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In recent years, there has been a growing recognition that some employers illegitimately under-declare employees' salaries by paying an undeclared ('envelope') wage in addition to their official declared salary. The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically the competing perspectives that variously explain the cross-national variations in the propensity of employ- ers to under-declare wages to be: simply a legacy of under-development (modernisation perspective); due to high taxes, state corruption and burdensome regulations and controls (neo-liberal perspective), or a result of inadequate state intervention in work and welfare arrangements which leaves workers less than fully protected (structuralist perspective). Reporting the re- sults of a 2007 Eurobarometer involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews across the 27 member states of the European Union (EU-27) to evaluate the prevalence, size and nature of envelope wage arrangements across the EU-27, this exploratory study reveals that envelope wages are more common, larger and more likely to be for regular work in poorer, more corrupt and less equal nations with lower levels of taxation, state intervention in the labor market, social protection and redistribution via so- cial transfers. The paper concludes by discussing both the theoretical and policy implications.

This article evaluates critically the contrasting explanations for the cross-national variations in the prevalence and nature of informal employment, which variously view such work as more prevalent in poorer, under-developed economies; driven by high taxes, corruption and state interference that lead workers to exit formal employment; or driven by inadequate state intervention leading to the exclusion of workers from formal employment and state welfare provision. By analysing cross-national variations across the European Union in the size of informal employment using indirect measurement methods and in its varying character using evidence from a 2007 Eurobarometer survey, it was found that wealthier, less corrupt and more equal economies with higher levels of labour market intervention, social protection and redistribution via social transfers have lower levels of informal employment, much of which is conducted to exit formal employment. The paper concludes by exploring the theoretical and policy implications.

PurposeFor many decades, European national governments sought to stamp out undeclared work using a repressive approach. In the changing economic context of declining employment participation rates, however, the European Commission has called for a new approach to transform undeclared work into declared work. This necessitates public policy innovations. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the degree to which this European Commission call for policy innovation has been adopted by European national governments.Design/methodology/approachTo evaluate this, the results are reported of an e‐survey conducted in 2010 of 104 senior stakeholders from government departments, trade unions and employer organisations in 31 European countries, and 24 follow‐up in‐depth interviews.FindingsThe finding is that although European nations have responded to the changing economic context and the resultant call by the European Commission for a new approach by adopting an array of innovative new policy measures to facilitate the declaration of undeclared work, stamping out such endeavour through repression measures remains the principal approach in most nations.Research limitations/implicationsUntil now, few studies have evaluated critically the different policy approaches adopted by European national governments to tackle undeclared work. This paper fills that gap.Practical implicationsThis paper reveals that if undeclared jobs are to be transformed into declared jobs and economic inclusion promoted, national governments will need to accord more priority to innovative new policy measures to legitimise declared work than is currently the case.Originality/valueThis is the first critical evaluation of whether the European Commission call for innovative new policy measures when tackling undeclared work has been implemented.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the prevalence in the 27 member states of the European Union of a little discussed illicit wage arrangement in which formal employees are paid two wages by their formal employers – an official declared salary and an additional undeclared wage, thus allowing employers to evade their full social insurance and tax liabilities. Reporting the results of a 2007 Eurobarometer survey involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews, the finding is that one in 18 formal employees received such an envelope wage from their formal employer and that envelope wage payments are more prevalent in member states with lower (rather than higher) levels of state intervention. The tentative conclusion is that illicit envelope wage payments are a product of under-regulation, rather than over-regulation, and that further research is now required to test the validity analysis of this thesis in other global regions.

PurposeProviding support to off‐the‐books business start‐ups to help them make the transition to legitimacy could be a novel and effective method of creating new legitimate business ventures. The purpose of this paper is to advance understanding of why some business start‐ups operate off‐the‐books so as to explore how public policy might facilitate their transition towards formalisation.Design/methodology/approachTo do this, a survey is reported of 120 business start‐ups in West Cornwall, UK, of which 48 were operating wholly or partially off‐the‐books.FindingsThis study inductively reveals that entrepreneurs' rationales for trading off‐the‐books and the consequent barriers to formalisation differ according to whether the business start‐up is wholly off‐the‐books, a registered business start‐up conducting a portion of their trade off‐the‐books with no intention of further formalising, or a registered business start‐up in transition to legitimacy. The outcome is that policy measures to facilitate formalisation need to be tailored to tackle the varying reasons for each type of business start‐up trading off‐the‐books.Research limitations/implicationsGiven the limited data, more extensive research across varying populations is required to evaluate the wider validity of the reasons for off‐the‐books trading of these different types of business start‐up.Practical implicationsThe paper reveals that the support required to help entrepreneurs to make the transition to legitimacy needs to vary according to the degree to which their venture presently operates off‐the‐books and whether they display any intention to move towards formalisation.Originality/valueThis is the first paper to identify the reasons business start‐ups trade off‐the‐books and the different resultant policy measures required to support their formalisation.

The analysis of employment relations needs to include work in the informal economy. For this purpose, we propose a ‘degrees of informalization’ framework that evaluates the proportion of employment relations infused with informality and the nature of this permeation. We apply this framework to South-East Europe, using evidence from a 2007 Eurobarometer survey. Informality is extensive, largely in the form of under-declared formal waged employment, although significant variations exist across countries. There is a strong correlation between capitalist societies with higher levels of labour market intervention, social protection, redistribution via social transfers and equality, and lower levels of informality.

The aim of this paper is to contest the ideologically driven depiction of the entrepreneur as a heroic icon of capitalist culture. To do this, a 2006 survey involving face-to-face interviews with 331 entrepreneurs in Ukraine is reported. This displays that the vast majority do not conform to the depiction of the entrepreneur as a heroic icon of capitalism; just 8% of the Ukrainian entrepreneurs surveyed are engaged purely in profit-driven entrepreneurship in the legitimate economy. The vast majority of entrepreneurs either do not pursue purely profit-driven goals and adopt social motives to varying degrees, and/or operate wholly or partially beyond the legitimate economy. In doing so, this study reveals that entrepreneurship and the enterprise culture can no longer be taken as signifying the transition to a capitalist economy in this post-Soviet space. Instead, its multiple forms are here argued to open up entrepreneurship to re-signification as demonstrative of the feasibility of alternative economic fut...

To evaluate how undeclared work is being tackled in Croatia this paper reports an e-survey and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in Croatia. It is revealed that, compared with the European Economic Area countries, Croatia has a weak institutional infrastructure for tackling undeclared work and pursues a narrower range of policy measures. The outcome is a call to develop a single body to better coordinate actions to tackle the undeclared economy in Croatia and for a shift towards an approach that seeks to provide gateways to formalisation. Furthermore, Croatia needs to modernise its work and welfare regime through higher levels of state expenditure in the labour market and social protection, coupled with redistribution via social transfers so as to construct a more equal society.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to evaluate the degree to which there is cross‐national cooperation when tackling undeclared work and how the fight against undeclared work in Europe might be more effectively coordinated.Design/methodology/approachA multi‐stage inductive approach is used involving a web survey of 104 senior government officials, trade unions and employer organisations in 31 European countries, 33 follow‐up in‐depth explanatory interviews, four two‐day focus groups in European regions involving 44 stakeholders, and a European‐wide focus group of 20 stakeholders.FindingsCollaboration between European countries is currently partial and very limited when tackling undeclared work. To more effectively collaborate, the consensus amongst the participating stakeholders is that an inclusive network of experts covering the tax, social security and labour aspects of undeclared work needs to be developed which engages in information sharing, capacity building and operational cooperation not only on the issue of cross‐border undeclared work but also combating undeclared work at the national level.Research limitations/implicationsUntil now, the literature on undeclared work has not evaluated the extent and nature of cross‐national collaborations to tackle this phenomenon. This paper fills that gap.Practical implicationsThe paper reports the consensus reached amongst pan‐European stakeholders on how to more effectively broker knowledge on a multilateral cross‐national basis to tackle undeclared work.Originality/valueThis is the first evaluation of cross‐national collaboration in relation to tackling undeclared work in Europe.

It is popularly assumed that the main barrier that prevents household services from being outsourced to the small business sector is household disposable income. This paper evaluates critically whether this is the case. Reporting survey results from 418 households in the UK city of Sheffield, the finding is that cost is the main barrier in just 38% of instances. Nearly two‐thirds of household services are undertaken in other ways either out of choice or due to the poor availability, quality and reliability of provision by small businesses. How these barriers to outsourcing household services might be tackled is then addressed.

It is widely believed that there is no alternative to capitalism. Over the last two decades\ud however, the critical geography literature on diverse economies has demonstrated the\ud existence of alternatives to capitalism by revealing the persistence of non-capitalist forms of\ud work and organisation. The aim in this paper is to question the validity and usefulness of\ud continuing to frame these non-capitalist practices as "alternatives". Positioning non-capitalist\ud economic practices as “alternatives” fails to capture not only the ubiquity of such practices in\ud everyday life, but also how those engaging do not see them as “alternatives” in the sense of a\ud second choice, or less desirable option, to capitalist practices. The intention in doing so is to\ud reveal that it is not non-capitalist practices that are “alternative” but rather, capitalist practices\ud themselves, thus opening up the future to the possibility of a non-capitalist world more fully\ud than has so far been the case.\ud Key words: Economic geography qualitative UK capitalism diverse economies\ud community self-help

This paper proposes a new way of explaining the informal economy in post-socialist societies. Drawing upon evidence from 1,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in Croatia during 2013, and using stepwise Tobit regression analysis, the finding is that after controlling for other explanatory variables, participation in the informal economy results from the asymmetry between the norms, values and beliefs of citizens (informal institutions) and the codified laws and regulations (formal institutions). Reducing such institutional asymmetry is thus required if the informal economy is to be tackled. How this can be achieved in post-socialist societies is then discussed.

In this chapter we explore the resourceful entrepreneurial activities of refugee and displaced women and thus contribute to enriching contemporary research about women and the resources they use to function in the work environment over their work lifespan. We also respond to calls for enhancing current understandings of entrepreneurship within the informal economy. Through a series of exploratory in-depth interviews undertaken in January 2013 with desperately poor, refugee and displaced women operating in Jordan’s informal economy, we uncover expansive resourcefulness in their entrepreneurial activities that helps them overcome the inadequacies and flawed strategies of international aid agencies that create turbulent competition among the ethnically diverse groups of refugee and displaced women. However, given that the women’s socio-political positioning remains unaltered, we question whether entrepreneurial action is a sustainable, long-term strategy for individual change.

In recent years, participants in the informal economy have started to be viewed less as rational economic actors who engage in the informal economy when the pay-off is greater than the expected cost of being caught and punished, and more as social actors who engage when their tax morale (i.e., motivation to pay taxes) is low. To evaluate this new social actor approach and the implications for tackling the informal economy, this paper reports evidence from 41,689 face-to-face interviews conducted across the European Union. Multilevel logistic regression analysis reveals a strong association between participation in the informal economy and the level of tax morale. Finding that higher tax morale (and thus lower participation in the informal economy) is strongly correlated at the country-level with greater levels of state intervention and at the individual-level with characteristics such as gender, age, education and employment status, the outcome is to confirm a structuralist political economy explanation and refute the modernization and neo-liberal explanations and remedies, as well as to uncover the importance of some policy solutions not considered until now, including older citizens mentoring of younger people, and improving women’s participation in the labour force.

When examining the motivations of entrepreneurs, it has become commonplace to represent them dichotomously as either necessity- or opportunity-driven. In recent years, an emergent literature has criticized this simplistic necessity/opportunity dichotomy by revealing not only how both necessity and opportunity are often co-present in entrepreneurs’ motives but also how their complex motives can shift over time. This paper furthers this emergent literature by unravelling how entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs’ motives are directly influenced by the socio-spatial context in which operate. To evaluate the socio-spatial contingency of entrepreneurial motivations, a case study is here reported of the drivers underpinning entrepreneurial endeavour in English deprived urban neighbourhoods (DUNs). The results of a face-to-face interviews with 459 participants followed up by a further 18 in-depth interviews, this study reveals that entrepreneurs’ motives in DUNs are complex, combining necessity and opportuni...

Conventionally, street entrepreneurs were either seen as a residue from a pre-modern era that is gradually disappearing (modernisation theory), or an endeavour into which marginalised populations are driven out of necessity in the absence of alternative ways of securing a livelihood (structuralist theory). In recent years, however, participation in street entrepreneurship has been re-read either as a rational economic choice (neo-liberal theory) or as conducted for cultural reasons (post-modern theory). The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically these competing explanations for participation in street entrepreneurship. To do this, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 871 street entrepreneurs in the Indian city of Bangalore during 2010 concerning their reasons for participation in street entrepreneurship. The finding is that no one explanation suffices. Some 12 % explain their participation in street entrepreneurship as necessity-driven, 15 % as traditional ancestral activity, 56 % as a rational economic choice and 17 % as pursued for social or lifestyle reasons. The outcome is a call to combine these previously rival explanations in order to develop a richer and more nuanced theorisation of the multifarious motives for street entrepreneurship in emerging market economies.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate critically the competing theories of informal entrepreneurship that variously represent such endeavour as a residue from a previous mode of accumulation (modernisation theory), a direct by‐product of contemporary capitalism and survival strategy for those marginalised from the circuits of the modern economy (structuralism), an endeavour voluntarily pursued due to over‐regulation in the formal economy (neo‐liberalism) or a practice chosen for social, redistributive, political or identity reasons (post‐structuralism).Design/methodology/approachTo evaluate these competing theories, a 2005/2006 survey involving face‐to‐face interviews with 298 informal entrepreneurs in Ukraine is analysed.FindingsContrary to previous studies which assert that one single theorisation is universally applicable, this study finds that each theory is valid for different types of informal entrepreneurship, and therefore proposes a typology of informal entrepreneurship that joins together the contrasting theorisations in order to achieve a more accurate and finer‐grained explanation of the complex and heterogeneous configuration of informal entrepreneurship in contemporary Ukraine.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper reveals the need to move beyond treating the competing explanations as mutually exclusive by outlining a typology that combines the contrasting theorisations in order to more fully understand the heterogeneity of informal entrepreneurship.Practical implicationsBy unravelling the heterogeneity of informal entrepreneurship, a more nuanced policy approach is shown to be required which does not seek to simply either eradicate such endeavour, pursue a laissez‐faire approach or harness such entrepreneurship but instead pursues all these approaches to varying extents in relation to different kinds of informal entrepreneur.Originality/valueThis is one of the first papers to identify and empirically evaluate the competing theories of informal entrepreneurship.

This paper re-evaluates the explanations for informal work in third world cities. Until now, informal work has been theorized either as a residue (modernisation), by-product of contemporary capitalism conducted out of economic necessity (structuralism) or an alternative to formal work chosen due to either an over-burdensome state (neo-liberalism) or for social, redistributive, resistance or identity reasons (post-structuralism). Reporting a study of 80 households in Koforidua in Ghana, this paper finds that although its depiction as a residue is not valid, the other representations of the informal economy are each valid in relation to different types of informal work and varying populations in this third world city, and that only by combining them will a finer-grained and more comprehensive understanding of the diverse nature of the informal economy be achieved. The outcome is a call for more nuanced explanations of the informal economy in other contexts.

To explain participation in the self-service economy, competing theorisations have variously depicted participants as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of economic necessity or choice. To evaluate motives for self-servicing in the home improvement and maintenance sector, a survey of 120 households in an English locality is reported. This will reveal that all theorisations are valid to differing degrees, and through a process of induction, will offer a typology that combines the existing theorisations by differentiating between ‘willing’ (rational economic actors, choice, identity seeking) and ‘reluctant’ (economic and market necessity, dupes) participants in self-servicing. The outcome is a call to evaluate the broader applicability of this typology when explaining the wider self-service economy.

Re-reading the economic landscape of the western world as a largely non-capitalist landscape composed of economic plurality, this paper demonstrates how economic relations in contemporary western society are often embedded in non-commodified practices such as mutual aid, reciprocity, co-operation and inclusion. By highlighting how the long-overlooked lived practices in the contemporary world of production, consumption and exchange are heavily grounded in the very types and essences of non-capitalist economic relations that have long been proposed by anarchistic visions of employment and organization, this paper displays that such visions are far from utopian: they are embedded firmly in the present. Through focusing on the pervasive nature of heterodox economic spaces in the UK in particular, some ideas about how to develop an anarchist future of work and organization will be proposed. The outcome is to begin to engage in the demonstrative construction of a future based on mutualism and autonomous modes of organization and representation. © 2012 The Authors. Antipode© 2012 Antipode Foundation Ltd..

PurposeContrary to the view that the subsistence economy is some minor residue persisting in only a few peripheral enclaves of modern economies, the purpose of this paper is to begin to chart the importance and prevalence of subsistence work across the contemporary economic landscape and the reasons underpinning engagement in this form of non‐commodified labour.Design/methodology/approachTo do so, the extent of, and reasons for, subsistence production amongst those living in contemporary Moscow is evaluated using face‐to‐face interviews with 313 households in affluent, mixed and deprived districts.FindingsIt was found that subsistence work is a ubiquitous phenomenon which is relied on heavily by Muscovite households. Until now, those participating in such subsistence work have been portrayed either as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self‐identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. Rather than depict one as correct and the others as invalid, this survey inductively generates a theoretically‐integrative approach which differentiates between “willing” (rational economic actors, choice, identity seeking) and “reluctant” (economic and market necessity, dupes) participants in subsistence production.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper examines only one city. Further research is now required into the extent of, and reasons for, subsistence production in the rest of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as beyond.Originality/valueThis is one of the first papers to identify and explain the ubiquitous persistence of subsistence work in contemporary economies.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain the cash‐in‐hand consumer culture in the property and construction sector. The conventional assumption has been that consumers using cash‐in‐hand transactions are rational economic actors doing so simply to save money. Here, this is evaluated critically.Design/methodology/approachTo do this, evidence from a 2007 Eurobarometer survey involving 26,659 face‐to‐face interviews in 27 European Union member states is reported.FindingsThe finding is that saving money is the sole motive of consumers in just 38 per cent of cash‐in‐hand transactions in the European property and construction sector, one of several rationales in 38 per cent of exchanges and not cited as a rationale in the remaining 24 per cent of cases. Besides, saving money, consumers engage in cash‐in‐hand transactions to circumvent the shortcomings of formal sector provision in terms of its availability, speed and quality, as well as for social and redistributive rationales.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper reveals the need for in‐depth qualitative research to unravel consumers' complex and heterogeneous rationales for using this sphere.Practical implicationsThe implication is that changing the cost/benefit ratio confronting consumers when choosing to use the cash‐in‐hand economy is unlikely to be successful since cost is, in most cases, not their only rationale. Instead, attention needs to be given to improving the availability, speed, reliability and quality of formal sector provision and dealing with cash‐in‐hand work conducted for social and redistributive purposes.Originality/valueThis paper refutes the assumption that goods and services are acquired from the cash‐in‐hand economy solely in order to save money.

Despite the emergent recognition that many in the informal economy work on a self-employed basis, few have evaluated the extent and character of such endeavour. To start to fill this gap, a 2007 Eurobarometer survey composed of 26,659 face-to-face interviews in 27 European countries is reported. This reveals that 1 in 28 of the surveyed population participated in self-employment in the informal economy over the previous year, albeit with some significant socio-economic and spatial variations in the commonality and character of participation, and their reasons for doing so. The paper concludes by reviewing the implications for future research and policy.

Despite the widespread recognition that many businesses and employees in the European construction industry engage in off-the-books practices, there has been little attempt so far either to provide evidence of the prevalence and nature of this undeclared economy in the European construction industry or to evaluate what needs to be done to tackle this phenomenon. This article fills these gaps. To evaluate the extent and character of the undeclared economy in the European construction industry, this article reports the findings of a 2007 Eurobarometer survey on the undeclared economy conducted in 27 European Union member states. This will reveal its widespread prevalence across the European construction industry along with its heterogeneous forms and uneven distribution both spatially and across different population groups. Attention then turns to evaluating the potential policy approaches for tackling the undeclared economy in the European construction industry, namely laissez-faire, deterrence and facilit...

The varieties of capitalism and employment relations literature have largely focused on formally regulated market economies, with a general neglect of the informal economy and of emerging markets where this work arrangement is dominant. In this article, however, the intention is to propose the Informally Dominated Market Economy as a form of capitalism that could be usefully incorporated into the industrial relations literature. To start to unpack this variety of capitalism, this article explores institutions and employment relations practices in the African economy of Mozambique. The outcome is a conceptual framework that includes both formal and informal institutions and considers the implications for work and employment relations.

For much of the previous century, the informal sector was largely represented as a residue of a previous mode of production confined to marginal populations and gradually disappearing due to the inevitable and natural shift towards the formal economy across the globe. Over the past quarter of a century, however, articles published in Work, Employment and Society have been at the forefront of re-reading the informal sector. This article reveals how this body of literature has shown informal economic activities to be a persistent and ubiquitous feature of the economic landscape, mapped the complex and variable dynamics of formal and informal work in different populations, transcended simplistic universal structure/agency explanations for the persistence of informal work by developing context-bound understandings, and challenged the formal/informal dichotomy which represents the formal and informal sectors as separate hostile worlds. The article concludes by highlighting some possible future directions for research on this topic.

The aim of this article is to evaluate critically the neo-liberal de-regulatory theory which asserts that the way to tackle undeclared work is to de-regulate economies and cut-back welfare provision. Reporting the results of a 2007 Eurobarometer survey of envelope wages in 10 Central and Eastern European countries, the finding is that the practice of formal employees receiving two wages from their formal employer, an official declared salary and an additional undeclared wage, markedly varies cross-nationally, from 23% of formal employees in Romania to just 3% of formal employees in the Czech Republic. Analyzing this from a “varieties of capitalism” perspective, undeclared envelope wage payments are found to be more prevalent in neo-liberal economies with lower levels of state intervention and less common in more “welfare capitalist” economies in which there is greater state intervention in work and welfare. The resultant conclusion is that envelope wages are correlated with the under- rather than over-reg...

Evaluating the Impact of the Informal Economy on Businesses in South East Europe: Some Lessons from the 2009 World Bank Enterprise SurveyThe aim of this paper is to evaluate the variable impacts of the informal economy on businesses and employment relations in South East Europe. Evidence is reported from the 2009 World Bank Enterprise Survey which interviewed 4,720 businesses located in South East Europe. The finding is not only that a large informal sector reduces wage levels but also that there are significant spatial variations in the adverse impacts of the informal economy across this European region. Small, rural and domestic businesses producing for the home market and the transport, construction, garment and wholesale sectors are most likely to be adversely affected by the informal economy. The paper concludes by calling for similar research in other global regions and for a more targeted approach towards tackling the informal economy.

Cross-National Variations in the Under-Reporting of Wages in South-East Europe: A Result of Over-Regulation or Under-Regulation?This paper seeks to explain the cross-national variations in the tendency of employers in South East Europe to under-report the wages of their employees by paying them two wages, an official declared salary and an additional undeclared envelope wage. Reporting the results of a 2007 Eurobarometer survey of this practice undertaken in five South East European countries, the finding is that the commonality of this illicit wage practice markedly varies cross-nationally, with 23 percent of formal employees in Romania but just 3 percent in Cyprus receiving an under-reported salary. Finding that the under-reporting of wages is more prevalent in neo-liberal economies with lower levels of state intervention and less common in more ‘welfare capitalist’ economies in which there is greater state intervention in work and welfare, the resultant conclusion is that the under-reporting of employees wages by employers is correlated with the under- rather than over-regulation of work and welfare.

'Varieties of capitalism' have been conventionally delineated by the varying types of formal economy that exist. Given that the vast majority of employment globally is in the informal economy, this paper offers a new analytical framework which delineates varieties of capitalism by their degree of informalization and the character of the informal economy. Examining South East Europe through this lens using evidence from a 2007 Eurobarometer survey, the finding is that this region is a 'quasi-formal market economy' and its informal economy composed largely of quasi-formal employment relations, albeit with significant variations in the degree and nature of the informal economy across different countries, sectors and population groups.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the psychological contract from the employers' perspective, by examining violations where the employer rather than employee is the victim, an issue that has so far seldom been addressed in extant psychological contract research.Design/methodology/approach – Small business owners are studied using qualitative interviews, incorporating critical incidents technique. Interview transcriptions have been analysed using template analysis.Findings – The analysis reveals the significant disruption and damage caused by these incidents, with employers involving other employees in their response as they set about the essential repair work required. Employers actively mobilised shared understandings at the normative level of the group, reinforcing and sometimes renegotiating the employee obligations, as they seek to reaffirm their authority in the eyes of all of their employees. This response reflects the collective psychological contracts the employer holds with eac...

Recently, it has become increasingly recognized that the reach of the market economy is shallower than previously assumed and that other livelihood practices persist, such as self-provisioning. However, neither the prevalence of nor the rationales underpinning engagement in these non-market work practices have been widely evaluated. To start to bridge this gap, this article evaluates the extent of self-provisioning in post-Soviet Ukraine and the reasons for engaging in such subsistence production. Until now, participants in self-provisioning have been portrayed either as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. Analyzing face-to-face interviews with 600 households in Ukraine, this article not only reveals the extensive use of self-provisioning in Ukraine but also develops a theoretically-integrative typology to explain the diverse reasons for engaging in such activity which differentiates between “willing” (rational economic actors, choice, ...

This article explores the relationship between the regulation of employment and the decisions of multinational corporations (MNCs) to invest in Central, Southern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. Building on La Porta et al.’s work on legal origin, and its assumptions as to the incompatibility of owner and worker rights, the World Bank’s Doing Business reports held that countries with stronger protection for worker rights represented poor destinations for investors. However, is it the case that investors are really deterred by employee rights? Our study investigates actual trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) through an analysis of UNCTAD World Investment Reports. We find that the level of individual and collective rights and social security legislation is not significantly associated with FDI.

Environmental issues are demanding deep changes, both by governments as well as by the private sector through strategic management, across all sectors. This is particularly the case in the automotive services sector, where the need to reduce CO2 emissions has become a central target. In this paper, the researchers seek to evaluate these innovative initiatives. For this purpose, the main tax measures are analysed as well as the strategies being developed by automobile companies in the context of the European Union in general and Spain in particular. It is found that different public policies and managerial initiatives are being used to achieve this goal.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to evaluate critically the extensively used social versus commercial entrepreneurship dualism that depicts these as entirely discrete realms possessing distinct and separate logics.Design/methodology/approachTo challenge this dichotomous representation of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, empirical data gathered during 865 face‐to‐face interviews in urban and rural deprived and affluent English localities are reported.FindingsUncovering entrepreneurs’ rationales the finding is that entrepreneurs do not pursue either purely commercial or social goals. Rather, most voice both commercial and social logics when explaining their entrepreneurial endeavour, displaying that there is not a dichotomy but rather a continuum from purely commercial to purely social entrepreneurship. Neither do entrepreneurs’ logics remain static over time. What begins as a commercial entrepreneurial venture may become more socially oriented over time or vice versa. Logics underpinning entrepreneurship also vary socio‐spatially. Those living in deprived populations and rural populations are more socially‐oriented, whilst relatively affluent and urban populations are comparatively more commercially‐driven.Research limitations/implicationsThis is only a small sample and the data are not up to date. A more extensive contemporary survey will be required to more fully unravel how commercial and social entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship are not wholly separate and distinct.Practical implicationsThe findings raise questions about whether it is appropriate to any longer differentiate between social and commercial entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship, such as in economic policy.Originality/valueThis paper displays the need to transcend the long‐standing commercial versus social entrepreneurship dualism and begins to document how logics of entrepreneurship vary temporally and spatially.

A widespread assumption has been that undeclared work is rife in the European construction industry. Despite this, there have been no European-wide surveys of the prevalence and character of undeclared work in this sector of the economy. To fill this gap, the findings are reported of a 2007 Eurobarometer survey on undeclared work involving 26 659 face-to-face interviews undertaken in 27 European Union member states. This reveals the widespread prevalence of undeclared work in the European construction industry along with its heterogeneous forms and uneven distribution both spatially and across different groups of the construction workforce. It then evaluates what needs to be done to tackle this problem. The argument is that doing nothing is seldom an option because this leaves intact the existing negative impacts of undeclared work on construction businesses, the construction workforce, customers and governments. Pursuing the eradication of such work is neither effective nor necessarily desirable since mo...