Informality and Illegality: Unpacking the Relationship

The informal economy is often associated with illegality. But this assumed relationship is not clearly defined or understood. What aspects of the informal economy are considered illegal: informal units and activities or informal operators and workers? What is illegal about them: the goods and services they produce or how they produce and distribute them?

This note seeks to unpack the assumed relationship between informality and illegality - from the perspective of the working poor in the informal economy.