Encyclopedia of Sociology Vol

(Banister 1986). There may have been an overor underestimation between both calculations, but either way, the direction of the tendency toward an increasing IMR seem to be correct.

According to Banister (1986), there are three reasons that may explain this inversion. First, in 1978 a general economic reform began and the availability of preventive and curative health services was somehow affected, which may have been detrimental to the survival of some infants. Second, at the same time China’s severe family-plan- ning reached rural couples. In 1981, 53 percent of all births corresponded to second and higherorder births; therefore, if mothers of these unauthorized babies lacked prenatal care, not surprisingly their infants would experience higher risk of early death. Additionally, the provision of medical care had been tilted intentionally toward the only child, which may have implied the deterioration of the health care available for children in multichild families. Third, a decrease in the proportion of breast-feeding combined with the use of contaminated water used to mix formula might have adversely affected infant survival. Although these researchers did not have precise information on the proportion of breast-feeding, based on fragmentary data that proportion seems to have decreased (in 1982 22 percent of the babies in urban areas and 60 percent in rural settlements were breast-fed). A possible fourth factor is infanticide, but the distribution of infant deaths by sex did not show a bias toward more female deaths (it is said that there exists in China a preference for male babies). Hence, if infanticide played an important role in increasing the IMR, Banister’s evidence suggest either that the incidence of female infanticide is not statistically significant or that respondents reported neither the birth nor the death of female victims of infanticide.

Sri Lanka is a rare case of a developing country’s retaining records from nearly the beginning of the twentieth century. Stolnitz (1956) refers to Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) as one example of rapidly declining infant mortality; more recently, Meegama (1986) offers an overview of mortality trends since the beginning of the twentieth century. According to this latter author, during the second half of the nineteenth century, the IMR started to decrease because of a reduction in the

number of famines and the control of cholera epidemics.

During 1911–1915, the IMR was 201 deaths per 1,000 live births, fifteen years later it had decreased to 175 deaths. In 1945, at the end of the World War II, the IMR was recorded at 140 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. Prior to the war, there was a decrease in the mortality rate for both sexes and all age groups in both endemic and nonendemic malarial zones. One of the main reasons for this decline was the expansion of maternity and child welfare services, which decreased both infant and maternal mortality (Meegama 1986). It might have been the combination of that preexisting decline and the introduction of a wider range of medical measures that caused a steady decrease in mortality after the war. As shown in Table 1, in 1948 Sri Lanka had an IMR of 92.1. This was halved by the beginning of the 1970s (45.1) and was again reduced to a third of the 1970 rat by 1993 (16.5).

South Korea and Singapore are two cases of recent industrialization and fast decline in mortality patterns. Information is not available to reconstruct the South Korean mortality history; however, what can be seen in Table 1 is a decrease of more than 50 percent from 1983 to 1993. In 1983 the country had an IMR of 29.7, which had declined to 12.3 ten years later.

Singapore is another impressive case of accelerated reduction in infant mortality. In 1948, it had a relatively low IMR among Asian countries (80.8), but its rate was greater than that of Japan. By 1960, the rate had been reduced by more than 50 percent, reaching 34.8. The trend continued, and by 1993 Singapore’s IMR was 4.7, similar to the Swedish and very close to the Japanese rate.

Africa. Mortality in Africa is the highest of any major region in the world and historically has had the least reliable information, with certain exceptions. Through the application of special techniques, mortality trends have been reconstructed. The pattern of mortality in Africa is characteristic of populations with a high mortality schedule: It is dominated by mortality among children under five years of age, and infectious, parasitic, and respiratory diseases are the major causes of death. Concerning infant mortality in Africa, we examine some cases from this region displayed in Table 1.

Kenya lacks a usable vital registration system, but the application of indirect techniques has helped in reconstructing mortality trends there. In 1948, when the country began its transition toward lower mortality, it might have had an IMR of 184 per 1,000 live births, according to some estimates (Ewbank et al. 1986). In 1970 that rate had dropped to 81.2, but in the following decades the pace of change was considerably slower; in 1993 the rate was 71.0. For an African country, this is a low mortality pattern, but it is comparable to some Asian countries and to the poorest in Latin America.

Mauritius has a mortality pattern that is gradually approaching that of Western Europe (United Nations 1984). It has the lowest IMR of African countries shown in Table 1. In the period immediately after the World War II, Mauritius had an IMR of 186.2 deaths per 1,000 live births; this decreased 62 percent in twelve years to 70.9 in 1960. That steady rate of decrease was maintained, with the IMR falling to 19.9 by 1993.

The South African case presented some different data analysis challenges because prior to the 1980s information on mortality was not available for the country as a whole but rather by ethnic group, showing the effect of apartheid on vital statistics but also allowing us to see ethnic differentials in the levels of infant mortality. As shown in Table 1, the white population had always been better off than their fellow South Africans; the IMR of the black population held relatively constant until 1970 and the IMR of the Asian population was located between that of the white and black populaces. The ratio of deaths between ethnic groups illustrates social differences: In 1948 there were approximately 4 black infant deaths for each white one and 1.7 black infant deaths for each Asian one. The ratio for Asian to white deaths was approximately 2-to-1 for babies under the age of one year. In 1970 the gap between blacks and the other races widened: There were 6.1 black infant deaths for each white death, 3.6 black infant deaths for each Asian death, and 1.7 Asian infant deaths for each white infant death. By the 1980s the information from the Demographic Yearbook was no longer classified by ethnic group; it shows that the general IMR decreased between 1983 and 1993, from 83.3 to 53.0, but it does not show the ethnic differential during those years.

DIFFERENTIALS IN INFANT AND CHILD

MORTALITY

Numerous studies have documented and examined various differences in infant and child mortality among different groups along various socioeconomic and ecological spectrums. For most of the earliest periods under investigation, ecological and geographic factors seemed to account for most of the observed differences in infant and child mortality rates (Preston and Haines 1991). Current research on this topic is guided by a theoretical framework put forth by Mosley and Chen (1984). Their original intent was to outline an analytical framework for studying child survival in developing countries, but many researchers have found this framework to be extremely suitable for studying infant and mortality differentials within various contexts.

Mosley and Chen (1984) propose that all socioeconomic determinants, or exogenous factors, of child mortality operate through a set of biological mechanisms that they call ‘‘proximate determinants’’ or ‘‘intermediate variables.’’ That is, social and economic factors influence infant and child mortality through a set of biological factors that an infant is born with. Many studies have identified numerous variables and factors that influence both the biological viability of an infant at birth and the health and well-being of the infant ex utero, thereby increasing or decreasing the probability that an infant will die before its first birthday or that a child will die before its fifth. These social and economic factors range from individual-level characteristics to householdand community-level factors.

Research has identified three main infant birth outcomes that exert major influences on infant survival chances and through which many exogenous factors operate: infant birthweight, gestational age, and the interaction of the two, sometimes referred to as intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Infants weighing less than 2,500 grams at birth (low birthweight, LBW) and infants of short gestation (less than thirty-seven weeks’ gestation=premature) have been consistently found to be at dramatically higher risk of infant mortality (Hummer et al. 1999). Interactions between these two outcomes have also been found to affect infant mortality rates significantly (Frisbie et al. 1996). These relationships hold for both MDCs and LDCs (UN 1984).

Of the set of proximate and exogenous determinants originally outlined by Mosley and Chen (1984), most have been identified as having significant effects on infant mortality. Smoking, alcohol, and illicit drug use have all been shown to adversely affect infant and child mortality (Chomitz et al. 1995; Petitti and Coleman 1990). Maternal weight gain has been found to be negatively correlated with infant mortality risk; that is, the more weight a woman gains during her pregnancy, the lower the infant mortality risk (Hummer et al. 1999). The birth order of the infant is associated with differential infant mortality risks, while shorter interpregnancy intervals are linked to higher mortality risks (Kallan 1993; Miller 1991). Male infants have always had higher mortality risks (Rumbaut and Weeks 1996). The role of prenatal care has been debated in recent times, but most researchers agree that adequate prenatal care produces beneficial effects for the health and well-being of mothers, infants, and ultimately young children (Fiscella 1995). The effect on infant mortality risk of maternal age had previously been thought to be constantly negative in direction, but more recent analyses indicate that many interaction effects may work specifically through maternal age, making the conceptual picture much more complex (Geronimus 1987).

Exogenous factors have also been investigated and analyzed. One factor that has captured the continued interest of researchers is the role that race and ethnicity play in explaining infant and child mortality differentials. In both MDCs and LDCs consisting of multiracial and/or multiethnic populations, racial and ethnic infant and child mortality differentials often exist. For example, in 1996 the black population in the United States experienced an IMR of 14.1 while the white population experienced an IMR of 6.1 (MacDorman and Atkinson 1998). In 1990, the indigenous population of Mexico experienced a higher risk of infant mortality 1.5 times higher than the nonindigenous population (FernándezHam 1993). Although the role that race and ethnicity may play in IMR differentials is complex, there is agreement that such differences are based on social, economic and historical inequalities (Cooper and David 1986; David 1990). In LDCs those historical inequalities are also related to place of residence, which in most of these countries imply a more disadvantaged position for rural populations (Camposortega Cruz 1989b).

More direct socioeconomic indicators are currently being tested to identify their effects on mortality risks. Increases in maternal education have consistently been shown to decrease both infant and child mortality risk at both the individual and national levels (Hummer et al. 1992; Pampel and Pillai 1986). Marital status has also been linked to differential infant mortality risks; unmarried mothers have a higher risk for infant mortality. This may reflect the fact that single mothers often must bear the costs of both child-rearing and day- to-day living expenses with limited assistance (Frisbie et al. 1997). Studies have also identified the important role that income plays in influencing infant and child mortality risk (Geronimus and Korenman 1988). Cramer (1995) finds evidence of this association even when controlling for a wide array of other sociodemographic risk factors. Many others have explored the effects of various public health assistance and intervention programs, either by governmental or nonprofit agencies. In both MDCs and LDCs, some evidence exists to support the creation and implementation of such intervention programs, such as the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program in the United States and governmental health programs in Guatemala (Moss and Carver 1998; United Nations 1984). According to Frenk and associates (1989), in certain developed countries there may exist two populations divided by their differential infant and child mortality risk. These researchers point to existing differences between insured and uninsured populations in Mexico as an example of the divergent character of national infant mortality profiles in both highand middle-income countries (Frenk et al. 1989).

With the development of new theoretical frameworks and statistical methodologies, infant and child mortality research has traveled down new paths. One interesting development has been analyses based upon characteristics of both the individual and the neighborhood or community in which individuals live. Determinants of infant and child mortality are hypothesized to emerge from conflation of personal, household, and neighborhood factors. Collins and David (1997) find that violent neighborhoods may adversely effect an expectant mother’s pregnancy outcome, in spite of the measured personal characteristics of the mother. Guest (1998) finds that the neighborhood unemployment level has an important effect on

infant mortality beyond effects due to other socioeconomic indicators and race.

PROSPECTS

The search for solutions to reduce levels of infant and child mortality will require the joint participation of multiple actors: governments, international agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals within the scientific and policy communities. Predicting future trends in infant and child mortality remains a rather difficult task given the complexity of this phenomenon. However, scientific knowledge gathered at both the aggregate and individual levels should make reduction of the significant gap between the developed and developing world possible. The multiple differences that exist in mortality patterns within groups in both developed and developing countries are illustrated by the current age structure of mortality. In 1990-1995, life expectancy at birth was 74.4 years in developed countries and 62.3 years in the less developed world. This indicator is consistent with the corresponding IMRs: 10 versus 70 infant deaths per 1,000 live births for MDCs and LDCs, respectively.

It is noteworthy that infant and child mortality rates fell so drastically in the twentieth century. But even so, there remains the need to determine the next course of action in order to combat the mortality differentials between less and more developed nations and among various socioeconomic groups within nations. Continued successes will depend on identifying problem areas and creating innovative solutions to these health, and ultimately, social problems.

REFERENCES

Arriaga, E. E. 1970 Mortality Decline and its Demographic Effects in Latin America (Population Monograph Series No. 6). Berkeley: University of California Press.

——— 1989 ‘‘Changing Trends in Mortality Decline during the Last Decades.’’ In L. Ruzicka, G. Wunsch, and P. Kane, eds., Differential Mortality: Methodological Issues and Biosocial Factors. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Banister, J. 1986 China: Recent Trends in Health and Mortality. Washington, D.C.: Center for International Research, U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Bogue, D. J. 1969 Principles of Demography. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Bourgeois-Pichat, J. 1951 ‘‘La Mesure de la Mortalité Infantile. I. Princepes et Methodes.’’ Population 2:1–17.

Bouvier, L. F., and J. Van der Tak 1976 ‘‘Infant Mortality: Progress and Problems.’’ Population Bulletin 31:3–33.

Camposortega Cruz, S. 1989a ‘‘La evolución de la mortalidad en México, 1940–1980.’’ Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos 4(2):229–264.

——— 1989b ‘‘Mortalidad en México. Algunas Consideraciones Sobre Los Diferenciales UrbanoRurales.’’ Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos 4(3):573–593.

Chomitz, V. R., L. W. Cheung, and E. Lieberman 1995 ‘‘The Role of Lifestyle in Preventing Low Birth Weight.’’ Future of Children 5(1):121–138.

Coale, A. J. 1965 ‘‘Birth Rates, Death Rates, and Rates of Growth in Human Population.’’ In Mindel C. Sheps and Jeanne C. Ridley, eds., Public Health and Population Change. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press.

Collins, J. W., and R. J. David 1997 ‘‘Urban Violence and African-American Pregnancy Outcomes.’’ Ethnicity and Disease 7:184–190.

Cooper, R., and R. David 1986 ‘‘The Biological Concept of Race and its Application to Public Health and Epidemiology.’’ Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 11:97–116.

Cramer, J. C. 1995 ‘‘Racial and Ethnic Differences in Birthweight: The Role of Income and Family Assistance.’’ Demography 27:413–430.

Creighton-Zollar, A. 1993 ‘‘Infant Mortality by Socioeconomic Status and Race: Richmond, VA 1979– 1981.’’ Sociological Spectrum 10:133–142.

David, R. 1990 ‘‘Race, Birthweight, and Mortality Rates [editorial].’’ Journal of Pediatrics 116:101–102.

Ewbank, D., R. Henin, and J. Kekovole 1986 ‘‘An Integration of Demographic and Epidemiologic Research on Mortality in Kenya.’’ In United Nations, Determinants of Mortality Change and Differentials in Developing Countries (Population Studies No. 94). New York: United Nations.

Fernández-Ham, P. 1993 ‘‘La Mortalidad Infantil en la Población Indígena: Atrasos y Contrastes.’’ Demos 6:12–13.

Fiscella, K. 1995 ‘‘Does Prenatal Care Improve Birth Outcomes? A Critical Review.’’ Obstetrics & Gynecology 85(3):468–479.

Frenk, J., J. Bobadilla, J. Sepulveda, and M. Lopez 1989 ‘‘Health Transition in Middle-Income Countries: New Challenges for Health Care.’’ Health Policy and Planning 4(1):29–39.

Frisbie, W. P., M. Biegler, P. deTurk, D. Forbes, and S. G. Pullum 1997 ‘‘Determinants of Intrauterine Growth

Retardation and Other Compromised Birth Outcomes: A Comparison of Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Non-Hispanic Whites.’’ American Journal of Public Health 87(12):1977–1983.

Frisbie, W. P., D. Forbes, and S. G. Pullum 1996 ‘‘Compromised Birth Outcomes and Infant Mortality Among Racial and Ethnic Groups.’’ Demography 33(4):469–481.

Geronimus, A. T. 1987 ‘‘On Teenage Childbearing and Neonatal Mortality in the United States.’’ Population and Development Review 13(2):245–279.

———, and S. D. Korenman 1988 ‘‘Comment on Pampel and Pillai’s ‘Patterns and Determinants of Infant Mortality in Developed Nations, 1950–1975.’’’ Demography 25(1):155–158.

Guest, A. M. 1998 ‘‘The Ecology of Race and Socioeconomic Distress: Infant and Working-Age Mortality in Chicago.’’ Demography 35(1):23–34.

Hill, K. H. 1991 ‘‘Approaches to the Measurement of Childhood Mortality: A Comparative Approach.’’

Population Index 57(3):368–382.

Hummer, R. A., M. Biegler, P. deTurk, D. Forbes, W. P. Frisbie, Y. Hong, and S. G. Pullum 1999 ‘‘Race/ Ethnicity, Nativity and Infant Mortality.’’ Social Forces 77(3):1083–1118.

Hummer, R. A., I. A. Eberstein, and C. B. Nam 1992 ‘‘Infant Mortality Differentials Among Hispanic Groups in Florida.’’ Social Forces 70(4):1055–1075.

Jain, A. K., and P. Visaira (eds.) 1988 Infant Mortality in India. Differentials and Determinants. New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Kallan, J. E. 1993 ‘‘Race, Intervening Variables, and Two Forms of Low Birthweight.’’ Demography 30:489–506.

Kitagawa, E. M. 1977 ‘‘On Mortality.’’ Demography 14(4):381–389.

MacDorman, M. F., and J. O. Atkinson 1998 ‘‘Infant Mortality Statistics from the 1995 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set.’’ Monthly Vital Statistics Report 46(12s):1– 24.

Meegama, S. A. 1986 ‘‘The Mortality Transition in Sri Lanka.’’ In United Nations, Determinants of Mortality Change and Differentials in Developing Countries (Population Studies No. 94). New York: United Nations.

Meslé, F., and J. Vallin 1996 Mortality in the World: Trends and Prospects. Paris: Centré Francais sur la Population et le Développement.

Miller, J. E. 1991 ‘‘Birth Intervals and Perinatal Health: An Investigation of Three Hypothesis.’’ Family Planning Perspectives 23:62–70.

Mosley, W. H., and L. C. Chen 1984 ‘‘An Analytic Framework for the Study of Child Survival in Developing Countries.’’ Population Development and Review

10(supplement):25–48.

Moss, N. E., and K. Carver 1998 ‘‘The Effect of WIC and Medicaid on Infant Mortality in the United States.’’

American Journal of Public Health 88(9):1354–1361.

Omran, A. R. 1971 ‘‘The Epidemiologic Transition. A Theory of Population Change. Part 1.’’ The Milbank Fund Quarterly 49(4):509–538.

Omran, A. R. 1971 ‘‘Epidemiologic Transition: A Theory of the Epidemiology of Population Change.’’

Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 49(4):509–538.

Omran, A. R. 1977 ‘‘Epidemiologic Transition in the U.S.: The Health Factor in Population Change.’’

Population Bulletin 32(2):3–42.

Palloni, A. 1998 ‘‘A Review of Infant Mortality Trends in Selected Underdeveloped Countries: Some New Estimates.’’ Population Studies 35(1):100–119.

Pampel, F. C., and V. K. Pillai 1986, ‘‘Patterns and Determinants of Infant Mortality in Developed Nations, 1950–1975.’’ Demography 23(4):525–542.

Petitti, D. B., and C. Coleman 1990 ‘‘Cocaine Use and the Risk of Low Birthweight.’’ American Journal of Public Health 80:25–27.

Preston, S. H. 1976 Mortality Patterns in National Populations. New York: Academic Press.

——— 1992 ‘‘Infant and Child Mortality.’’ In E. F. Borgatta and M. L. Borgatta, eds., Encyclopedia of Sociology, vol. 2. New York: Macmillan.

———, and M. R. Haines 1991 Fatal Years: Child Mortality in Late Nineteenth-Century America. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

———, and V. E. Nelson 1974 ‘‘Structure and Change in Causes of Death: An International Summary.’’ Population Studies 28(1):19–51.

Rumbaut, R. G., and J. R. Weeks 1996 ‘‘Unraveling a Public Health Enigma: Why Do Immigrants Experience Superior Perinatal Health Outcomes.’’ Research in the Sociology of Health Care 13B:337–391.

Shryock, Henry S., and J. Siegel 1976 The Methods and Materials of Demography. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

Sowards, K. A. 1997 ‘‘Premature Birth and the Changing Composition of Newborn Infectious Disease Mortality: Reconsidering ‘Exogenous’ Mortality.’’ Demography 34(3):399–409.

Spiegelman, M. 1956 ‘‘Recent Trends and Determinants of Mortality in Highly Developed Countries.’’ In F. G. Boudreau and C. V. Kiser, eds., Trends and

Differentials in Mortality. New York: Milbank Memorial Fund, pp. 26–34.

Stockwell, E. G., and H. T. Groat 1984 World Population: An Introduction to Demography. New York: Franklin Watts.

Stolnitz, G. J. 1955 ‘‘A Century of International Mortality Trends: I.’’ Population Studies 9(1):24–55.

——— 1956 ‘‘Comparison Between Some Recent Mortality Trends in Underdeveloped Areas and Historical Trends in the West.’’ In F. G. Boudreau and C. V. Kiser, eds., Trends and Differentials in Mortality. New York: Milbank Memorial Fund, pp. 51–60.

United Nations 1979 Demographic Yearbook. Historical

Supplement. New York: United Nations.

———1982 Demographic Yearbook. New York: United Nations.

———1984 ‘‘The Influence of Developmental-Related Change on Infant and Child Mortality in Africa.’’ In United Nations, Mortality and Health Policy: Proceedings of the Expert Group on Mortality and Health Policy, Rome, 30 May to June 1983. New York: United Nations.

———1987 Demographic Yearbook. New York: United Nations.

———1990 Step-by-Step Guide to the Estimation of Child Mortality. New York: United Nations.

———1996 Demographic Yearbook. New York: United Nations.

Van de Walle, E., and F. Van de Walle 1990 ‘‘The Private and the Public Child.’’ In J. Caldwell, S. Findley, P. Caldwell, G Santow, W. Cosford, J. Braid, and D. Broers-Freeman, eds., What We Know About Health Transition: The Cultural, Social and Behavioural Determinants of Health, Vol. 1. Australia: The Australian National University, pp. 150–164.

World Bank 1983 World Development Report. New York:

Oxford University Press.

GEORGINA ROJAS-GARCÍA

SAMUEL ECHEVARRÍA

INFORMAL ECONOMY, THE

Informal economic activity can only be understood in relationship to its counterparts in the institutions of the formal economy, most notably in markets for labor, goods, and services. In most modern, industrial, capitalist societies, economic activity occurs in the form of exchanges of cash for labor, consumer goods, and services within wellregulated economic institutions located within the

formal economy. The labor market, in particular, provides the framework for regulating the exchange of work and wages between sellers and buyers of labor (workers and employers) under the auspices of a legal and regulatory environment enforced by the state. At the same time, it is also widely recognized that livelihood strategies may entail all manner of exchange outside these formal institutions and regulations. That is, exchanges may occur in the informal economy. Goods and services may be bartered, traded for nonmonetary compensation, or produced under conditions that flaunt health and safety regulations. Earned income may go unreported and untaxed. Individuals may self-provision, using their own resources to produce and consume household necessities even when they are readily available for purchase. Credit may be extended on the basis of kinship and trust. Numerous other types of unrecognized exchanges create value ‘‘under the table,’’ that is, in the informal economy.

In some societies the informal economy is the dominant mode of economic activity. It is especially prominent in developing countries where the majority of the population may engage in various types of economic exchanges outside any formal regulation, cash economy, or state supervision. Yet informal activity is not limited to developing nations. Increasingly, economists, sociologists, and others who study work and labor markets recognize that the informal economy is very much present in first world industrial and postindustrial economies. The shadow, black, gray, underground, subterranean, or parallel economy are among the common euphemisms for an informal economy that exists side by side with its more studied and theorized counterparts in developed as well as developing nations, first and third worlds, urban and rural communities, and everything in between.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONCEPT

History. The term informal economy has numerous uses and meanings and few precise definitions. Its original formulation is attributed to an anthropologist, Keith Hart, studying emerging urban labor markets in Africa for the International Labour Office (ILO) (Hart 1973). Hart distinguished between waged employment in large firms or government agencies and self-employment in his studies of the urban labor force, noting the wide

variety of small-scale entrepreneurial activities that were central to the livelihood strategies and economic life of residents of urban centers in Africa. Small traders, food vendors, and sellers of goods or services from shoe shines to haircuts are the familiar mainstays of urban economies. Subsequent use of the term by the ILO came to mean self-employment and small-scale family enterprise correlated with poverty, underemployment, and low productivity, particularly in poor, developing nations. This view was widely adopted by analysts and policy makers for whom the informal economy was a phenomenon of poverty and underdevelopment, with the implication that development of a modern economy decreases the need for and significance of informal activity. Ultimately, informal work should be absorbed into the regulated economy.

More recently, assumptions about the scope, location, and importance of informal work have come under scrutiny, since it has been recognized that informal work is neither unique to impoverished Third World countries nor necessarily diminishing in size or importance. Several developments in diverse areas of economic sociology, but all of them linked to global economic restructuring, have led to renewed interest in informal work and a growing understanding that it is both more widespread and less understood than previous accounts suggested. Studies of urban ethnic enclaves, patterns of employment for new immigrants, and the explosion of the global division of labor in ‘‘world cities’’ have generated interest in informal work. Similarly, there has been a corresponding interest in livelihood and income-gener- ating strategies of both the urban and rural poor, and in wide-scale economic restructuring that sought increased flexibility in production processes and labor practices, as well as recognition of the persistence of noncash exchanges in communities of all sizes and locations. Additionally, periodic headline-grabbing media accounts of sweatshops, child and immigrant labor abuses, and other gross violations of labor law and workplace protections have fueled broad awareness of the persistence and pervasiveness of informal activity.

Definitions. Despite growing awareness of the ubiquity of the informal sector, a precise definition remains elusive, and numerous issues remain

unresolved. Typically, informal activity is defined by what it is not; that is, it is not formal, it is not regulated, and it is not counted in official statistics and national accounting schemes. Castells and Portes (1989) provide an influential definition using this approach: ‘‘The informal economy is . . .

a process of income-generation characterized by one central feature: it is unregulated by the institutions of society, in a legal and social environment in which similar activities are regulated’’ (p. 12).

While broadly inclusive, this definition provides little guidance for distinguishing between different types of activities conducted under different circumstances. For example, should overtly criminal activities, such as drug dealing, be classified in the same way as work that is otherwise legal, such as flea market sales, except that is unreported and untaxed? Should both production and consumption processes be classified as part of the informal sector? In other words, are the goods that are produced in sweatshops comparable to those produced at home for private consumption? When do self-employment and the use of family labor become informal work? These questions illustrate both the diverse approaches found in the literature and the confusion that exists there.

Other analysts emphasize specific defining characteristics of the informal economy rather than focusing on what it is not. For example, Roberts (1994), while accepting the basic outline of the standard definition, argues that the key feature of informality is not the absence of regulation but instead the existence of a specific type of regulation that dominates the activity. Thus, the informal sector is marked by the dominance of regulation based on personal relations and networks embedded in family, community, friendship, or ethnicity rather than on regulation organized on formal, legal, or contractual bases. Similarly, Mingione (1991) suggests that income strategies organized around reciprocal networks, such as those found in family and household labor and relations, characterize the informal sector. These analysts emphasize the interpersonal networks that create obligations and responsibilities that permit exchanges that bypass formal institutions. This approach has found expression in the many studies of immigrant labor and ethnic enclave enterprise where kinship and co-ethnic personal ties are the means for conducting business.

A number of taxonomies and typologies have been proposed in an effort to codify characteristics of informal activity. Feige (1990) distinguishes between illegal, unreported, unrecorded, and informal categories of a more encompassing underground economy. While there is much overlap, these categories appear to represent a continuum ranging from those most thoroughly in violation of the law to those that merely forgo its protections. Castells and Portes (1989) clearly differentiate informal from illegal by separating processes of production and distribution from the product itself. Thus, a perfectly legitimate product or service may be produced informally in violation of the law. Cappechi (1989) cross-classifies three types of labor markets (nonmonetary, informal monetary, official) with the equivalent three markets for goods and services to derive a nine-cell typology. Informality in either labor or product markets creates five types of informality.

Still other analysts argue that, fundamentally, informality can only be understood on a casespecific basis. For example, Gaughan and Ferman (1987) contend ‘‘that the term informal economy will mean different things in advanced industrial nations from what it does in developing countries. . . . poor communities as opposed to middleclass communities, or in an urban as opposed to a rural setting’’ (p. 18). In keeping with this notion of the variability of forms of informal activity, Miller (1987) discusses informal economies in the plural rather than the singular.

Regardless of specific emphasis, virtually all analysts agree that informal economies, sectors, activities, and labor can only be understood vis-à- vis their relationship to their formal counterparts and in the context of their relationship to the state (Roberts 1994). There is no such thing as an informal economy in the absence of a formal economy. Portes (1994) even suggests that the extent of informal activity depends on the degree of state regulation, with greater informal development representing a response to an overly restrictive formal sector. Furthermore, while many analysts discuss informal activity as outcomes or in terms of structural elements that comprise a form of economic institution, there appears to be greater utility in conceptualizing it as a process that varies in time and space. Thus, the concepts of informality and informalization, in which economic activity is evaluated in terms of its degree of

adherence to state regulation and particular labor practices, permit an assessment of variation in levels and development of informal sectors and their shares of the larger economy.

Forms of Informal Activity. Empirical studies of informal activity identify a wide range of actual practices. Ultimately, what is included and what is excluded depends on the specific definition and the specific context for the activities, as discussed above. Nevertheless, certain broad categories are regularly found in the literature. They can be categorized in terms of what type of exchange relationship is involved and the specific kinds of goods and services transacted. Thus, goods and services can be exchanged for income that goes unreported in any official venue, as exemplified by the babysitter or maid who gets paid in cash that is not taxed or reported by either employer or employee. They may be bartered and exchanged directly for the same or other goods or services, as in the trade of child-care services or child care for firewood. They may be supplied and consumed to save money or to self-provision, as when members of a household raise a garden and preserve food for home consumption.

Specific goods, services, and activities vary from place to place. Urban dwellers are unlikely to raise livestock or cut wood for home consumption, but they are no less likely than their rural counterparts to engage in child care or household and auto repair (Tickamyer and Wood 1998). Sweatshops and street vendors are most likely to be found in large urban labor markets (Gaber 1994; Sassen-Koob 1989), but industrial subcontracting and home assembly operations are well documented in rural communities as well (Gringeri 1994).

One of the problems in specifying types of informal activity is distinguishing informal from related forms of work and exchange. At the margins it may be extremely difficult to draw this line. For example, where does engaging in an activity for recreation or personal satisfaction end and self-provisioning begin? Should the avid gardener whose vegetable consumption is a by-product of the hobby be classified as engaged in informal work? Where should volunteer work done for charitable purposes be classified? Informal labor overlaps with many other forms of waged and unwaged labor, including social and generational

reproduction, self-provisioning and subsistence activities, consumption work, and community service as well as simple commodity production, selfemployment, and subcontracting.

SOCIAL, SPATIAL, AND TEMPORAL

DIMENSIONS

The expanding literature demonstrates that informality is not limited to a particular time, place, type of economy, or population group. Nevertheless, clear themes that focus on specific groups and places emerge in the research literature. Some of it is empirically based; some is speculative and yet to be tested or verified regarding who participates, where, and under what circumstances; and some is contradictory or unfounded. The most common assumption is that informal labor involves categories of workers who are disadvantaged in some manner and, therefore, are shut out from the opportunities available in the formal sector. For example, informal workers have been identified as particularly prevalent among racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, women, and children (Hoyman 1987; Portes et al. 1989; Sassen-Koob 1984). Other studies would add rural residents (Fitchen 1981; Jensen et al. 1995) and the urban poor (Edin and Lein 1998).

While there are many specific accounts and case studies to illustrate the importance and workings of informal labor and sectors among these specific populations and locations, there is little evidence at this time to suggest that informal work is any more prevalent in one group compared to another. Furthermore, it is not always clear from these accounts whether informality adheres to the group or to the type of jobs certain groups are more likely to hold. For example, women are sometimes identified as more likely to operate in the informal sector, as is work that is typically female, such as child care and domestic service. If it is the case that women are more likely to work informally, is it because of gender or because they hold gendered jobs?

Informalization is often assumed to be increasing in both developing and developed countries as a response to the social and economic restructuring that has transformed and linked core and peripheral economies in the last several decades. Globalization, the growth of transnational

capitalism, and increased international competition have led capital to seek more flexible production processes, to escape from state regulation and taxation, and to reduce labor costs. This puts pressure on labor–capital agreements, benefits available from the welfare state, and the general availability of employment that pays a living wage, has social benefits, and observes rules and regulations. The result is increased self-employment, subcontracting, and, presumably, informal employment as employers seek to cut the costs of doing business and employees are forced to find any means of subsistence. Yet here, too, there is little empirical confirmation of what are largely untested hypotheses. For example, it is not yet established whether informal activity is more prevalent among different class and income groups, whether it is in fact a substitute for formal work, or whether it serves as a supplement to increase or stretch income. Instead, there is a rich tradition of case studies of different regions, communities, and industries that are informative but case-specific, lacking both comparability or comprehensiveness. Thus, it is premature to conclude that informality is increasing or that it is especially prevalent in some groups or places compared to others.

RELATIONSHIP TO THE ETHNIC

ECONOMY

While informal economic activity is not limited to a particular market segment or group, researchers have shown particular interest in those forms of informal activity that occur in ethnic economies. Part of the reason for this is that the extensive literature on the ethnic economy offers a unique view of informal work given by researchers whose main purpose is not to examine the informal economy per se but to study ethnic exchange relationships (rather than class relationships) in the secondary labor market. This research shows that ethnic economies provide opportunities for unique forms of informal activity not commonly found in other sectors. However, the importance that is placed on informalization in the ethnic economy literature should in no way imply that the two economies are always congruent, although some enclave economies are almost entirely informal (Stepick 1989).

Ethnic economies are labor markets characterized by sectoral specialization of industries owned

and operated by entrepreneurs from the same ethnic or immigrant group and their co-ethnic workers. While ethnic and informal economies are not synonymous, the prevalence of work outside the formal sector within ethnic economies suggests that conditions in these labor-market areas necessitate, or at least are particularly well suited for, informal economic activity.

The reasons for this vary. Since most workers in the ethnic economy are immigrants from developing countries or ethnic minorities that face discrimination in the formal labor market, they often provide a pool of available cheap labor for the informal market. That is, the labor supply is cheap as long as the work remains part of the informal economy, since the cost of labor rises when wages are regulated. Enterprising businessmen and women can make use of this inexpensive labor, keeping their costs low by hiring ‘‘off the books’’ or paying piece rates for contracted work that may or may not be reported by the worker as income.

Since ethnic economies are also marked by subcultural norms and preferences, informal activity may also allow for cultural variation in working conditions. In the case of Latin American immigrant women, for example, the myriad home working opportunities within the ethnic economy allow mothers to earn needed income while still tending to their children and other domestic tasks. In fact, there is evidence that some home-based industries emerged in response to the demands of experienced female laborers who wanted to earn extra income but expressed a cultural preference to stay at home (Fernandez-Kelly and Garcia 1989).

While the magnitude of informal economic activities within ethnic economies is not known, studies of the garment industry in New York and Los Angeles, a sector that is almost exclusively part of the informal economy, suggest that many of the workers in the industry are unregistered and working out of their homes (Fernandez-Kelly and Garcia 1989; Sassen-Koob 1989; Stepick 1989). This is also true of the home-based electronics production industry (Lozano 1989). Latin American immigrant women comprise the largest portion of this work force that engages in the unreported assembling of electronic components at home on a piece-rate basis. The informal economy may also be responsible for the viability of these industries.

While the garment industry faltered in the 1980s, textile businesses owned by immigrants who subcontracted homeworkers thrived.

Ethnic enclaves are a special condition of the ethnic economy that arises when an ethnic economy is located in a geographically concentrated area. This geographic concentration can also give rise to unique opportunities within the informal sector. In enclaves such as Washington Heights in New York City, Chinatown in Los Angeles, and Little Havana in Miami, the demand for capital for entrepreneurial ventures has created possibilities for informal money-lending operations. These tend to take the form of either rotating credit associations, whereby residents contribute small sums of money that are pooled and then loaned at low interest rates to other residents, or personal loans from one wealthy entrepreneur to a potential small-business owner. These lending transactions occur outside of state and federal lending laws and are often made without any written agreement by the participants. Social pressure alone seems sufficient to guarantee repayment. This is consistent with Roberts’s (1994) contention that interpersonal networks regulate the informal economy.

Ethnic enclaves also generate a heightened demand for goods typical of those widely available in an immigrant’s home country. This demand for ethnically defined goods creates unique opportunities for informal work. Enterprising men and women often produce foodstuffs and other products for sale out of their homes. Some also find customers among other immigrants who agree to resell their products in their retail shops and bodegas. The informal production of goods insures that costs to both the retailer and the customer remain low, insuring future demand.

WAYS OF MEASURING AND STUDYING

This brief discussion of informal activity in ethnic economies illustrates only one variation in the form and scope of this phenomenon and underscores the importance of further research to gain a greater understanding of how informal economic processes impact individuals, households, and labor markets. As previously noted, recognition that informal economic activity is widespread in developed as well as developing, urban as well as rural,