Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Labor Relations Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Colin C Williams

2012

Articles 1 - 12 of 12

Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations

Evaluating The Prevalence And Nature Of Self-Employment In The Informal Economy: Evidence From A 27-Nation European Survey, Colin C. Williams, Jan Windebank, Sara Nadin Jan 2012

Evaluating The Prevalence And Nature Of Self-Employment In The Informal Economy: Evidence From A 27-Nation European Survey, Colin C. Williams, Jan Windebank, Sara Nadin

Colin C Williams

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. 

Go to article

Evaluating The Variations In Undeclared Work In The Eu28, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Evaluating The Variations In Undeclared Work In The Eu28, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Drawing upon the results of 26,659 face-to-face interviews in the 27 member states of the
European Union (EU-27), the aim of this paper is to evaluate its varying magnitude and
whether such work is mostly wage-based (of an envelope wage or undeclared variety) or
own-account work (of a market-oriented or solidarity-oriented variety). The finding is
that in ‘welfare capitalist’ work and welfare regimes, which are more equal (measured by
the gini coefficient) pursue more extensive labour market interventions, have higher
levels of social protection and greater state redistribution, undeclared economies are
smaller and are composed mostly of solidarity-oriented own-account work. …

Go to article

Explaining The Persistence Of The Informal Economy In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Explaining The Persistence Of The Informal Economy In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Lessons From Moscow, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

To evaluate critically the competing explanations for the persistence of the informal economy that variously represent this sphere as a residue, by-product, alternative and/or complement to the formal economy, this paper reports a survey of livelihood practices in 313 Moscow households. The finding is that the majority of households primarily depend on informal work to secure their livelihood and that although each and every theorisation is wholly valid with regard to particular types of informal work and/or specific population groups, no one articulation fully captures the diverse nature and multiple meanings of the informal economy in contemporary Moscow. The paper …

Go to article

Theorizing The Self-Service Economy: A Case Study Of Do-It-Yourself (Diy) Activity, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Theorizing The Self-Service Economy: A Case Study Of Do-It-Yourself (Diy) Activity, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Recently, it has become increasingly recognised that self-servicing is a growing rather than declining phenomenon. To explain this, a range of competing theories have emerged which variously portray those engaged in self-servicing either as rational economic actors, dupes, seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. This paper evaluates critically the validity of these rival explanations. To do this, the extent of, and reasons for, self-servicing in the domestic realm is empirically evaluated through an internet survey of 5,500 people living in the city of Sheffield in England. This resulted in 418 valid responses (a 7.6 …

Go to article

Enabling Enterprise: Tackling The Barriers To Formalisation, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

Enabling Enterprise: Tackling The Barriers To Formalisation, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.

Go to article

From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers Dec 2011

From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers

Colin C Williams

Drawing inspiration from a burgeoning corpus of scholars who have begun to question
the narrative of impending market hegemony, this paper seeks to further advance this
emergent ‘diverse economies’ literature by constructing a conceptual framework for
representing the multiple labour practices in economies. Transcending the simplistic
market/non-market dichotomy, this conceptualises multiple kinds of labour existing along
a spectrum from market-oriented to non-market oriented practices, which is cross-cut by
another spectrum ranging from wholly monetised to wholly non-monetised practices. The
resultant portrayal of a plurality of labour practices that seamlessly merge into each other
is then applied to understanding the types …

Go to article

Rethinking The Nature Of Community Economies: Some Lessons From Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Peter Rodgers Dec 2011

Rethinking The Nature Of Community Economies: Some Lessons From Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Peter Rodgers

Colin C Williams

This paper contributes to a small but growing body of thought that
has questioned the hegemony of capitalism by revealing the
persistence of multifarious economic practices in everyday community
economies. To further advance this school of thought, first, a
conceptual framework is developed to map the diverse economic
practices used by communities and second, this is applied through a
survey of 600 households in Ukraine. The outcome is to reveal that
just as multifarious economic practices prevailed under state
socialism, the same applies in societies in transition to capitalism,
suggesting that there are alternative futures for community economies
beyond market …

Go to article

Evaluating Competing Theories Of Informal Entrepreneurship: Some Lessons From Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Peter Rodgers Dec 2011

Evaluating Competing Theories Of Informal Entrepreneurship: Some Lessons From Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Peter Rodgers

Colin C Williams

Purpose – The 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/approach – To evaluate these competing theories, a 2005/2006 survey
involving face-to-face interviews with 298 informal entrepreneurs in Ukraine is analysed.
Findings – …

Go to article

From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams Dec 2011

From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

Drawing inspiration from a burgeoning corpus of scholars who have begun to question the narrative of impending market hegemony, this paper seeks to further advance this emergent ‘diverse economies’ literature by constructing a conceptual framework for representing the multiple labour practices in economies. Transcending the simplistic market/non-market dichotomy, this conceptualises multiple kinds of labour existing along a spectrum from market-oriented to non-market oriented practices, which is cross-cut by another spectrum ranging from wholly monetised to wholly non-monetised practices. The resultant portrayal of a plurality of labour practices that seamlessly merge into each other is then applied to understanding the types …

Go to article

How Much For Cash?: Tackling The Cash-In-Hand Culture In The European Property And Construction Sector, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Jan Windebank Dec 2011

How Much For Cash?: Tackling The Cash-In-Hand Culture In The European Property And Construction Sector, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Jan Windebank

Colin C Williams

Purpose – The 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/approach – To do this, evidence from a 2007 Eurobarometer survey
involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews in 27 European Union member states is reported.
Findings – The 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 …

Go to article

Work Beyond Employment: Representations Of Informal Economic Activities, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin Dec 2011

Work Beyond Employment: Representations Of Informal Economic Activities, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin

Colin C Williams

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 …

Go to article

Evaluating The Persistence Of Selfprovisioning In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Evidence From Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin Dec 2011

Evaluating The Persistence Of Selfprovisioning In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Evidence From Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin

Colin C Williams

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 selfprovisioning
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 …

Go to article