Do firms employing undocumented workers have a competitive advantage? Using administrative data from the state of Georgia, this paper investigates the incidence of undocumented worker employment across firms and how it affects firm survival. Firms are found to engage in herding behavior, being...

Politicians and trade unions raise the issue of illegal employment in order to provoke support, voters feel negatively touched by the presence of illegal employment, often also associated with illegal immigration. In addition there was a severe discussion in Germany about passing a minimum wage...

In der November-Ausgabe 2005 des WIRTSCHAFTSDIENST hat Walter A. S. Koch die Schätzungen von Dominik H. Enste und Friedrich Schneider zur Größe der Schattenwirtschaft kritisch bewertet. Dr. Enste und Prof. Schneider stellen hier noch einmal ihre Schätzmethoden dar. Im Anschluss daran eine...

Der Bedarf privater Haushalte an Hilfe bei Haushaltsführung, Kinderbetreuung und der Pflege von Angehörigen steigt. Er wird in Deutschland überwiegend durch irreguläre Arbeit gedeckt. Die Studie zeigt, dass institutionelle und rechtliche Regulierungen diese Konstellation für beide Seiten,...

Private households' demand for support in housekeeping, childcare and care of elderly is increasing. In Germany, it is met mainly by undocumented work. The report shows that this constellation is eased by legal and institutional regulations: Social as well as tax legislation promote a "marginal...

Guest-worker programs have been providing rapidly growing economies with millions of temporary foreign workers over the last couple of decades. With the duration of stay strictly limited by program rules in most of the host countries and wages paid to guest workers often set at sub-market...