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Purpose The aim of this paper is to evaluate contrasting ways of tackling self-employment in the informal sector. Conventionally, the participation of the self-employed in the informal sector has been viewed as a rational economic decision taken when the expected benefits outweigh the costs, and thus enforcement authorities have sought to change the benefit-to-cost ratio by increasing the punishments and chances of being caught. Recently, however, neo-institutional theory has viewed such endeavor as a product of a lack of vertical trust (in government) and horizontal trust (in others) and pursued trust-building strategies to nurture voluntary compliance. Design/methodology/approach To evaluate these contrasting policy approaches, data are reported from special Eurobarometer survey 92.1 conducted in 2019 across 28 European countries (the 27 member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom) involving over 27,565 interviews. Findings Using probit regression analysis, the finding is that the likelihood of participation in informal self-employment is not associated with the level of expected punishments and chances of being caught, but is significantly associated with the level of vertical and horizontal trust, with a greater likelihood of participation in informal self-employment when there is lower vertical and horizontal trust. Practical implications The outcome is a call for state authorities to shift away from the use of repressive policy measures that increase the penalties and chances of being caught and toward trust-building strategies to nurture voluntary compliance. How this can be achieved is explored. Originality/value Evidence is provided to justify a shift toward seeking trust-building strategies by state authorities to engender voluntary compliance among the self-employed operating in the informal sector in Europe.

Purpose The dominant theorisation of the informal economy views participants as rational economic actors operating in the informal economy when the expected benefits exceed the perceived costs of being caught and punished. Recently, an alternative theory has emerged which views participants as social actors operating in the informal economy due to their lack of vertical trust (in governments) and horizontal trust (in others). The aim of this paper is to evaluate these competing theorisations. Methodology To do so, data are reported from special Eurobarometer surveys conducted in 2007, 2013 and 2019 respectively in eight West European countries (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands and the United Kingdom). Findings Using probit regression analysis, the finding is that increasing the expected likelihood of being caught and level of punishment had a weak significant impact on the likelihood of participating in the informal economy in 2007, and no significant impact in 2013 and 2019. However, greater vertical and horizontal trust is significantly associated with a lower level of participation in the informal economy in all three time periods. Practical Implications The outcome is a call for a policy to shift away from increasing the expected level of punishment and likelihood of being caught, and towards improving vertical and horizontal trust. How this can be achieved is explored. Originality/value Evidence is provided in a Western European context to support a shift away from a rational economic actor to a social actor approach when explaining and tackling the informal economy.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain who purchases undeclared home repairs and renovations and their motives to tackle the cash-in-hand consumer culture. The conventional view has been that undeclared home repairs and renovations are sought by those consumers needing to save money and desiring a lower price. Here, this is evaluated critically. Design/methodology/approach To do so, evidence from a 2019 Eurobarometer survey involving 27,565 face-to-face interviews in 28 European countries is reported. Findings The finding is the need for a nuanced and variegated understanding of who purchases undeclared home repairs and renovations and why. Lower price is their sole rationale in just 25% of purchases, one of several rationales in 34% of cases and not a reason in the remaining 42% of purchases. Besides a lower price, consumers purchase undeclared not only unintentionally but also to circumvent the failings of formal sector provision in terms of its availability, speed and quality, as well as for social and redistributive rationales. Practical implications To reduce the cash-in-hand consumer culture, not only are incentives needed to persuade consumers to purchase declared along with awareness-raising campaigns about the benefits of purchasing declared services but initiatives are also needed to improve the availability, speed, reliability and quality of formal provision and to address undeclared purchases conducted for social and redistributive purposes. Originality/value This paper improves understanding of how governments can stop consumers asking "how much for cash" and reduce demand for undeclared home repair and renovation services.

Unemployment, or enforced idleness of persons willing & able to work, first became a problem when the Industrial Revolution produced a more complicated, interdependent, & impersonal society. Unemployment may be classified by its cause as aggregate, selective or structural, & personal. Unemployment varies greatly according to business conditions & among different classes of the population, but typically lasts less than 15 weeks. Until the depression, major sources of help for the unemployed were friends & relatives, with private charity, public relief, & employer & trade union plans playing secondary roles, the depression brought federal intervention. The Social Security Act of 1935 encouraged formation of state unemployment insurance. Control measures since adopted are monetary & fiscal policy to reduce unemployment, automatic stabilizers, manpower development & training, labor-market information, & public employment; additional, alleviative measures are public assistance & private employee benefit plans, but unemployment insurance is the most important. 5 Tables. Modified HA.

Examines the vitality of Foucault's social control thesis in light of contemporary mental health and hospital law, with special emphasis on the psychiatric institution and the system of confinement for the mentally ill. Investigates the criteria of mental illness and dangerousness in relation to involuntary civil commitment determinations and demonstrates how chaos theory enhances understanding of the social control thesis and its implications for medical justice. (Original abstract - amended)