Methodological and Theoretical Considerations regarding Informality on the Labor Market

Since the 1970s when the term "informality" has penetrated into economic theory by designating everything that is not subject to the legal regulations of a state until today, the concept of informality has evolved from "simple business activities carried out by the poor population of economies in development" and up to the concept of "informal employment", approached from the point of view of jobs or workers, and the "informal employment" approach taken from the perspective of the employer. Segmentation of the formal and informal workforce market is a specific feature of any labor market, whether we are talking about a labor market in a developed economy or one from a developing economy, with the difference that the motivation that pushes individuals towards informality is different, namely the instinct of survival in the developing economy and the "animal spirits" that Keynes himself spoke in developed economies. Informality can be considered as a consequence of the transition period to a market economy in the case of the countries that have undergone this transformation or even a consequence of capitalism in developed countries. Labor market informality is a reality recognized today by the entire scientific community, but still little understood, being a phenomenon that sometimes seems so natural and sometimes transcends our rational understanding. For this reason, there is a need for a better theorization of the concept of "informality" in order to be able to correctly quantify it and thus to have a true image of a dual economy: formal / informal.