Abstract
In order to better understand and explain “off the books” consumption at the household level, I developed a predictive model based upon the 2010 survey results of 357 respondents covering 126 informal and underground goods and services in South Texas. Utilizing household demographics (e.g., gender, ethnicity, income, cultural assimilation) as predictor variables while including the moderating effects of facilitating mechanisms (e.g., morality, payment method), the model is designed to assist in the prediction of “off the books” consumption. The model provides general reference to informal and underground consumption including special reference to health care, cross-border activities, street vending, household work substitution, everyday household goods consumption, specialty consumption, and underground goods and services consumption along a risk continuum.
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Notes
Also collected in the actual survey, but not included in this variable, was whether or not the respondent was the head of the household.
The generation score is determined by the following procedure: four points if the respondent is born in the US, zero if not; two points for each respondent parent born in the US, otherwise zero; and one point for every respondent grandparent born in the US, otherwise zero. Hence a score of zero indicates no birth ties to the US and a score of 12 indicates complete birth ties to the US.
This variable includes four gradations of English speaking ability—very well, well, not well, not at all—collapsed into two groups: speak English (very well, well) and do not speak English (not well, not at all).
For interviewer safety, the trade in illegal narcotics was omitted from this study and hence the model.
The researchers included the author, Chad Richardson, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Texas—Pan American, and José Pagán, Professor and Chair of Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth.
See for example, Richardson (1999), Pisani (2012), and Pagán and Pauly (2005).
See Pisani et al. (2012) for the ability to pay and the consumption of informal medical, dental, and prescription drugs in the South Texas borderlands region.
Translation and back-translation procedures followed Brislin (1980).
The Borderlife Project, under the direction of Chad Richardson (Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Texas—Pan American), trains students as embedded interviewers to investigate and describe cultural and social life situations within the South Texas borderlands. Most research topics start out as ethnographic descriptions. The patterns revealed in the anecdotal accounts permit more focused follow-up and purposive surveybased interviews.
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© 2013 Michael J. Pisani
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Pisani, M.J. (2013). Modeling “Off the Books” Consumption. In: Consumption, Informal Markets, and the Underground Economy. Palgrave Pivot, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137333124_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137333124_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-46520-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-33312-4
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