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...

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...

This paper evaluates critically the ideologically driven representation of the entrepreneur as a heroic figurehead of capitalism pursuing for-profit entrepreneurship in the formal commercial economy. To do this, two separate streams of literature are brought together, which highlight how many...

Across the social sciences, the dominant “thin” reading of monetary exchange that views it as universally market-like and motivated by monetary gain is being challenged by a “thicker” reading that seeks to unpack the complex and messy characters and logics of monetised transactions....

Most studies of paid informal exchange evaluate its varying magnitude across space and social groups. Little attention, however, has been paid to the variable nature of paid informal exchange. Instead, the unchallenged assumption is that such exchanges are universally conducted under work...

W ILLIAMS C. C. (2003) Developing community involvement: contrasting local and regional participatory cultures in Britain and their implications for policy, Reg. Studies 37 , 531-541. This paper evaluates critically the implications and legitimacy of the current UK government policy towards...

This article reports the first cross-national evaluation of the prevalence of a little discussed wage arrangement where formal employers pay their formal employees two wages, one declared and the other an undeclared 'envelope wage'. Analysing the results of a 2007 survey conducted in the 27...

Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS) are networks for exchanging goods and services using a local currency. They are seen by some as providing an `alternative' way of negotiating changing and complex livelihoods. Current literature on LETS and work understands participation as a response to...

Williams C. C. (2005) Fostering community engagement and tackling undeclared work: the case for an evidence-based 'joined-up' public policy approach, Regional Studies 39 , 1145-1155. Examining two realms of public policy treated as unrelated by academics and policy-makers, namely fostering...

Williams C. C. (2004) Rethinking the 'economy' and uneven development: spatial disparities in household coping capabilities in contemporary England, Reg. Studies 38, 507-518. Work beyond employment accounts for half of total working time in the advanced economies. In order to more fully...