How to define and measure informal employment in CEE countries - the case of Poland

Authors

  • Dagmara Nikulin

Abstract

The study of informal employment is still associated with several obstacles, from the scope of definition, through measurement methods, to policy recommendations. This article aims to revise the existing methodological frames in order to point out how to improve the study of informal employment in CEE countries. The case of Poland serves to examine whether the common definitions and measurement methods are suitable for an inclusive measurement of the scale of informal employment in CEE countries, which are mostly former socialist countries. Firstly, we describe the current state of informal employment relations in CEE countries to indicate the similarities among them. Secondly we compare the existing research on informal employment in Poland with the common definitions of this phenomenon, and in this way look for more comprehensive measures of informal employment in Poland (and other CEE countries). Through a critical analysis of existing research on informal employment we indicate possible extensions of definition and the scope of measurement of informal employment in CEE countries.

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Published

2016-03-01

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Section

Articles