ERN: Informal Sectors & the Underground Economy in Transitional Economies (Topic)最新文献

{"title":"Tackling the Undeclared Economy in Bulgaria: A Baseline Report","authors":"Rositsa Dzhekova, C. Williams","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2430876","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2430876","url":null,"abstract":"This report provides a systematic review of available evidence on the extent and nature of the undeclared economy in Bulgaria, as well as on the institutional actors involved in tackling the phenomenon and their policy approach and measures used. Extent of the undeclared economy - Bulgaria is increasingly included in international and European studies of the size and nature of the undeclared economy, allowing cross-national comparisons. Schneider (2013) estimates the undeclared economy in Bulgaria to be 31% of GDP in 2013, which is the highest estimated value in the EU-28. According to the World Bank Enterprise Survey 2009, 54% of firms assert that they compete against firms operating in the undeclared economy and for 28% of firms the practices of undeclared sector competitors represent a major constraint. This is high compared with other EU-27 member states. Recent surveys indicate that although the undeclared economy appears to be shrinking over time, there is an increasing involvement in some types of undeclared work due to the economic crisis. This means that although the overall trend is downwards, not all forms of undeclared work are shrinking. Nature and types of undeclared work - Examining sectorial and business variations, there is greater involvement in the undeclared economy amongst small and medium-size enterprises, and those operating in construction, retail, tourism, hotels and restaurants, real estate, garments, food processing and the agricultural sectors as well as some services. Overall, labour-intensive, low technology sectors are more vulnerable to entering the undeclared realm. Producers and distributors of excise goods (alcohol, cigarettes and fuel) are considered at high risk when it comes to tax/excise evasion and under-reported turnover. Examining the nature of undeclared work, national representative surveys indicate that under-reporting remuneration is more widespread than the lack of formal contracts, and has in fact increased since the beginning of the economic crisis. While primary work without contract is occurring less and less frequently (between 4% and 10% of the employed according to surveys), non-declaration of additional employment is a more serious problem (between 28% and 32% of all dependent employees with a second job). The economic crisis has forced employers to resort to under-reporting wages and registering workers on part-time contracts instead. “Envelope wages” are affecting between 14% and 21% of the employed, especially those in the service and retail sectors. Looking at the supply and demand side of undeclared employment, the Eurobarometer survey shows that in 2007 the majority of undeclared workers were involved in construction, industry and agriculture, while in 2013 the most often provided type of undeclared work was repairs and renovations, followed by “other goods and services”. Males aged 40-54 years, the unemployed/temporarily not working, as well as those from small/middle-sized towns and r","PeriodicalId":378044,"journal":{"name":"ERN: Informal Sectors & the Underground Economy in Transitional Economies (Topic)","volume":"89 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123049730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}