Illegal Immigrants and the Informal Economy in Italy

Abstract

From being a clear exporter of labour, Italy, along with other developed European countries, is progressively becoming, at least in terms of flow, a clear labour importer.1 The changes involve not only the size but also the nature of this flow. Whereas, in the past, both Italians working abroad and the few foreigners working in Italy did so quite legally, the recent flow of immigrants to Italy has been marked by a high percentage working illegally in the informal economy. These foreign workers mainly come from African countries on the Mediterranean where relatively rapid population growth is expected to encourage further growth in migration to Europe.2 It is important therefore to examine how such immigration affects the Italian labour market, and the particular role played by the existence of an ‘informal’ section of the economic system where illegal immigrants often find work.KeywordsLabour SupplyInformal SectorForeign WorkerInformal EconomyIllegal ImmigrantThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.