Konstantinos Archontakis studied Social Policy at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens. He is currently a PhD candidate in the department of Social Policy, Panteion University. His doctoral dissertation (in progress), “Work Effort, Job Satisfaction and the New Ethics of Work”, examines pawnbrokers to determine changes and continuities in work values and work orientations. The thesis focuses on the centrality of the informal economy during the economic recession in Greece. He recently published an article in the yearly online magazine for society, culture and the history of employment, O Kosmos tis Ergasias (Vol. 6, March 2019), titled “Informal Financing Activities during crisis: a preliminary approach of of informal practices and values of pawnbrokers in Athens.”