The starting point of this paper is a recognition that the current deterrence approach towards underground work fails to recognize either the potential asset that enterprise and entrepreneurship in the underground economy represents in western economies or the desire of governments to transfer...

To evaluate how undeclared work is being tackled in Croatia this paper reports an e-survey and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders in Croatia. It is revealed that, compared with the European Economic Area countries, Croatia has a weak institutional infrastructure for tackling undeclared...

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the variable impacts of the informal economy on businesses and employment relations in South East Europe. Evidence is reported from the 2009 World Bank Enterprise Survey which interviewed 4,720 businesses located in South East Europe. The finding is not only...

This paper seeks to explain the cross-national variations in the tendency of employers in South East Europe to under-report the wages of their employees by paying them two wages, an official declared salary and an additional undeclared envelope wage. Reporting the results of a 2007 Eurobarometer...

To explain the shadow economy in the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, this paper evaluates the relationship between the shadow economy and tax morale. Viewing tax morale as a measure of the symmetry between the codified laws and regulations of formal institutions (state morality)...

The aim of this paper is to evaluate contrasting policy approaches towards undeclared work. To do so, evidence is reported from 1,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in Croatia during 2013. Logistic regression analysis reveals no association between participation in undeclared work and the...

A widely held belief is that as economies become more “advanced,” there is a natural and inevitable shift of economic activity from the informal to the formal sphere (herein referred to as the “formalization of work” thesis). Hence, the existence of supposedly “traditional” informal...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on undeclared work in the Western Balkans and the emergent challenges for state authorities, and policy responses, in the immediate and longer-term in relation to tackling undeclared work. To achieve this, section 2...

The studies in this special issue look at various schemes, in their performance, impact and efficiency, providing a way forward in social policy points to approaches more embedded with the strategic changes in the Indian society. The contributors of the special issue pose some challenging...

The need to integrate work beyond employment into discussions of labor practices is widely recognized. This has been so far largely achieved by adopting a dual economies perspective, which is criticized for depicting the formal and informal sectors as separate hostile worlds. To resolve this, an...