Page 64 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES: THEORY AND PRACTICE, V.81, # 2, 2024, pp. 60-83

The outcomes of the most contemporary research concerning the estimation of the
size of the informal economy in Algeria are presented in the following table:

Table (01): Size of the informal economy in Algeria according to some Algerian
studies
Estimation Size of the Informal
Study Estimation Model
Period Economy
(Bouriche & Bennihi, 1980–2019 The currency 21%
2020) demand approach
(Dahmani & Zaid, 1990–2017 The currency 25%–30%
2019) demand approach
(Bennihi, Bouriche,
& Schneider, 2021) 1980–2017 MIMIC approach 33.48%
Source: Compiled by the researcher depending on: (Bouriche & Bennihi, 2020),
(Dahmani & Zaid, 2019), (Bennihi, Bouriche, & Schneider, 2019).

The results of the previous studies shown in table (01) indicate that the magnitude of the
informal economy in Algeria, in comparison to GDP, ranged between 21% and 30%
(Bouriche & Bennihi, 2020) (Dahmani & Zaid, 2019), with an average of 33.48% of GDP
for the period between 1980 and 2017 (Bennihi, Bouriche, & Schneider, 2019).

With the evolution of economic environment variables, the forms of informality in the
global economy as a whole have also developed, with new determining and influential
factors emerging in the magnitude of the informal economy. Moreover, the transition
from an industrial society to a knowledge-based society created a different labor
market (McKeown & Leighton, 2016), known as the gig economy. This is a new labor
market organization driven by technological development, representing a form of on-
demand employment. In this model, workers offer their skills and temporary services
using digital platforms (Fourie, 2023). As a result, workers become invisible to
traditional labor data sources since digital platforms directly link service seekers with
service providers without intermediaries, allowing activities and interactions to
remain concealed (Pilatti, Candia, Montini, & Pinheiro, 2023). The service seekers as
customers have positive attitudes towards the Internet and technology, these attitudes
are driven by both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness (Fadani, 2023),
which has led to the widespread adoption of freelancing as a form of self-employment.
Freelancers are individuals who offer their services on specialized online platforms
and do not need extensive resources to carry out their freelance work, contributing to
the widespread adoption of this employment type.

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