a percentage of the GDP in Peru is 37.4%, in Latin America is 34%, and in OCDE countries is 19.83%, which represents less than half of the Latin America average.

Informal economy is particularly prevalent in small-scale farming, yet little attention has been paid to it so far. This article aims to contribute to a further understanding of this phenomenon. A survey of family farmers located in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, Chile, was conducted. The data collected were processed using descriptive and multivariate techniques, factor and cluster analysis. Results show that farmers perceive formalization as a complex process which entails unpleasant obligations, and that they do not consider it necessary. There are some distinctions, however, that allow two clusters to be identified: “Favorable” (18.82 %) and “Reluctant” (81.18 %).

The crisis considered as the "Great Confinement" caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 disease has had a multidimensional impact on humanity, on a health, social, economic, and political level. One of the main effects has been reflected in an economic crisis unparalleled in human history. In the economic history of the human being, each crisis of a wide magnitude has demonstrated a relationship between sociodemographic and economic factors and the growth of the informal economy, such as the level of earnings, scholarship, search of an extra job sex and levels of inequality and poverty. Method: Database was obtained from harmonized surveys made available by INEGI and SHCP, from where both quantitative and categorical data were identified that correspond to the structuralist and institutionalist dimension of informality. Based on that, we applied a Logit model to determine the probability of a person to belong to the informal sector of the economy, and a Probit model to identify reiterated variables of the model as well. Results: Statistically representative variables to determine the probability to belong to the informal sector, with a global percentage of 72.5 %, are the years of school, age, economic inequality, percentage of poverty in each state, the degree of spending in fiscal obligations, the level of fiscal compensations due to belonging to RIF, the type of occupation, sex and the level of minimal wages earned. Discussion or Conclusion: Considering the findings of the research, it is possible to infer that the people with higher risk of falling in the informality and continuing in it, show a characteristic profile that can be considered as a valid base to design effective public policies to reduce informality. The present research contributes trough the identification of a model that describes the profile of an individual with a higher probability of integrate to the informal sector of the economy, considering both sociodemographic and market structure factors, considering the effect of the pandemics in the current economic conditions.

Objective: The objective of this paper is to evaluate the different explanations provided by competing theories for informal sector competitors being viewed as hindering formal entrepreneurs more in some countries than others. Theoretical background: These theories variously explain such cross-country variations as determined by: economic under-development (modernization theory); government over-interference and high taxes (neo-liberal theory); too little government intervention (political economy theory), or the asymmetry between the laws and regulations of formal institutions and entrepreneurs’ views on the acceptability of participating in the informal economy (institutional theory). Methods: To evaluate these theories, the chosen method focus on World Bank Enterprise Survey data on 31 Latin American and Caribbean countries using binary probit regression analysis. Main results: The findings show significant cross-country differences, ranging from 58.1 per cent of entrepreneurs viewing informal sector competition as a major constraint in Bolivia to 11.1 percent in Dominica. The binary probit regression analysis confirms the modernization and institutional theories, only partially confirms political economy theory, but refutes neo-liberal theory. Theoretical contribution: The paper concludes by discussing the implications for theory and the policy initiatives required to reduce informal sector competition.

This article seeks to contribute to the reconstruction of the field of discussion about popular economy by analyzing the discourses of experts that led to the foundation of promotion policies of the “popular economy” implemented in Argentina in 2004. One of the local particularities in the process of institutionalization lies in the official agenda which guides and contains contradictory definitions and valorizations of the popular economy and its subject. While its political and cultural potential were being posited, popular economy was being restricted by an agenda that needed salaried work. This work is based on an extensive archival analysis that compiles a heterogeneity of ministerial documents and specialized fieldwork.

The vendors of the street Eloy Salmon, located on the city La Paz, Bolivia, have been perceived as practicing an “informal” economy, excluded from the circuits of global capital accumulation and associated with poverty and low salaries. The history of these Bolivian vendors has been characterized by processes of exclusion and marginalization from the official economy and Bolivia’s state apparatus since its establishment in 1952. We propose – using the concept of David Harvey – that the vendors of Eloy Salmon are part of the molecular movements of the capital. This can be explained by observing that in their existing organization they have their own institutional forms, internal codes of exchange, and cultural practices that allow there to be social and local attachments, as well as the fostering of relationships with global capitalism, which creates “resistance” to the State.

La economía informal es un fenómeno que afecta a la mayoría de los países del mundo, principalmente al potencial recaudatorio tributario, la generación de empleo formal, la productividad y la eficiencia empresarial. Con el fin de elaborar un método incluyente de los aportes más significativos actuales, se elaboró una modelación econométrica a partir del método monetario, aplicando cointegración, causalidad de Granger y el mecanismo de corrección de equilibrios; lo que permitió alejar la posibilidad de regresiones espurias y realizar una aplicación a la economía ecuatoriana. || The informal economy is a phenomenon that affects most of the countries of the world, mainly tax collection potential, the generation of formal employment, productivity and business efficiency. In order to elaborate an inclusive method of the most significant current contributions, an econometric modeling was developed from the monetary method, applying cointegration, Granger causality and the equilibrium correction mechanism; which allowed to remove the possibility of spurious regressions and to make an application to the Ecuadorian economy.

Se espera una revisión del modo de regulación del mercado laboral de acuerdo con el nuevo "código laboral", en circulación desde hace algún tiempo. El debate sigue abierto en cuanto a la "ilegalización" del trabajo informal o la "formalización" de la economía sumergida. El empleo informal (no afiliado a la seguridad social) se estima en 4,3 millones según la Encuesta Laboral de la ONS 2017. Esta economía contribuye alrededor del 35% a la formación del PIB. Estos hallazgos requieren un diagnóstico profundo antes de toda toma de decisión. ¿Qué se sabe sobre esta economía? ¿Qué enfoque se debería adoptar para evitar las tensiones sociales en el mercado laboral? El análisis propuesto está basado sobre una serie de informes, estudios y tesis sobre el mercado laboral, en particular el ámbito informal, así como una nueva explotación de datos estadísticos y textos reglamentarios realizados desde los años de 2000 hasta la actualidad. Esta reflexión aboga por una regulación gradual del funcionamiento del mercado laboral. La segmentación realizada es un procedimiento técnico operativo, es la reconstrucción del conjunto del mercado, con sus ramificaciones externas, que puede dar su inteligencia dinámica. Cualquier acción "improvisada" solo puede exacerbar las tensiones sociales que socavarían aún más a los trabajadores, a los empleadores y a la economía en general.

The aim of this article is to investigate the characteristics, behaviors, motivations to start a business and the managerial practice of entrepreneurs, owners of internet kiosks, operating in the context of the informal economy in Rocinha, the biggest slum in Brazil, where 90.9% of businesses are informal. The Thematic Apperception Test used by McClelland serves the purpose of this research. The instrument used in this survey was adapted for Brazil. From the 92 internet kiosk entrepreneurs in Rocinha, 44 responded to the TAT questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16.0. The analysis suggests that the behavior of the entrepreneurs in Rocinha match the entrepreneurial characteristics proposed by McClelland and their main motivations are seeking opportunities and increasing income and try to meet customers’ needs and have a low perception of service differentiation.

Aragón es una tierra que en el conjunto de España ha sufrido, en las últimas décadas, una transformación en múltiples aspectos siendo uno de ellos el de la población, ya que en los últimos quince años ha pasado de ser un territorio de emigración a otro de inmigración. A finales de los noventa, a este país geográfico llegaban contingentes foráneos con claros repuntes en determinados intervalos de tiempo, favorecidos por las políticas de regularización de los años 2003 y 2005. Empleando diversas vías de acceso y el sistema de empleos rotatorios, los años 1996 y 1997 mostraron un aumento de rumanos en Aragón. Dado que se trataba de una inmigración principalmente económica, y debido a la herencia del pasado político además de cierto carácter individualista, este contingente parecía no mostrar una gran predisposición al asociacionismo, sin embargo a la par que se iba asentando un número mayor de ellos a lo largo y ancho de la geografía aragonesa, fueron surgiendo asociaciones en la mayoría de los casos de tipo sociocultural, con el objetivo de mantener lazos entre compatriotas, darse a conocer a la sociedad de acogida y mantener su identidad. Dentro de este contexto merecen especial atención, las distintas confesiones religiosas. Por último, existen en Aragón partidos políticos propiamente rumanos desde el año 2008, que son filiales de los ya existentes en Rumanía o bien fundados en España. Éstos abarcan todo el continuum derecha-izquierda, con preponderancia del centro-derecha. En los próximos años se podrá observar la evolución de todo ello.Aragón, which is a stretch of land within the Spanish territory, has suffered a high transformation in numerous aspects, being one of them its population, since this territory has moved from being a territory of emigration to one of immigration in the last fifteen years In the late 90s foreign contingents reached such geographic area, favored by the regulation policies between 2003-05. As a consequence of using different means of access to employment and the system of rotating jobs, the years 1996 and 1997 showed a rise of Romanians in Aragón. Due to the fact that it was a mainly economic immigration, taking into account its former political inheritance and also its individual character, such contingent did not seem to show a great predisposition to associations. Nevertheless, at the same time as a higher amount of them settled down to the length and breadth of the Aragonese geography, new associations, mostly socio cultural ones, arose with the aim of firstly, maintaining ties between compatriots, secondly, making themselves well-known to the host society and, thirdly, maintaining their identity. Within this context, it is important to pay attention to the different religious. Finally, regarding politics, there have been Romanian political parties in Aragón since 2008. Many of them are subsidiary to the already existing ones in Romania, some others have been founded in Spain. These ones include all the leftright political wings (continuum) with a preponderance of the centre-right wing. In the next few years, the results of such evolution will be seen.

Informal economy is a quasi-permanent off-shoot of the rapid urbanization. It is omnipresent in every one’s life, in every day’s event. Moreover, this type of economy is capable of challenging the formal economy and political structure of the nation. The trend of involuntary entry of migrant women for domestic help - caring children, cleaning home, doing shopping, or cooking- in the apartment based urban nuclear family is almost a normal practice with a certain level of legitimacy. So, this study aims to relate socioeconomic trends and issues of legitimacy concerning women employed in the informal sector in Delhi. From data collected, it was intended to assess the motivating factors behind migration and employment in the informal sector. The study, though conducted on a small-scale, alludes to the structure of informal economy in Delhi. Besides, it gives a picture of the interplay of socioeconomic and cultural factors in these women’s life.

In contemporary times, the informal economy is a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon. There is a range of activities performed outside the regulation and control of the States. In this paper we start from the idea that there is a kind of informality associated with the discontinuity provoked by the border, commonly addressed in terms of “smuggling”. The aim is to propose a conceptualization of such informality from theoretical contributions on the informal economy and border. The border region between Mexico and Guatemala and will bring specific illustrations to our conceptual framework.

Con la crisis del fordismo urbano, el mercado inmobiliario ha resurgido como una fuerza determinante del proceso de coordinación social del uso del suelo y la producción de estructura intraurbana. Es el retorno de la "mano invisible" del mercado. En este artículo se analiza la relación entre la producción de estructura urbana y el funcionamiento del mercado inmobiliario en América Latina, tanto en su versión formal como en la informal. La hipótesis de trabajo es que las ciudades latinoamericanas, comparadas con los dos modelos tradicionales (la urbe compacta mediterránea, y la difusa anglosajona), muestran una estructura urbana particular. En ellas, el funcionamiento de los mercados del suelo produce simultáneamente una estructura urbana compacta y difusa. Es a esta estructura, característica de las grandes urbes latinoamericanas, que llamamos ciudad "com-fusa".With the crisis of urban Fordism, the real estate market has reemerged as a determining force in the social coordination process of land use and in the production of intra-urban structure. It has been the return of the "invisible hand" of the market. This paper presents an analysis of the relationship between the production of urban structure and the functioning modes of formal and informal land markets in Latin America. It proposes the hypothesis that, compared to the two traditional models (compact Mediterranean cities and the Anglo-Saxon diffused cities), Latin American cities exhibit a particular urban structure. In these cities, the functioning of land markets produces simultaneously a compact and a diffused urban structure. This urban structure, characteristic of large Latin American cities, we designate as the "Com-Fused" City.

O objetivo central deste texto é retratar o setor informal brasileiro à luz das novas possibilidades de análise que se constituíram a partir da revisão da série do Sistema de Contas Nacionais (SCN), realizada em 2007. São apresentados os resultados referentes à geração de valor adicionado e ao número de ocupações por setor produtivo e tipo de emprego para o Brasil no período recente, considerando a metodologia revista do novo manual internacional de contas nacionais. A base de dados utilizada foi a nova série do SCN, cujo ano de referência é 2000 e os dados disponíveis compreendem os anos 2000 a 2007. Em 2007, o setor informal, que empregava 27,7% dos postos de trabalho do país, teve uma contribuição de 9,9% na geração do valor adicionado. O emprego informal como um todo, por sua vez, alcançou 56,4% das ocupações totais.The central objective of this paper is to present the informal sector in Brazil in face of new possibilities resulting from the revision of the Brazilian SNA series in 2007. The results concerning the generation of value added and the number of occupations by sector of production and type of employment for Brazil in a recent period, are presented in the study. The SNA new series database was used, where the reference year is 2000 and the available data cover the years 2000 to 2007. In the last year of the series, the informal sector, which accounts for 27.2% of jobs in the country, displayed a contribution of 9.9% in the generation of value added. In turn, informal employment as a whole reached 56.4% of total employment.

La presente investigación estudia la economía informal en Villavicencio, dado el creciente auge de este sector y la limitada producción científica sobre las implicaciones de la informalidad en el espacio económico y social de la ciudad. La economía informal en Villavicencio es persistente, incluso, ha llegado a ser la mayor generadora de empleo en la ciudad. Las teorías de las Ciencias Sociales la describen como una problemática que afecta la calidad de vida de las personas. Este artículo pretende interpretar el fenómeno de la informalidad a partir de una mirada despojada de prejuicios que la califican como un obstáculo para el desarrollo del mercado, además, muestra las interacciones de tipo económico y social, que exponen, en el estilo de vida de los informales, una lucha por sobrevivir.

Este estudio analiza la relación entre la tenencia de títulos de propiedad (registrados) y los mercados inmobiliarios en zonas de la ciudad que tuvieron un origen informal y/o ilegal. Al hacerlo plantea cuestionamientos a los presupuestos internacionales y encuentra paradojas en el funcionamiento del mercado de suelo popular. La metodología es cuantitativa y cualitativa. Las conclusiones muestran que en asentamientos no consolidados la tenencia de un título de propiedad contribuye a un mayor valor de los predios con relación a aquellos no titulados. No obstante, el título de propiedad no necesariamente está induciendo al predominio de mercados inmobiliarios formales, sino que más bien se mantienen las tendencias que apuntan a las transacciones informales en cuanto a alquileres, compras y ventas.This study analyzes the relationship between recorded land titles and real estate markets in areas of Lima, Peru, that were settled informally and/or illegally. It uses both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. It shows that, in settlements in the process of consolidation, titled land has higher market value than land without a title. However, the existence of a recorded title does not necessarily contribute to the predominance of formal real estate market transactions; in fact, the trend of informal transactions in rentals, purchases and sales persists.

Las neoplasias ocupacionales son altamente prevenibles. Esta comunicación resume los datos de los riesgos cancerígenos ocupacionales, destacando grupos importantes de trabajadores y la prevención. La Agencia Internacional para la Investigación del Cáncer (IARC) ha identificado en el Grupo 1 (causa cáncer en humanos), 29 agentes que pueden presentarse en el lugar de trabajo, 26 en el Grupo 2 A (probablemente cancerígeno) y 113 en el Grupo 2B (posiblemente cancerígeno). Los agentes frecuentes en Centroamérica incluyen la radiación solar (Grupo 1) y la radiación ultravioleta (2A), las emisiones diesel (2A), los hidrocarburos poliaromáticos (1 - 3), el humo de tabaco ambiental (1), los compuestos de cromo hexavalente (1) y el benceno (1). En cuanto a los cánceres de mujeres, estudios de cáncer de mama y ovarios sugieren asociaciones con agentes ocupacionales. Los datos en la economía informal son pocos. Peligros cancerígenos para agricultores y peones agrícolas contemplan la exposición a radiación ultravioleta solar, virus, zoonosis, polvos, aflatoxinas, emisiones de diesel, solventes y plaguicidas. Agentes cancerígenos potenciales presentes en el Sector Salud incluyen: óxido de etileno, formaldehído, humo de tabaco ambiental, tricloroetileno, tetracloroetileno, benceno, asbesto, drogas, hormonas, antibióticos, plaguicidas, virus y desechos y gases cancerígenos. Algunas exposiciones durante el desarrollo y la infancia someten a los niños a riesgos cancerígenos. Prevenir los riesgos para la salud en el lugar de trabajo es responsabilidad del empleador. Se debe actuar con precaución en respuesta a la limitada evidencia plausible y creíble, sobre un peligro probable, y establecer comisiones mixtas de salud y seguridad en lugares de trabajo.Occupational cancers are highly preventable. This communication summarizes the data on occupational carcinogenic hazards, highlighting important worker groups and prevention. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified 29 agents that may occur at work in Group 1 (carcinogenic in humans); 26 in Group 2A (probably carcinogenic); and 113 in Group 2B (possibly carcinogenic). Frequent occupational carcinogens in Central America include solar (Group 1) and ultraviolet (2A) radiation, diesel emissions (2A), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (1-3), environmental tobacco smoke (1), hexavalent chromium compounds (1) and benzene (1). Regarding women, studies on breast and ovarian cancer suggest associations with occupational exposures. The data on carcinogenic risks in the informal economy are scanty. Carcinogenic agents that may be present occur in agriculture include solar radiation, aflatoxins, diesel emissions, viruses, dusts, solvents and pesticides. Carcinogenic agents in the health sector include ethylene oxide; formaldehyde; environmental tobacco smoke; tri- and tetrachloroethylene; benzene; asbestos; carcinogenic drugs, hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, viruses and waste materials; and carcinogenic gases. Environmental exposures during development and infancy may cause childhood cancer. Prevention of health risks at the workplace is the responsibility of the employer. The principle of precaution, due to sparse, plausible and credible evidence about probable danger and the establishment of safety and health committees are recommended.

Este artigo apresenta uma visão crítica acerca da mudança dos camelôs para os de nominados shoppings populares, implementados pela Prefeitura Municipal de Belo Horizonte, com a finalidade de cumprir o código de conduta do projeto "Centro Vivo". Argumenta-se que a atitude da prefeitura foi de limpeza da cidade, provocando uma desarticulação do trabalho informal dos camelôs e "toreros", bem como aumentando a precariedade de suas condições políticas e sociais de trabalho. O argumento baseia-se no discurso da mídia impressa e de algumas atas de reunião da prefeitura concernentes ao tema. Os autores contrastam o discurso com o dos próprios camelôs, que foram entrevistados, a respeito de como percebiam o processo de mudança para os shoppings e o que isso acarretou em termos do seu trabalho.This article presents a critical view of how peddlers were relocated to the 'popular malls' implemented by the Municipal Government of Belo Horizonte, with the purpose of enforcing the code of project Centro Vivo. The argument is that the officials' intention of cleaning up the city caused a disarticulation of the informal work of the peddlers and 'toreros' and increased the precariousness of their social and political working conditions. The media and city hall discourses were contrasted with the discourse of the peddlers, who were interviewed regarding their perception over this phenomena and its consequences for their work.

A economia informal no Brasil ligando esse país à Guiana, ao Suriname, à Venezuela e à Guiana Francesa permite pensar numa Amazônia brasileiro-caribenha. O Suriname e a Guiana, essa última sede do CARICOM, convivem com fluxos migratórios de garimpeiros brasileiros fugitivos do desemprego. A economia clandestina dá o seu tom à geopolítica cultural e é mais eficiente, que a diplomacia, em estimular a aproximação entre os países caribenhos.The Informal economy in Brazil creates strong linkages between the country and Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela and the French Guyana. For this reason it allows us to think of a Caribbean-Brazilian Amazon. Both Surinam and Guyana, the latter a host to CARICOM, deal with migration flows of Brazilian miners escaping unemployment. The clandestine economy sets the stage for cultural geopolitics and is more efficient than diplomacy in bringing Caribbean countries closer together.

Partindo de uma reflexão crítica sobre o percurso da noção de informalidade, sobre as coordenadas do seu campo semântico e sobre as conotações teóricas e políticas que ela tem assumido, este artigo explora as potencialidades e os limites de um tal conceito para a abordagem das sociedades contemporâneas e de algumas das linhas de força da evolução das mesmas. É também nesse sentido que se procura articular e colocar em perspectiva o conjunto de artigos deste dossier, conjunto esse que exprime, numa razoável extensão e a várias escalas, o espectro actual da informalidade e da dinâmica do par formalidade / informalidade. A conjugação destes artigos mostra também de que modo a utilização destas noções a partir de um ponto de vista antropológico pode contribuir para um estudo relativamente unificado de formas contemporâneas várias de aceder a recursos económicos ou políticos, formas essas que se jogam na confluência tensa entre, por um lado, a acção dos indivíduos e, por outro, a regulação de relações sociais por parte do Estado.Starting from a critical reflection on the trajectory of the notion of informality, on the coordinates of its semantic scope, and on its theoretical and political connotations, this paper explores both the potential and the limitations of such a concept for an approach of contemporary societies and of aspects of their evolution. It is also in this sense that it tries to articulate and to put in perspective the set of papers of this issue of Etnográfica. These contributions express, to a reasonable extent, the contemporary range of informality and the dynamics of the pair formality / informality. They also show how the use of such notions from an anthropological point of view can contribute to a relatively unified study of several contemporary forms of access to economic and political resources. These are forms that put forward in manifold ways the tension between the agency of concrete subjects and, on the other hand, the regulation of social relations by the State.

The article is a critique of models of successful economic development in Europe based on the "economic region" idea. These models stress the usefulness of embedding economic relations in the social fabric ("social capital"). The ethnography reveals, however, a conflict-laden space where increased embeddedness produces increased tension within the family and the community. In this "modelic" regional economy in Southern Alicante (Spain), recent violent events have involved local actors in the shoe-wear industry, with resident Chinese entrepreneurs. I will show how this confrontation underlines the rise of local modalities of conflict that build upon the organic and culturally bounded elements of economic production that the model stresses: local homogeneity and common interest. The ethnographic evidence shows the complexity of a "regional economy" in a globalized context where appeals to the State to strengthen and enforce some regulations coexist with appeals to de-regulate other areas of the economy.Este artigo é uma crítica aos modelos de sucesso de desenvolvimento económico na Europa baseados na ideia de "região económica". Estes modelos acentuam a utilidade do encastramento das relações económicas no tecido social ("capital social"). No entanto, a etnografia mostra-nos um espaço de conflito onde um crescente encastramento produz um aumento da tensão na família e na comunidade. Nesta economia regional "modelar" do sul de Alicante (Espanha), episódios recentes de violência envolveram actores locais da indústria do calçado com empresários chineses aí residentes. Mostrarei como este confronto ilustra o surgimento de modalidades locais de conflito que se exprimem na base dos elementos orgânicos e de enraizamento cultural da produção económica sublinhados pelo modelo: a homogeneidade local e o interesse comum. A investigação etnográfica mostra a complexidade da "economia regional" num contexto globalizado, onde apelos dirigidos ao Estado no sentido de fortalecer e reforçar algumas regulações coexistem com apelos no sentido da desregulação de outras áreas da economia.

Discussions on globalization tend to focus on processes commanded by powerful agents in a top-down perspective. In this article, I will explore "alter-native" economic processes and agents and a form of non-hegemonic globalization. "Trader-tourists" and street vendors of global gadgets, for instance, are but the tip of the iceberg, in a huge parallel global economy. Their activities are non-hegemonic because they defy the economic establishment everywhere. Grassroots economic globalization provides access to flows of global wealth that otherwise would not reach the more vulnerable ranks of any society. My reasoning is mainly based on Brazilian and Paraguayan examples, but there are evidences of the existence of a veritable popular world system.As discussões sobre a globalização tendem a focalizar-se nos processos comandados por agentes poderosos numa perspectiva de cima para baixo. Neste artigo, explorarei processos económicos e agentes "alter-nativos"como uma forma de globalização não hegemónica. "Turistas-mercantes" e vendedores de rua de gadgets globais, por exemplo, são apenas a ponta do icebergue de uma economia global paralela. As suas actividades são não-hegemónicas porque desafiam as estruturas económicas onde quer que estejam. A globalização económica de base oferece um acesso aos fluxos de riqueza global que de outra forma não estariam disponíveis para as camadas mais vulneráveis de qualquer sociedade. O meu argumento assenta principalmente em exemplos brasileiros e paraguaios; no entanto, as evidências apontam para um verdadeiro sistema global popular.

This paper is based on the analysis of the results of a research project about social solidarities carried out in the peri-urban areas of the city of Maputo. Starting from a case study on informal markets in the context of a society where the State is eroded/weak and unable to offset the consequences of neoliberal policies and to shape the social policy models imposed by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, the text analyzes the global and local determinants that lead to the emergence and/or development of social solidarities. At the same time, it evaluates the constraints on their capacity to respond to the production of well-being, as a possible alternative to the State’s incapacity to provide basic social services to citizens.

In Southern European countries, the regularisations of irregular migrants have very frequently been used as ex post control policy measures. They have often been blamed by a large number of scholars for their incapacity to stop the reproduction of irregular migration systems. Nevertheless, the debate on the effectiveness of regularisation programmes still demonstrates a substantial contradiction between the criticism of regularisations and the lack of empirical evidence in favour of or against the execution of such processes. The aim of the present article is to analyze the effects of regularisations in Italy and Spain as the two countries that have regularised the largest number of migrants in Europe. The final goal of the article is not only to assess the efficiency of regularisations but also to discuss the future of such measures in the Mediterranean migration regimes.