Gender, identity and opportunity: Why self-employed persons choose to work in the underground economy (New York City)

My dissertation examines why individuals become involved in the informal economy. I interviewed 60 male and female self-employed persons working in Old Town's informal economy in New York City. Most current literature focuses on external pressures (e.g., economic restructuring) that force workers into the informal economy. However, I find that within this informal economic niche, my mostly middle-class workers are drawn to the informal sector as a way to explore a new work identity. Even among those workers who entered the informal economy due to constricted formal sector opportunities, most develop a commitment to the informal sector as a long-term career plan. However, I find that the work choices my respondents make are influenced by their financial needs, family responsibilities, career aspirations and emotional needs. I also discuss the opportunity structure of the Old Town's informal sector. I consider both barriers to informal sector employment as a well as obstacles to using the informal sector as a conduit of identity change and transformation. This research extends current research on the informal sector by looking at informal activity among middle-class workers in an advanced economy and by examining the relationship between identity and work in the informal economy.