The Different Economy of the Self-Employment Sector

The analysis of the economic system of the self-employed sector generates important insights about the production relationships prevailing in this sector. A microcosm of self-employed occupations of India is developed and the occupations are categorized according to location, gender and types of products. The system of production is analyzed to find out the difference of this sector with other wage-working sectors. The extra-legal and extra-capitalist nature of production highlights the inadequacy of the abstract modeling in capturing the economic characteristics of this sector. The Kinship Associations build the informal institutions and determine the terms of input valuations. This dissertation also demonstrates the importance of maintaining the community ties in helping the productive capacity of the self-employed sector.