Consumption, Informal Markets, and the Underground Economy : Hispanic Consumption in South Texas

Using original qualitative ethnographic field interviews and quantitative field survey results, Consumption, Informal Markets, and the Underground Economy explores the rationale for and model of 'off the books' consumption in a borderlands environment.

While ''off the books'' consumption is not exceptional in the United States, it is much more common and nearly universal along the U.S-Mexico border. Within the border zone of South Texas, consumption informality is in fact a way of life where 98.9% of South Texans surveyed have consumed informal or underground products. For example, households may employ services such as a coyote (human smuggler), a nanny, or a computer technician to clandestinely bring a family member or valued worker across the border, provide care for children, or repair a home computer, respectively, in transactions that go unrecorded and, more often than not, undetected by the government.Consumption, Informal Markets, and the Underground Economy focuses on Hispanic (Latino) consumers from a distinctive region in the United States where informal and underground markets thrive. Using original qualitative ethnographic field interviews and quantitative field survey results, this exciting new volume explores the rationale for and model of ''off the books'' consumption in a borderlands environment.