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Diagnostic Report On Undeclared Work In Kosovo, Colin C. Williams Apr 2019

Diagnostic Report On Undeclared Work In Kosovo, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

This diagnostic report evaluates the extent, nature and drivers of undeclared work in Kosovo* followed by recommendations regarding how this sphere can be tackled.


Evaluating Competing Perspectives Towards Undeclared Work: Some Lessons From Bulgaria, Colin C. Williams Aug 2018

Evaluating Competing Perspectives Towards Undeclared Work: Some Lessons From Bulgaria, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

When explaining and tackling the undeclared economy in Central
and Eastern Europe, participants have been conventionally viewed
as rational economic actors. They engage in undeclared work
when the benefits outweigh the costs. Participation is thus
deterred by increasing the sanctions and/or probability of being
caught. Recently, however, an alternative social actor approach
has emerged which views participants as engaging in undeclared
work when their norms, values and beliefs (i.e. citizen morale) do
not align with laws and regulations (i.e. state morale). Here, therefore,
initiatives to develop greater symmetry between civic and
state morale are pursued. To evaluate the validity and …


Elements Of A Preventative Approach Towards Undeclared Work: An Evaluation Of Service Vouchers And Awareness Raising Campaigns: Outputs From Plenary Discussion Of The European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work, Colin C. Williams Apr 2018

Elements Of A Preventative Approach Towards Undeclared Work: An Evaluation Of Service Vouchers And Awareness Raising Campaigns: Outputs From Plenary Discussion Of The European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

The fourth Plenary meeting of the European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work was held in Brussels on 8-9 March 2018. The first day of this meeting was dedicated to the topic of the preventative approach towards tackling undeclared work, with a focus upon service vouchers and awareness raising. This report summarises the discussions at the meeting, drawing also on the forthcoming study on this topic which has been developed as part of the Platform’s work programme


Evaluating Policy Measures To Tackle Undeclared Work: The Role Of Stakeholder Collaboration In Building Trust And Improving Policy-Making, Colin C. Williams, Anton Kojouharov Jul 2015

Evaluating Policy Measures To Tackle Undeclared Work: The Role Of Stakeholder Collaboration In Building Trust And Improving Policy-Making, Colin C. Williams, Anton Kojouharov

Colin C Williams

The aim of this paper is to examine and analyse the realm of policy evaluation approaches and methods as they relate to assessing measures to tackle undeclared work. The discussion is set at the backdrop of a brief review of the more prominent theoretical and conceptual considerations in the policy evaluation literature. The paper then investigates results from policy assessments and evaluations illuminated in the previous GREY working papers, as well as some selected from the Eurofound database. The analysis of a limited sample of available policy evaluations and results demonstrates that a common probable cause of policy failure with …


Designing Survey Methods To Evaluate The Undeclared Economy: A Review Of The Options, Colin C. Williams Jun 2015

Designing Survey Methods To Evaluate The Undeclared Economy: A Review Of The Options, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

This Working Paper is part of the GREY project which is developing capacities and capabilities in tackling undeclared work. In this Working Paper, the various options available to researchers when designing surveys to tackle undeclared work are evaluated. These issues include the unit of analysis used, the data collection methodology, an array of questionnaire design issues (including the reference period, whether to define the phenomenon for participants, a direct versus gradual approach to sensitive issues, whether to do a supply- and/or demand-side survey; whether to examine the relationship between purchasers and sellers, how to discourage social desirability bias), sample size, …


Designing Focus Groups And Experiments To Evaluate Policy Approaches And Measures For Tackling Undeclared Work, Marina Polak, Lyubomir Mishkov, Colin C. Williams Jan 2015

Designing Focus Groups And Experiments To Evaluate Policy Approaches And Measures For Tackling Undeclared Work, Marina Polak, Lyubomir Mishkov, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

The aim of this Working Paper is to review the literature on conducting focus groups and experiments in the field of tax non-compliance and undeclared work, and then to set set a range of possible uses of focus groups and experiments to evaluate the feasibility of various policy measures in the context of Bulgaria, Croatia and Macedonia.


Assessing The Cross-National Transferability Of Policy Measures For Tackling Undeclared Work, Colin C. Williams, Rositsa Dzhekova, Marijana Baric, Josip Franic, Lyubo Mishkov Aug 2014

Assessing The Cross-National Transferability Of Policy Measures For Tackling Undeclared Work, Colin C. Williams, Rositsa Dzhekova, Marijana Baric, Josip Franic, Lyubo Mishkov

Colin C Williams

The aim of the present Working Paper No. 5 is to provide a preliminary assessment of the appropriateness of possible policy approaches for tackling undeclared work as well as their transferability to three target countries: Bulgaria (BG), Croatia (HR) and FYR Macedonia (FYROM). This assessment will result in highlighting a set of promising policy practices that can be tested empirically in terms of their acceptability among the population and stakeholders in the three Southeast European states.


Tackling The Undeclared Economy In Fyr Macedonia: A Baseline Assessment, Rositsa Dzhekova, Josip Franic, Lyubo Mishkov, Colin C. Williams Jun 2014

Tackling The Undeclared Economy In Fyr Macedonia: A Baseline Assessment, Rositsa Dzhekova, Josip Franic, Lyubo Mishkov, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

This report provides a detailed review of available evidence on the extent and nature of the undeclared economy in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), as well as on the institutional actors involved in tackling the phenomenon and their policy approach and measures used.

Extent and nature of the undeclared economy

Some widely cited international measurements that cover FYROM find that the share of its undeclared economy is larger than in all EU Member States, estimated at 35% of GDP in 2007 (Schneider et al, 2010). Data from the most recent national Labour Force Survey suggests that in 2012 …


Policy Approaches Towards Undeclared Work: A Conceptual Framework, Colin C. Williams May 2014

Policy Approaches Towards Undeclared Work: A Conceptual Framework, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

The aim of this working paper is to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the policy approaches for tackling undeclared work. In doing so, the intention is to provide the structure for a future comprehensive review of the policy measures available for tackling undeclared work.

This paper is part of a series of papers associated with the project entitled ‘Out of the shadows: developing capacities and capabilities for tackling undeclared work in Bulgaria, Croatia and FYR Macedonia’. Funded by the European Commission’s Framework 7 Industry-Academia Partnerships Programme (IAPP), the objective of this project is to provide concrete policy recommendations about …


The Shadow Economy, Colin C. Williams, Friedrich Schneider May 2013

The Shadow Economy, Colin C. Williams, Friedrich Schneider

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.


Tackling Undeclared Work In Montenegro, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy May 2013

Tackling Undeclared Work In Montenegro, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.


Tackling Undeclared Work In Fyr Macedonia, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy May 2013

Tackling Undeclared Work In Fyr Macedonia, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.


Tackling Undeclared Work In Iceland, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy May 2013

Tackling Undeclared Work In Iceland, Colin C. Williams, Marijana Baric, Piet Renooy

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.


How Much For Cash?: Tackling The Cash-In-Hand Culture In The European Property And Construction Sector, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Jan Windebank Dec 2011

How Much For Cash?: Tackling The Cash-In-Hand Culture In The European Property And Construction Sector, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Jan Windebank

Colin C Williams

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain the cash-in-hand consumer culture in the property
and construction sector. The conventional assumption has been that consumers using cash-in-hand
transactions are rational economic actors doing so simply to save money. Here, this is evaluated
critically.
Design/methodology/approach – To do this, evidence from a 2007 Eurobarometer survey
involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews in 27 European Union member states is reported.
Findings – The finding is that saving money is the sole motive of consumers in just 38 per cent of
cash-in-hand transactions in the European property and construction sector, one of several …


Small Businesses In The Informal Economy: The Evidence Base, Colin C. Williams Dec 2003

Small Businesses In The Informal Economy: The Evidence Base, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.


Small Businesses In The Informal Economy, Colin C. Williams Dec 2003

Small Businesses In The Informal Economy, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

No abstract provided.