IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/seejeb/v15y2020i1p80-92n7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Coronavirus Pandemic and Europe’s Undeclared Economy: Impacts and a Policy Proposal

Author

Listed:
  • Williams Colin C.

    (Professor, Management School, University of Sheffield)

  • Kayaoglu Aysegul

    (PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Istanbul Technical University)

Abstract

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a loss of revenues for enterprises and workers due to workplace closures and restrictions on movement to ‘flatten the curve’. In response, governments have made available temporary financial support to enterprises and workers affected. This paper evaluates a group currently excluded from this support, namely enterprises and workers in the undeclared economy, and a possible government policy response. To identify those involved, a 2019 Eurobarometer survey of undeclared work in Europe is reported. This reveals that one in every 132 European citizens relies wholly on undeclared earnings and the sectors and population groups involved. Given their reduced revenues and inability to access the temporary financial support, a voluntary disclosure initiative is recommended which brings undeclared enterprises and workers into the declared economy and onto the radar of state authorities by offering access to this temporary financial support if they disclose their previous undeclared work.

Suggested Citation

  • Williams Colin C. & Kayaoglu Aysegul, 2020. "The Coronavirus Pandemic and Europe’s Undeclared Economy: Impacts and a Policy Proposal," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 15(1), pages 80-92, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:seejeb:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:80-92:n:7
    DOI: 10.2478/jeb-2020-0007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/jeb-2020-0007
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/jeb-2020-0007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Colin C. Williams, 2014. "Confronting the Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15370.
    2. Williams Colin, 2012. "Cross-National Variations in the Under-Reporting of Wages in South-East Europe: A Result of Over-Regulation or Under-Regulation?," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 7(1), pages 53-61, April.
    3. Krasniqi Besnik A. & Williams Colin C., 2017. "Explaining individual- and country-level variations in unregistered employment using a multi-level model: evidence from 35 Eurasian countries," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 12(2), pages 61-72, December.
    4. Gashi Ardiana & Williams Colin C., 2019. "Evaluating the Prevalence and Distribution of Unregistered Employment in Kosovo: Lessons from a 2017 Survey," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 7-20, June.
    5. Fields,Gary S., 2005. "A guide to multisector labor market models," Social Protection and Labor Policy and Technical Notes 32547, The World Bank.
    6. Tatiana Karabchuk & Aigul Zabirova, 2018. "Informal employment in service industries: estimations from nationally representative Labour Force Survey data of Russian Federation," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(11-12), pages 742-771, September.
    7. Fields,Gary S., 2005. "A guide to multisector labor market models," Policy Research Working Paper Series 32547, The World Bank.
    8. Colin C Williams, 2015. "Cross-national variations in the scale of informal employment," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(2), pages 118-135, May.
    9. Williams, Colin C., & Lapeyre, Frédéric,, 2017. "Dependent self-employment trends, challenges and policy responses in the EU," ILO Working Papers 994974993402676, International Labour Organization.
    10. Erkko Autio & Kun Fu, 2015. "Economic and political institutions and entry into formal and informal entrepreneurship," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 67-94, March.
    11. Colin Williams & Jan Windebank, 2001. "Reconceptualising Paid Informal Exchange: Some Lessons from English Cities," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 33(1), pages 121-140, January.
    12. Schneider,Friedrich & Enste,Dominik H., 2016. "The Shadow Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781316600894, September.
    13. Williams Colin C. & Bezeredi Slavko, 2018. "Explaining and Tackling Under-Declared Employment in FYR Macedonia: The Employers Perspective," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 19-31, December.
    14. Maloney, William F., 2004. "Informality Revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1159-1178, July.
    15. Colin C. Williams & Ioana Alexandra Horodnic & Jan Windebank, 2017. "Evaluating the internal dualism of the informal sector: evidence from the European Union," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 44(4), pages 605-616, September.
    16. Allingham, Michael G. & Sandmo, Agnar, 1972. "Income tax evasion: a theoretical analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3-4), pages 323-338, November.
    17. Colin C. Williams & Friedrich Schneider, 2016. "Measuring the Global Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16551.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Colin C Williams, 2021. "Tackling Undeclared Self-Employment in South-East Europe: from Deterrents to Preventative Policy Measures," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 280-298, July.
    2. Colin C. Williams, 2023. "A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18668.
    3. Aziz N. Berdiev & Rajeev K. Goel & James W. Saunoris, 2022. "Do disease epidemics force economic activity underground? International evidence," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(2), pages 263-282, April.
    4. Nurudeen Abu & Awadh Ahmed Mohammed Gamal & Musa Abdullahi Sakanko & Ana Mateen & David Joseph & Ben-Obi Onyewuchi Amaechi, 2021. "How have COVID-19 Confirmed Cases and Deaths Affected Stock Markets? Evidence from Nigeria," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 15(1), February.
    5. Anna Spoz & Ilona Skibinska-Fabrowska & Grzegorz Kotlinski & Helena Zukowska, 2021. "The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Financial Performance of Public Companies in Poland," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 955-976.
    6. Afiqah R. Radzi & Rahimi A. Rahman & Saud Almutairi, 2022. "Modeling COVID-19 Impacts and Response Strategies in the Construction Industry: PLS–SEM Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-25, April.
    7. Mukhtar A. Kassem & Afiqah R. Radzi & Asankha Pradeep & Mohammed Algahtany & Rahimi A. Rahman, 2023. "Impacts and Response Strategies of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Construction Industry Using Structural Equation Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-24, February.
    8. Williams Colin C. & Gashi Ardiana, 2022. "Formal Institutional Failings and Informal Employment: Evidence from the Western Balkans," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 17(2), pages 83-95, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Colin C. Williams, 2023. "A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18668.
    2. C Williams, Colin, 2021. "Explaining And Tackling Undeclared Work In South East Europe: Lessons From A 2019 Eurobarometer Survey," UTMS Journal of Economics, University of Tourism and Management, Skopje, Macedonia, vol. 12(1), pages 1-18.
    3. Colin C Williams & Slavko Bezeredi, 2017. "Explaining Consumers’ Motives for Purchasing from the Informal Economy: Some Lessons from a Study of Bulgaria, Croatia and FYR of of Macedonia," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 4, pages 515-531, December.
    4. Sana Ullah & Colin C. Williams & Babur Wasim Arif, 2019. "The Impacts Of Informality On Enterprise Innovation, Survival And Performance: Some Evidence From Pakistan," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(03), pages 1-19, September.
    5. Dagmara Nikulin & Ewa Lechman, 2021. "Shadow Economy in Poland: Results of the Survey," SpringerBriefs in Economics, in: Shadow Economy in Poland, chapter 0, pages 49-65, Springer.
    6. Colin C. Williams & Kwame Adom & Ioana Alexandra Horodnic, 2020. "Determinants Of The Level Of Informalization Of Enterprises: Some Evidence From Accra, Ghana," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 25(01), pages 1-24, March.
    7. Colin C. Williams & Slavko Bezeredi, 2018. "Evaluating Policy Approaches Towards Undeclared Work: Some Lessons from FYR of Macedonia," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 16(2), pages 171-187.
    8. Mutascu Mihai & Hegerty Scott W., 2022. "The role of refugees in the underground economy of the European Union," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, January.
    9. Krasniqi Besnik A. & Williams Colin C., 2017. "Explaining individual- and country-level variations in unregistered employment using a multi-level model: evidence from 35 Eurasian countries," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 12(2), pages 61-72, December.
    10. Colin C. Williams & Abbi M. Kedir, 2017. "Starting-up unregistered and firm performance in Turkey," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 797-817, September.
    11. Colin C. Williams & Adnan S. Efendic, 2020. "Evaluating the Relationship Between Migration and Participation in Undeclared Work: Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 4, pages 592-606, December.
    12. Ioana Alexandra Horodnic & Colin C. Williams & Adriana Manolică & Cristina Teodora Roman & Gabriela Boldureanu, 2023. "Employer perspectives on undeclared work in the service sector: impacts and policy responses," The Service Industries Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(5-6), pages 358-377, April.
    13. Colin C. Williams & Abbi M. Kedir, 2019. "Explaining cross-country variations in the prevalence of informal sector competitors: lessons from the World Bank Enterprise Survey," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 677-696, September.
    14. Ioana Alexandra Horodnic & Colin Charles Williams & Jan Windebank & Adriana Zaiț & Claudia Ioana Ciobanu, 2021. "Explaining consumer motives to purchase in the informal economy," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(10), pages 1-22, October.
    15. Colin C Williams & Junhong Yang, 2017. "Tackling falsely-declared salaries in Bulgaria: evidence from a 2015 survey," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 3, pages 333-351, September.
    16. Williams Colin C, 2019. "Explaining and tackling the informal economy: an evaluation of competing perspectives," Open Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 63-75, January.
    17. Colin C. Williams & Friedrich Schneider, 2016. "Measuring the Global Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16551.
    18. C. Williams, Colin, 2019. "Tackling Undeclared Work In The European Union: An Evaluation Of Government Policy Approaches," UTMS Journal of Economics, University of Tourism and Management, Skopje, Macedonia, vol. 10(2), pages 135-147.
    19. Gashi Ardiana & Williams Colin C., 2019. "Evaluating the Prevalence and Distribution of Unregistered Employment in Kosovo: Lessons from a 2017 Survey," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 7-20, June.
    20. Ana Maria Bonomi Barufi & Eduardo A. Haddad, Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "New evidence on the wage curve: non-linearities, urban size, and spatial scale in Brazil," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2016_39, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    coronavirus; COVID-19; informal economy; undeclared work; tax evasion; public policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • J46 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Informal Labor Market
    • K34 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Tax Law
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • P2 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:seejeb:v:15:y:2020:i:1:p:80-92:n:7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.