Tackling informal employment: the case of southern Italy

Purpose - The purpose of this paper os to reveal the complex characteristics of informal employment and the difficulties of implementing policies to counteract this phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach - Sections 1 and 2 review different theories on the causes and effects of informal employment, drawn from the international literature on the subject. Sections 3 and 4 present the results of field research conducted in Southern Italy with the intent of exploring the nature of informal employment. Section 5 illustrates and analyzes some cases of regularization processes drawn from further field research conducted in Southern Italy. Findings - This paper reveals that the key factor to facilitate successful regularization is not only the willingness of entrepreneurs and/or workers to abide by the law but also other important variables such as entrepreneurial skills, the presence of welfare programmes and the business environment within which business activities take place. The main conclusion of this paper is that informal employment is often the result of a complex interaction of economic, psychological and social factors. Practical implications - The practical implications of this conclusion are that, in order to successfully tackle informal employment, regularization policies have to be “tailored” to the specific context of their implementation. Originality/value - This paper evaluates the wider applicability of the regularization policies used in Italy to harness informal employment.