№ 4 - 2003
Barsukova S.Yu.
Informal Economy in the Mirror of Ideologies 39

On the basis of relevant world literature analyzed, the author characterizes ideological attitudes of researchers of informal economy (within which two blocks are distinguished: shadow economy and domestic one). As is demonstrated in the article, orthodox liberals regard the “informals” as agents of the “invisible hand” of the market; to the mind of socially oriented liberals, the “informals” are indicators of the balance of economic and social demands; conservatives qualify the “shadowers” as breakers of social conventions; finally, in the eyes of socialist theoreticians, the said elements are enemies of society regulation on planned lines.