ABSTRACT Although ubiquitous, very little is generalizable about the informal economy. This is especially the case within Africa wherein the informal economy also intersects with the indigenous economy. The diversity of papers in the special issue (AJOM, Volume 4 Issue 3) on the informal economy reflects the variety of issues and challenges faced by those in the informal economy. This dialogue however focuses not on those challenges, but on the conceptualization of the informal economy by the special issue papers. We discuss how the utopian and dystopian characterizations of the informal economy by the papers determines different processes and outcomes for those within the informal economy. We conclude by questioning whether the challenging research and policy issues confronting the informal economy arise because it is itself a misnomer.

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关于非洲非正规经济的对话

摘要尽管无处不在，但关于非正规经济的概论却很少。在非洲内部的情况尤其如此，那里的非正规经济也与土著经济相交。关于非正规经济的特刊（AJOM，第4卷第3期）中论文的多样性反映了非正规经济中所面临的各种问题和挑战。但是，这次对话并不侧重于这些挑战，而是着眼于特殊问题文件对非正规经济的概念化。我们讨论了论文对非正规经济的乌托邦和反乌托邦特征的描述如何确定非正规经济内的过程和结果。最后，我们质疑非正规经济面临的挑战性研究和政策问题是否会因为其本身被误用而出现。