Las relaciones entre los sectores formal e informal. Una exploración sobre su naturaleza

Since the ILO adopted the concept of informal sector, intricate discussions have emerged that, at least, gave a stimulus to the debate on development and permitted a better understanding of its problems and solutions. It is then of interest to study the limited but critical phenomenon of the relationships between the informal sector and the rest of the economy. The study of these relations is a very fruitful starting point because it permits to organize different theoretical points of view on the informal sector. In fact, these criteria can be distinguished by the type of relations they establish between the formal and informal economies. Thus, in the first part the author presents the opposing approaches of benign relations and relations of exploitation, under their different varieties, and outlines his own approach that maintains that those relations are of “heterogeneous subordination”. In the second part, an attempt is made to estimate the -balance of payments,) of the informal sector with the rest of the economy in Chile, using national accounts information. Finally, the third part gives an interpretation of the data from surveys made in Santiago on the characteristics and operation of informal retail trade.