即便是最缺乏训练的观察者,也不会不对发展中世界有多少经济活动发生在正规经济部门之外留有印象。访问第三世界的任何一座城市,都可以看到为数众多的商品供应者(街头摊贩和小型市场)与劳务提供者(运输和房屋建造),不属于由政府测控的经济活动参数而由其自身的法则所支配。现存的经济学分析方法很难适用于这些“非正规”活动的研究。非正规经济部门不是一个新发现,但如果把它看作小企业部门, Even the most under-trained observers will not be impressed by how much of the economic activity in the developing world occurs outside the formal economy. Visiting any city in the Third World, one can see a large number of commodity suppliers (street vendors and small markets) and labor providers (transport and housing construction) that are not themselves part of the parameters of economic activity governed by the government Dominated by the law. Existing methods of economic analysis are difficult to apply to these “informal” activities. The informal economy is not a new discovery, but if it is seen as a small business sector,