СОЦІОЛОГІЧНІ ОСНОВИ ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ НЕФОРМАЛЬНОЇ ЕКОНОМІКИ І ЗАЙНЯТОСТІ

Abstract

The article deals with main scientific approaches to the study of the problems of transitive economy, shows the current state of economic activity, its dynamics and characteristics of informal sector of economic activity from the viewpoint of the methodology of institutional analysis. However, this understanding is too inclusive and vague, and certain activities that could be included by that definition are not considered part of the informal economy. The informal economy also does not include there productive or care economy, which is made up of un paid domestic work and care activities. Un paid domestic work and care activities do not contribute to that, and as a result, are not a part of the informal economy. That is to say informal practices are rooted in the gap of the laws and unwritten norms of behavior. It is shown that deeper the gap, as well as the weaker the mechanism of enforcement for obeying the law, since more abundant informal practices are. Similarly, informal practices do not just rooted in the laws and social norms, but being massive, inevitably lead to the «destruction of the supports», namely inducing the conscious correction of laws and unintentional modification of social norms of society. They are inseparable. It is more noticeable in Ukraine than else where. Designations of Ukrainian reality in the Western studies – a hybrid economy, organized disorganization, competitive authoritarianism – reflect the complexity of the given object. It is proved that the relation of formal and informal regulation has at least three grades. Informal practices may: displace the formal rules, replacing them; occupy space free of formal regulation; break «not the letter but the spirit of the law», using a legal instrument as a tool to achieve informal arrangements. We have come to the conclusion that the Formal and Informal exist separately, while using the term «sector». But as soon as we enter into a discussion about the bureaucratic and non-bureaucratic management, then we notice the continuity of formal and informal orders. Since in the given article the general vector of studies of the informal economy is shifting from the structural to the institutional direction.