Shadow Economy

The present paper investigates the link between the shadow economy and FDI using the Granger panel causality test. For that purpose we use the shadow economy and FDI data for 145 countries of five data points 1999/2000, 2001/2002, 2002/2003, 2003/2004 and 2004/2005. The system GMM estimation results show that FDI causes the shadow economy and vice versa. The empirical evidence supports the hypotheses that higher FDI causes lower shadow economy and higher shadow economy causes higher FDI.

To tackle undeclared work, a voluntary disclosure initiative was implemented for a 6-month period in 2019 to enable those voluntarily disclosing to the Lithuanian State Tax Inspectorate (STI) their past undeclared work to have the penalties waived that would have applied if they are compliant in the future. The outcome was that 42 million euros extra tax was collected.

To advance understanding of the reasons for informal sector entrepreneurship, this article evaluates the determinants of cross-country variations in the extent to which enterprises are unregistered when they start operating. Reporting the World Bank Enterprise Survey data on 67,515 enterprises across 142 countries, the finding is that one in five (19.9%) of the formal enterprises surveyed started-up unregistered, although this varies from all enterprises surveyed in some countries (e.g. Pakistan) to 1% of surveyed enterprises in Slovakia. To explain these cross-country variations, four competing theories are evaluated which variously assert that nonregistration is determined by either: economic under-development and poorer quality governance (modernization theory); too much state interference (neoliberal theory); too little state intervention (political economy theory); or an incongruence between the laws and rules of formal institutions and the beliefs, values, and norms of informa...

Urinboyev, R., 2017. Migration and Transnational Informality in Post-Soviet Societies: Ethnographic Study of ‘Po rukam’ Experiences of Uzbek Migrant Workers in Moscow. In: A.-L. Heusala and K. Aitamurto, eds. Migrant Workers in Russia: Global Challenges of the Shadow Economy in Societal Transformation. London: Routledge (forthcoming), 70–93.

Мақолада айрим иш берувчилар солиқ тўлашдан бўйин товлаш мақсадида амалиётда қўллайдиган меҳнатга ҳақ тўлашнинг норасмий усуллари тадқиқ этилган, ушбу ҳодисанинг сабаб ва оқибатлари ўртасидаги алоқа ҳамда даромад «ранги»нинг ишчи-ходим, иш берувчи ва умуман давлатнинг фаровонлигига таъсири таҳлил қилинган, иш ҳақини «конвертда» тўлаш ҳамда амалдаги қонун ҳужжатларини бузган иш берувчилар ва ишчи-ходимларнинг жавобгарлиги баён этилган. Меҳнатга ноқонуний ҳақ тўлашнинг қўлланиши ва тарқалишига қарши кураш бўйича ташкилий ва амалий аҳамиятга молик таклифлар берилган.

В рамках данной статьи исследуются применяемые на практике неформальные схемы оплаты труда отдельными работодателями в целях ухода от налогообложения. Анализируется причинно-следственная связь данного явления и влияние «цвета» дохода на благополучие работника, работодателя и государства в целом и мера ответственности для работодателей и работников в случае нарушение норм действующего законодательства. Предложены конкретные меры и рекомендации по борьбе с применением и распространением нелегальных форм оплаты труда.

This article examines the schemes of informal payment of wages by individual employers with the aim to avoid taxation. It will also analyze the causes and consequences of this phenomenon and the effect of the "colour" of income on the well-being of an employee, an employer and the state as a whole. It also discusses legal consequences that employers and employee face when engaging in hidden schemes. The article contains a detailed analysis and proposes measures on how to legalize hidden forms of remuneration and reduce its prevalence.

В данной статье представлены различные методы оценки размера теневой экономики. Каждый метод оценивается, обсуждаются его сильные и слабые стороны, а также результаты, которые дает каждый метод. Цель этой статьи состоит из трех частей: во-первых, продемонстрировать, что не существует единого безошибочного метода оценки размера и развития теневой экономики, и результаты могут существенно различаться между различными подходами. Подход MIMIC, обсуждаемый более подробно, часто используется из-за его гибкости. Во-вторых, в статье обсуждается само определение теневой экономики и факторы, способствующие ее росту. Наконец, представлены последние оценки размера теневой экономики 143 стран за период с 1996 по 2014 год.
JEL-Classification: D78, E26, H2, H11, H26, K42, O5, O17
Ключевые слова: оценки теневой экономики, подход MIMIC, методы оценки теневой экономики, преимущества и недостатки методов, MIMIC-метод, процедура калибровки, подход интенсивности света

This study develops a method that uses surveys of company managers to measure the size of a shadow economy. Our method is based on the premise that company managers are the most likely to know how much business income and wages go unreported due to their unique position in dealing with both of these types of income. We use a range of survey design features to maximize the truthfulness of responses. Our method combines estimates of misreported business income, unregistered or hidden employees, and unreported wages, to arrive at an estimate of the size of a shadow economy as a percentage of GDP. This approach differs from most other studies of shadow economies, which largely focus on using macro indicators. We illustrate the application of our method to three new EU member countries. We also analyze the factors that influence companies’ participation in the shadow economy.

In recent decades, the field of entrepreneurship studies has become increasingly interested in the relationship between entrepreneurship and the informal economy. This paper reviews this burgeoning sub-field of entrepreneurship studies that recognizes how entrepreneurs do not always conduct their
business affairs wholly by the rulebook. Evaluating this rapidly growing body of literature, it reviews the findings regarding the preponderance of entrepreneurs to engage in the informal economy, the nature of such informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of informal entrepreneurs and the motives
underpinning participation in such endeavor, along with the competing theories that have sought to explain engagement in this type of entrepreneurship. The tentative finding is that there are marked socio-spatial variations in the prevalence and nature of informal entrepreneurship, the characteristics of
informal entrepreneurs and their rationales. The implication is not only that different theorizations of informal entrepreneurship apply more in some populations than others, but also that some populations usually seen as lacking in entrepreneurial spirit are perhaps more enterprising and entrepreneurial than currently recognized. Consequently, legitimizing this hidden enterprise culture could be an important means of promoting enterprise and economic development in such populations. The paper concludes
by highlighting future avenues for research on this subject.

This volume presents three studies on the VAT. The first study is a VAT primer for lawyers, economists, and accountants who rarely talk to each other about tax issues, particularly in the Netherlands. The different views illuminate the nature and workings of the VAT. The second study examines and evaluates VAT coordination in the EU against the backdrop of an analysis of VAT fraud. Carousel fraud is dwarfed by shadow economy fraud and contrived insolvency fraud. The taxation of intracommunity exports is not the solution to VAT coordination problems. Rather the focus should be on cross-border VAT audit, followed up, if necessary, by investigation and prosecution of fraudsters. The third study argues that value changes in exempt immovable property should be brought into the VAT base, similar to value changes in other second-hand goods that are traded by taxable dealers. This extension of the VAT base should replace the inequitable and distortionary transfer or registration taxes and s...

Even today, approaches to the study of the 'shadow' and 'informal' economies , including the criminal variety, fail to recognize that these phenomena are situated in a growing process of hybridization 1 between legal and criminal activities. 2 Such hybridization has always existed, but the development of neo-liberalism as the result of the 'great transformation' has intensified this process both in size and spread across all sectors 3 (see below). The first explanation for

Those engaging in tax non-compliance have been conventionally explained as rational economic actors partaking when the benefits outweigh the costs, and thus public administrations have sought to enforce compliance using a deterrence approach which increases the risk of detection and penalties. However, many have been found to not engage in tax non-compliance when the benefits exceed the costs. The result has been the emergence of a voluntary compliance approach viewing taxpayers as social actors who engage in tax non-compliance when there is a lack of vertical trust (in governments) and horizontal trust (in others). Using a probit regression analysis of data from special Eurobarometer surveys conducted in 2007, 2013 and 2019, the finding is that although the likelihood of participating in tax non-compliance is largely not associated with the level of penalties and risk of detection, it is significantly associated with the level of vertical and horizontal trust, with participation in tax non-compliance increasing with lower vertical and horizontal trust. The implications for theory and for how public administrations tackle tax non-compliance are then discussed.

1 ln GDP per capita
2 ln GDP per capita ^2
3 Trend growth
4 principal component growth 2008-2011, final version
5 Convergence
6 economic permissiveness
7 traditional religion
8 racism
9 higher education of the younger generation (education gap between the generations)
10 distrust of the army and the press
11 authoritarian character
12 tolerance and respect + postmaterialism
13 the ‘ego’ company (rejection of obedience + unselfishness)
14 female rejection of the market economy and democracy
15 re-analysis: moral (sexual) permissiveness (‘Permissiveness 1’)
16 re-analysis: shadow economy mentality (‘Permissiveness 2’)
17 re-analysis: distance from religion (‘Permissiveness 3’)
18 re-analysis: educational values: independence and imagination
19 re-analysis: distance to market economy values
20 re-analysis: education values: responsibility and tolerance
21 re-analysis: educational values: determination and perseverance and being against saving
22 re-analysis: right wing acceptance of inequality
23 re-analysis: education values: unselfishness and being against hard work
24 feminism analysis: distance to traditionalist forms of religion
25 feminism analysis: Generation gap in educational level
26 feminism analysis: feminism
27 Power Distance
28 Individualism vs. Collectivism
29 Masculinity versus Femininity
30 Uncertainty Avoidance Index
31 Long-Term Orientation
32 Indulgence versus Restraint
33 TRADITIONAL/SECULAR RATIONAL VALUES WVS 1-4/2006
34 SURVIVAL/SELF-EXPRESSION VALUES
35 Effective Democracy Index
36 Marriage outdated institution
....

289 world bank pension reforms
290 mean budget deficit 1990s
291 slope budget 1980-2000
292 budget 1982
293 budget 1992
294 dyn budget 1982-1992
295 mean deficit  1980s
296 time series correlation budget 1980-2000
297 dyn mean deficit 1980/90-1990/2000
298 average surplus-deficit 1980-1989
299 average surplus-deficit 1990-1999
300 average surplus-deficit 2000-2007
301 dyn deficit 1990-2007
302 growth 2008
303 growth 2009
304 growth 2010
305 growth 2011
306 mean economic growth rate crisis years
307 principal component growth 2008-2011
308 Shadow economy as % of the GDP
309 Trend 1
310 Residual 1
311 log shadow economy
312 Trend 2
313 Residual 2
314 Value Development

L’analyse économique de la corruption dans le cadre des
marchés publics est assez peu développée. Le phénomène de la
corruption est le plus souvent envisagé par les économistes soit
de manière globale, soit en relation avec les problèmes de
développement. Les quelques travaux consacrés aux marchés
publics le sont en général dans une perspective de préservation
de la concurrence ; ils cherchent à dégager les moyens d’éviter
les ententes entre candidats au marché. La corruption est alors
prioritairement vue comme un simple instrument de l’entente.
Néanmoins, l’analyse économique et l’économie de la corruption ont développé des outils permettant de comprendre
ce qui constitue un cas polaire d’interaction entre puissance
publique et marché, entre deux cadres d’incitation radicalement
différents.

However much we appreciate the enormous scientific contribution by Professor Ronald Inglehart, who initiated the international data collection of the World Values Survey, our re-analysis of the very World Values Survey data [“roll-outs” of the World Values Survey data wvs1981_2008_v20090914.sav] brought us to question Inglehart’s theories, with which he and his associates interpret the mass of the World Values Survey data. Their theoretical approach does not use a sufficiently number of hard-core indicators how global publics view central issues of economic policy, and their theories overemphasize a secularistic view of the religious phenomenon in modern society. Their theories predict the gradual waning of the religious phenomena in parallel with the increase of human security, and even cherish at times the tendencies brought about by such a waning of the religious element in advanced democracies. Inglehart spells them out: higher levels of tolerance for abortion, divorce, homosexuality; the erosion of parental authority, the decrease of the importance of family life et cetera. Is that really something to cherish?

Today, societal and economic development is discontinuous; regional centers of the world economy shift at an enormous speed; and above all, religion and family values can be an important assett in the stability of capitalist development. Economic growth inexorably shifts away from the North Atlantic arena towards new centers of gravitation of the world economy. Alberto Alesina’s and Paola Giuliano’s new maps of global values (Alesina and Giuliano, 2013) present a real break with the hitherto existing secularistic consensus of global value research. Their maps of family ties, respect for parents et cetera coincide with the global map of economic growth today.

Leading representatives of the global economics profession now start to take up the challenge to interpret the mass of the data from the World Values Survey project on their own. The essay by Barro and McCleary (2003) was an important beginning and a good example of how today economic research uses data from the World Values Survey project to study the relationship between religion, denominations and economic growth.

Alesina (2013); Alesina and Angeletos (2005); Alesina and Fuchs-Schündeln (2007); Alesina and Guiliano (2010, 2011, 2013); Alesina, Cozzi and Mantovan (2012); and Alesina, di Tella, and MacCulloch (2004) all show how the economic discipline can gain hard-core, quantitative and valuable insights from comparative knowledge about such phenomena as generalized trust and social capital, individualism, family ties, morality, attitudes toward work and perception of poverty, and religious practice for economic processes.

In our re-analysis, we use the advanced statistical multivariate analysis technique of the Promax factor analysis, which allows for correlations between factors. It is available to the global public via the IBM-SPSS statistical package XXI. We eliminated missing values by listwise delition.

In our first re-analysis, there were 92289 interview partners from around the globe with complete data for all the 30 variables of our research design. Our main model explains 47.89% of the total variance of all the 30 variables. We highlight the relationships between the original 30 variables and the newly derived factor analytical dimensions:

a) economic permissiveness
b) traditional religion
c) racism
d) higher education for the younger generation (education gap between the generations)
e) distrust of the army and the press
f) authoritarian character
g) tolerance and respect
h) the 'ego' company (i. e. the rejection of obedience and unselfishness as values in education)
i) [predominantly] female rejection of the market economy and democracy

We also look at the trajectory of global society by analyzing the factor scores along the path of the Human Development Indicator of the UNDP (“human security indicator”, also used by Inglehart and his associates).

 Economic permissiveness clearly captures the dimension of lawlessness, moral-ethical decay and the shadow economy, so prominent in contemporary economic theory of growth. In statistical terms, it is the most important of all the resulting factors.

 Traditional religion is linked in a very complex way to the absence of economic permissiveness. We also look at the exceptional performers (“residuals”) which best avoided economic permissiveness on each stage of secularization.

We also present Chropleth maps of human values across the globe, and show the regional implications of our analysis.



JEL Classification: A13; Z12; P48; O017; N3


Keywords: Relation of Economics to Social Values; religion; other Economic Systems: Political Economy; Legal Institutions; Property Rights, Formal and Informal Sectors, Shadow Economy, Institutional Arrangements; Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

Introduction: Informal Economies as Varieties of Governance

    Why Read Informality in a Substantivist Manner? On the Embeddedness of the Soviet Second Economy

    Informal Economy: The Invisible Hand of Government

    Estimating the Size of the Croatian Shadow Economy: A Labour Approach

    Informal Employment and Earnings Determination in Ukraine

    Approaching Informality: Rear-Mirror Methodology and Ethnographic Inquiry

    Explaining the Informal Economy in Post-Communist Societies: A Study of the Asymmetry Between Formal and Informal Institutions in Romania

    Post-Socialist Informality Rural Style: Impressions from Bulgaria

    Exploring the Practice of Making Informal Payments in the Health Sector: Some Lessons from Greece

    Violent Pressure on Business and the Size of the Informal Economy: Evidence from Russian Regions

    Labor Informality in Mexico: An Indicator Analysis

    The Interplay Between Formal and Informal Firms and Its Implications on Jobs in Francophone Africa: Case Studies of Senegal and Benin

    Governing Informal Payments by Market in the Chinese Healthcare System

    Social Mechanisms of the Counterpublic Sphere: A Case of a Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative in LAO PDR

    Formalisation of Entrepreneurship in the Informal Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Role of Formal Institutions: An Analysis of Ghana’s Experience

    Evidence on Corruption in Public Procurements in Healthcare and the Implications for Policy

Основные результаты данного исследования таковы:
А) Описано множество аспектов реальной экономики:
1) Все существующие войны разделены на три вида и описаны экономические последствия каждого вида войны.
2) Описано, как можно стать миллиардером.
3) Описано, как всегда чувствовать себя богатым.
4) Описаны части теневой экономики.
5) Доказано расчетом, что совершать мелкие уголовные преступления невыгодно.
6) Описаны имущественные авторские права как бизнес.
7) Описана справедливая алиментная система.
8) Рассчитано, сколько стоит вырастить ребенка.
9) Описано, как биологические потребности человека влияют на экономику.
10) Гораздо шире, нежели в бухучете описаны активы и пассивы.
11) Дана схема справедливой налоговой системы.
12) Даны принципы построения столетнего плана государственного развития.
13) Описаны принципы государственной миграционной политики.
14) Описана структура бюджетных трат на основе понятия государствообразующего народа.
15) Описана связь между идеологией государства и дефицитом.
16) Описано падение государства как естественный ход событий.
17) Описано, чем и как элиты и государства вынуждены платить за принятые решения.
Б) Сформулированы следующие закономерности:
18) Закон о 99% людей.
19) Закон о смерти человека.
20) Закон о численности человечества и конкурсах.
21) Закон о зарплате и образовании.
22) Закон о максимальном сроке существовании
юридического лица.
23) Закон о государственной границе.
В) Даны формулы расчета в золотом эквиваленте:
24) Дана схема расчета себестоимости государства.
25) Дан алгоритм расчета выгоды от завоевательной войны.

Abstract Although tackling informal employment is being accorded ever greater priority by governments across the western world, critical reviews of how public policy is addressing this issue are notable by their absence. This paper begins to bridge this gap.

From the erosion of state legitimacy in Lebanon to the use of smartphones in Kyrgyzstan, from a Polish suburb to the music scene in Azerbaijan, this volume attempts to explain why, in a variety of world regions, a substantial number of people tend to ignore or act against state rules. We propose to look at informality beyond simplistic associations of the phenomenon with a single category such as "informal labour" or "corruption". By doing this, we propose to look for a correlation between the emergence, and persistence, of some informal practices and the quality of governance in a given area. We also suggest that a better understanding of the variety of informal practices present in a region can help conceptualising more adequate interventions and eventually improve the socio-economic conditions of its inhabitants.

This volume presents three studies on the VAT. The first study is a VAT primer for lawyers, economists, and accountants who rarely talk to each other about tax issues, particularly in the Netherlands. The different views illuminate the nature and workings of the VAT.The second study examines and evaluates VAT coordination in the EU against the backdrop of an analysis

The aim of this report is to compare social identity (ID) card schemes in the construction sector in different European countries to make recommendations for the design of a social ID card scheme in the construction sector in Romania. Social ID cards provide information on the employer and employee to confirm if workers on a construction site should be on the site or not as well as other information about the worker (e.g., health and safety certificates, training successfully undertaken, driver licences). To understand social ID cards, it is useful to view them as a certification tool for a worker containing visible and secure electronic information. They are an example of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). This report evaluates in detail the social ID card schemes in 11 European countries, namely: Belgium, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden.

By employing comparative data, this paper addresses a central question: why is tax collection in Tajikistan lower than in other transitional countries? It presents a comparative analysis of the role of weak institutions and a shadow economy in determining the low level of tax effort measured by Tajikistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio. By tracing the origins of Tajikistan’s tax system to the 1980s, presenting the available data and relating the results to recent literature, this paper finds that the most likely causes of insufficient tax revenue stem from the low quality of government institutions and the increased share of the shadow economy, which offers an alternative to navigating the institutions and administration of existing tax policy as suggested by previous studies.
With the public finances of Tajikistan hampered by these constraints, policies that aim to develop alternative sources of tax revenue collection, construct stronger institutions and streamline the design of VAT collection offer prospective sources to generate greater revenue. Building higher quality institutions could perhaps be done more quickly and with less difficulty than changing the structure of
the economy or dramatically increasing the levels of taxation, but all options pose challenges. Despite some of its current drawbacks, VAT is still easier and less costly to implement, less prone to tax evasion and underground economic activities, and more likely to facilitate compliance.

A significant part of China-Pakistan cross-border trade falls within the category of shadow economy. Most Pakistani traders in Xinjiang cannot afford to ship containers through the Khunjerab Pass and rather carry the goods purchased in China with them on the daily buses to Sost, Pakistan, thus avoiding customs duties. This form of border economy, though falling outside of the regulatory regime, is far from being informal. Rather, it is based on a network of contacts on both sides of the border and made possible by the particular institutional and infrastructural setting of the area. Based on long-term fieldwork in both Xinjiang and Pakistan, this article shows the complexity of these transactions, their transnational nature and the performativity that characterises them. It also highlights the role of online technologies and social networks in the cultivation of those relations, and the ability of traders to navigate often-changing norms and the flows that characterise the market. Eventually, the article suggests a new definition for " the market " as it emerges from the experience of traders in Xinjiang. For them the market is neither simply based on trust, social relations and the continuous flow of information; nor does it correspond to the global, culture-free market economy

Using Schatzki’s practices framework as a lens, this paper reports on the practices of university students accessing learning resources at a research-intensive  university in South Africa. Using a mixed methods approach, 1001 survey responses and six focus groups were analysed to explore how students in three professional disciplines access learning resources, with the focus on digitally-mediated piracy practices. The findings suggest a blurring between the legal and the illegal and indicate the normalcy of piracy practices, with nuanced distinctions and understandings manifest.

To help countries make progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 8.3.1 ("Proportion of informal employment in non-agriculture employment, by sex"), this paper presents an integrated strategic policy approach. This is where: a national government facilitates the transition to formality using a whole government approach to achieve the inclusive structural transformation required, joins-up the fields of labour, tax and social security law, involves social partners, and uses the full range of direct and indirect policy measures available to enhance the power of, and trust in, authorities respectively.

The paper uses estimates, provided by the Central Statistical Office, of standard units of labour to examine how immigrants working (illegally) in the shadow economy affect the employment of (legal) labour in the official economy. The results of our cross sector-time series analysis of the demand for legal labour in the Italian economy between 1980 and 1995 show that the increase of illegal units of labour produces a reduction in the use of legal labour, albeit a very limited one. An analysis by sectors shows that the competitive effect of illegal foreign workers is not homogeneous and is strongest in the agricultural sector, while complementarity between the two categories of labour is evident in the non-tradable services sector. Furthermore, when the effects of illegal foreign and illegal native workers are compared, the former is smaller than the latter one, with illegal foreigners workers just reinforcing the impact of the illegal nationals on the labour market.

"Американский историк Джеймс Хайнцен специализируется на советской истории сталинской эпохи, уделяя немало внимания теневой экономике периода. Свою книгу он посвятил теме коррупции, в частности взяточничества, в СССР в период позднего сталинизма. Автор на довольно обширном архивном материале исследует расцвет коррупции и попытки государства бороться с ней в условиях послевоенного восстановления страны, реконструирует обычаи и ритуалы, связанные с предложением и получением взяток, уделяет особое внимание взяточничеству в органах суда и прокуратуры, подробно описывает некоторые крупные дела, например дело о коррупции в высших судебных инстанциях ряда республик и областей СССР в 1947–1952 гг.

    Книга предназначена для специалистов-историков и широкого круга читателей, интересующихся историй СССР XX века."

The aim of this introductory article is to provide a critical overview of how informality has been defined and measured, together with selected findings on its extent and character, and a summary of competing views regarding its role in contemporary economies and how it can be tackled. The outcome is a set of
conceptual frameworks for understanding both the burgeoning literature on infor-
mal employment and how each of the perspectives presented in this Special Issue contributes to the advancement of knowledge on this subject so as to set the scene  for the articles that follow

Reflecting on the results of the shadow economy survey, as conceptualized by Putnis and Sauka and implemented in Ukraine in 2019 for the first time, the goal of the current article is twofold. First, it offers an overview of the results for the years 2017 and 2018 and estimates the shadow economy in the country at 38.3% of GDP for 2017 and 38.5% for 2018. Second, it suggests possible advantages in the use of direct methods to estimate the level of the shadow economy in a country and explore the motives pushing entrepreneurs to remain in the shadow. The discussion is then framed to conceptualize the distinction between shadow economy and informality. We conclude by suggesting that a better understanding of the entangled relations lying behind the reasons to stay in the shadow can help us better address the issue and propose measures that could help bring business out of the shadow.

Tackling undeclared work is often less effective because there is a fragmented and uncoordinated approach across the multifarious government bodies responsible for tackling undeclared work and a limited involvement of social partners, as well as an incomplete range of policy measures used. To resolve this, a holistic integrated strategic approach has been proposed. This is where governments:
 Shift the objective from “reducing undeclared work” to “transforming undeclared work into declared work”;
 Develop a whole government coordinated approach and fully involve social partners, and
 Implement the full range of direct and indirect policy tools.
The aim of this study is to provide a baseline assessment of the progress of enforcement authorities in European countries towards adopting a holistic approach. To assess this, a questionnaire survey was sent to the 32 labour, tax and social security authorities participating in the European Platform tackling undeclared work (hereafter “the Platform”) in the 27 European Union member states plus Norway and Iceland (i.e., 28 labour authorities, 3 tax authorities and 1 social security authority). Responses were received from 23 labour authorities and 1 tax authority. This report evaluates the self-reported progress made.

This study develops and estimates an index of the size of shadow economies in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and analyses the factors that influence participation in the shadow sector. The index can be used to track shadow economies through time or across sectors and therefore is a useful tool to evaluate the effectiveness of policies aimed ar reducing the size

Analiza e ekonomisë në hije ose e ekonomisë së fshehur është thelbësore për politikëbërësit në çdo vend të botës. Duke pasur parasysh madhësinë e ekonomisë në hije, rëndësia e matjes së ekonomisë në hije në Kosovë është edhe më e rëndësishme. Në Kosovë, në veçanti, ndërtimi i institucioneve filloi nga e para pas përfundimit të luftës, e cila nga ana tjetër ndikoi në variabëlit e kategorive dhe rrjedhimisht në të ardhurat tatimore që përbëjnë burimin kryesor të financave për qeveritë. Ky raport për ekonominë në hije bazohet në metodat indirekte të zhvilluara për analizën e ekonomisë në hije, të përdorura për herë të parë nga njëri prej autorëve të studimit, dhe konsiderohet një tregues i rëndësishëm dhe kontribuues në një debat të informuar për madhësinë e ekonomive në hijeve të vendeve përkatëse. Duke marrë parasysh mosmarrëveshjet ekzistuese në literaturën aktuale për analizën e ekonomisë në hije në Kosovë dhe gjetkë, jemi të bindur që ky studim do t'i shtojë debatit ekzistues shkaqet dhe pasojat e ekonomisë në hije në Kosovë. Shpresojmë që ky studim të luajë një rol të rëndësishëm në forcimin e hartimit të politikave bazuar në dëshmi dhe kështu të rezultojë në krijimin e masave të politikave të zhvilluara enkas për ta luftuar informalitetin.

Little attention has been paid to why consumers choose to purchase goods and services from the informal economy. Similarly, few studies have been conducted on consumer behaviour in relation to informal markets during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the article is to evaluate, for the first time, whether the COVID-19 pandemic influenced consumer behaviour in relation to the informal economy. Qualitative evidence collected in Iași, Romania, is reported. The finding is that the most important motives for purchasing goods and services from the informal economy are related to social ends, such as supporting local businesses, maintaining relationships with others, and enhancing sustainable development. The novel finding of this research is that community exchange in the form of mutual aid and reciprocity is not activated only for friends, neighbours, kin or work colleagues but also for local businesses facing financial difficulties. The customers are displaying solidarity and empathy for their situation. As such, this article adds to previous findings indicating that the motivation of lower cost is not the universal rationale for purchasing from the informal economy as many consumers choose to make purchases from informal market driven by social rationales. The paper ends by discussing the policy implications of the findings.

Автор дает классификацию и обзор правовых актов, принятых или способствующих искоренению коррупции. В статье анализируются не только правовые акты, специально направленные на предотвращение коррупции, но также другие правовые акты и широкий спектр мер, которые создают необходимые условия и благоприятную среду в этом отношении. При этом, автор подчеркивает, что важно иметь в виду, что коррупция не может быть сведена к минимуму или искоренена только путем совершенствования правовых законов.

Муаллиф томонидан коррупцияга қарши курашга доир қабул қилинган қонун ҳужжатлари таснифлаш ва шарҳлаш ҳамда шу масала моҳиятига алоқадор жиҳатлар очиб берилган. Мақолада коррупцияга олиб келадиган ҳатти ҳаракатлар олдини олишга қаратилган ҳуқуқий ҳужжатлар, хамда бу борадаги зарурий кенг кўламли чора тадбирлар таҳлил қилинган. Шу билан бирга муаллиф томонидан коррупция холатини факатгина айнан норматив ҳуқуқий ҳужжатларни такомиллаштириш орқали минималлаштиришш еки тамомила бартараф этиш мумкин эмаслиги таъкидланади.

The article is devoted to legal acts on combating corruption. The author gives a classification and review of these legal acts. The article analyzes not only legal acts specifically aimed at preventing corruption, but also other legal acts and a wide range of measures that create the necessary conditions and a favorable environment in this regard. The author emphasizes that it is important to keep in mind that corruption cannot be minimized or eradicated only by improving legal laws.

Architectural space is expressed by the union between matter and light, texture and perception, mediated by surfaces, materials,
volumes and colours. The relationship between light and space has been known even from the early builders, which in elevating
the monoliths have attempted to relate them to the movement of the sun and stars. Architecture was used as a verification tool
of these observations, and at the same time for communication and collective celebration of the first major discoveries derived
from the observation of nature. Therefore, you can cite numerous examples of architecture built according to specific geometrical
relationships associated to astronomical observations. The present study is aimed to put in relation the theorical studies about the
representation of light and shadow, the knowledge and the beliefs in the ancient and Middle time with the material characters of
architecture. They are analysed examples from the ancient and Middle age to find elements like the orientation of ancient buildings
according to cosmic symbols or using of the light to mark the time and the calendar.

This chapter describes the various intertwining social and technological macro forces which sustain the illegal optical disc piracy in the Philippines and Vietnam. Owing to limitation of data on Vietnam, the chapter focuses more on the Philippines particularly on Quiapo Barter Trade Center  Complex (QBTCC) piracy network, the main optical media piracy hub in the Philippines,  although there are some patterns which can be found in both countries.  It opens with a general profile of traders of optical disc piracy trade in the Philippines and Vietnam. Then it argues that these Filipino and Vietnamese traders participate in the piracy business because of some major social, economic, and technological factors other than weak legal, judicial system and law enforcement systems that encourage them to participate in counterfeit media business piracy. This includes “push” factors such as the adverse socio-economic situations in the rural areas in Philippines and Vietnam. In the Philippines, the war in Mindanao, poverty and social discrimination drive the displaced Maranao and Maguindanao Muslims  to migrate to urban centers and engage in optical disc retail piracy as an alternative livelihood, and “pull” factors  such as the opening of more trading opportunities facilitated by the Doi Moi (renovation) economic policy of the Vietnamese government, the lure of higher profits in optical disc piracy trade, and the ease of registering and maintaining a CD-DVD shops that sell counterfeit discs. The chapter ends with other important factors such as material and social networks that support the persistence of piracy: the (1) technological network: the use of  allied digital technologies that facilitate the piracy business operations for traders, particularly the Internet, the cellphone and other hardware and software digital technologies, (2) kinship network: the employment of social and kinship ties to manage the illegal trade and protect  its secrecy, (3) ethnic network: the use common cultural heritage for recruitment of informal workers and protection of trade secret and use of language as deterrence to law enforcement, and (4) religious affiliation: the common religious identity as Muslims creates a sense of community  among traders in the Philippines which obstructs law enforcement and minimizes leakage of the piracy trade secrets.