Complementary Domestic Economy: Characteristics Of Informal Subsistence Income For Mexican Families, Economia Domestica Complementaria: Caracterizacion De Un Tipo De Comercio Informal De Subsistencia En Mexico

The aim of this paper is to characterize an informal economic type of unit called EDOCO (Complementary Domestic Economy) from a longitudinal study done between 2010 and 2015 in region 101 in Cancun, Mexico. Defining informality presents several complexities since the topic attends different manifestations depending of the country. Organizations, governments and academic studies have presented different proposals for its definition and evaluation. The present study refers to a particular type of informality that becomes a subsistence income for families: EDOCOS. One of the findings shows that in 6 years, 20.54% of family units of the region have turned towards this subsistence practice. From a total of 539 censed EDOCOS the majority (69.01%) belong to the food informal sector (food selling such as saborines, chamoyadas and antojitos) the rest (30.98%) belong to self-employment (haircut, entertainment services, child caring, appliances repair). In this document the specific informality studied distinguishes from other types of informality as piracy, street vending and the formal enterprises that turn to informal practice. While the last ones affect the countries development, the EDOCOS represent a family subsistence practice and do not have as a goal enrich them thru the lack of regulation