Collaborative Research: A National Survey of Informal Work

非正式工作是指除了正式劳动力市场上的工作之外，能给家庭带来额外收入或其他有价值的东西的工作或类似工作的活动。 对非正规经济进行了大量的定性研究。 然而，从20世纪90年代初开始，研究人员已经开发，完善和实施了一种技术，允许通过对成年人样本进行结构化调查，对非正式工作进行定量分析。 这项研究将在美国进行第一次具有全国代表性的非正规工作住户调查，其总体目标是对国家一级非正规工作的轮廓和相互关系进行实证研究。 我们有七个基本的研究问题。 美国的非正式工作有多普遍？ 非正规工作的普遍程度在空间上有何不同（例如，在城乡统一体中）？正规经济中的家庭劳动力供应（在数量和质量上）与参与非正规工作之间的关系是什么？ 贫困、收入和参与非正式工作之间的关系是什么？ 社会资本（例如，家庭社交网络的强度）与参与非正规工作之间的关系是什么？ 正式劳动力市场分层（例如，家庭规模，种族/民族和教育程度）和参与非正式工作的标准相关因素之间的关系是什么？ 正规经济中的产业结构调整与参与非正规工作之间的关系是什么？将通过电话调查收集数据，调查对象为多达1 700名成年人的全国代表性样本。 调查工具将围绕一套调查项目展开，询问参与几种具体形式的非正式工作的情况。 此外，该工具将收集有关抽样家庭的基本社会人口和经济信息，地理编码将使我们能够合并和纳入有关居住地的背景信息。 这项研究将作出重要的科学贡献。 这将是第一个提供可靠的和可推广的证据的普遍性，重要性和相关的非正规工作，并提供明确的证据有关的几个经验和辩论的问题，如非正规工作如何与正规劳动力供应，家庭的社会资本，贫困状况，城乡居住。 这项研究的更广泛影响包括提供关于当今美国家庭中重要但被忽视的经济生存战略的基本信息。 研究结果对社会政策也有重要影响。 近年来，企业家精神和小企业被吹捧为家庭和社区的可行经济战略，这些家庭和社区可能在产业结构调整和对社会福利计划的支持减弱中挣扎。 因此，必须将非正规工作理解为企业活力的潜在来源。

Collaborative ProposalsSES-0718527Leif JensenPennsylvania State UniversitySES-0718527Timothy SlackLouisiana State UniversitySES-0718526Ann TickamyerOhio State University Informal work refers to work or work-like activities, apart from jobs in the formal labor market, that bring extra income or other things of value into a household. There has been ample qualitative research on the informal economy. However beginning in the early 1990's the investigators have developed, refined, and implemented a technique that allows for quantitative analysis of informal work via structured surveys administered to samples of adult individuals. The study will conduct the first nationally representative household survey of informal work in the United States.The overarching objective of this study is to provide an empirical examination of the contours and correlates of informal work at the national-level. We have seven basic research questions. How prevalent is informal work in the United States? How does the prevalence of informal work vary spatially (for example, across the rural-urban continuum)? What is the relationship between household labor supply in the formal economy (both in terms of quantity and quality) and participation in informal work? What is the relationship between poverty, income, and participation in informal work? What is the relationship between social capital (for example, the strength of a household's social networks) and participation in informal work? What is the relationship between standard correlates of formal labor market stratification (for example, family size, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment) and participation in informal work? What is the relationship between industrial restructuring in the formal economy and participation in informal work?Data will be collected through a telephone survey administered to a nationally representative sample of up to 1,700 adults. The survey instrument will be anchored around a set of survey items that ask about participation in several specific forms of informal work. In addition, the instrument will gather basic socio-demographic and economic information about sampled households, and geo-coding will allow us to merge and incorporate contextual information on place of residence. The study will make important scientific contributions. It will be the first to provide reliable and generalizable evidence about the prevalence, importance and correlates of informal work, and to provide definitive evidence concerning several empirical and debated questions such as how informal work varies with formal labor supply, social capital of households, poverty status, and rural-urban residence. The broader impact of the study includes providing basic information on an important yet neglected economic survival strategy among households in the United States today. Research findings carry important implications for social policy as well. In recent years, entrepreneurship and small-business enterprise have been touted as viable economic strategies for households and their communities that may be struggling amidst industrial restructuring and attenuated support for social welfare programs. It is important therefore to understand informal work as a potential source of entrepreneurial vitality.