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2019 Annual Platform Survey: Tackling Undeclared In The Collaborative Economy And Bogus Self-Employment, Data Exchange And Data Protection, And Cross-Border Sanctions, Colin C. Williams
2019 Annual Platform Survey: Tackling Undeclared In The Collaborative Economy And Bogus Self-Employment, Data Exchange And Data Protection, And Cross-Border Sanctions, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
This survey collected information from EU Member States, as well as Iceland and Norway, on three issues:
Tackling undeclared work in the collaborative economy and bogus self-employment.
Data exchange and data protection.
Cross-border sanctions.
Of the 28 Platform members from EU Member States as well as Iceland and Norway, 28 out of 30 responses were received. In addition, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) provided qualitative feedback on the role of social partners and their cooperation with enforcement authorities to tackle undeclared work in the areas covered by the survey.
Tackling Undeclared Work Across Europe: Effective Solutions For Policy-Makers, Colin C. Williams
Tackling Undeclared Work Across Europe: Effective Solutions For Policy-Makers, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
This document sets out examples of proven approaches
and practices that Platform members and observers
have used to tackle undeclared work in Europe. The
aim is to inspire national policy-makers with tried and
tested approaches and to provide sources of further
information of how to put these concrete examples into
action.
Shadows: Tackling Undeclared Work In The European Union, Ioana Horodnic, Colin C. Williams
Shadows: Tackling Undeclared Work In The European Union, Ioana Horodnic, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
Across the member states of the European Union and beyond, paid transactions are occuring that are not declared to the state for tax, social security or labour law purposes. The practice is not a minority one. As a result, tackling undeclared work has become a core issue on the policy agendas of both governments and the European Commission, reflected in the establishment of the European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work.
How, therefore, can undeclared work be tackled? A review of the literature indicates two major distinct approaches. First, a rational economic actor approach that tackles undeclared work by ensuring that the …
Future Role And Competence Profile Of Labour Inspectorates, Colin C. Williams
Future Role And Competence Profile Of Labour Inspectorates, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
The transformation of undeclared work into declared work using a combination of preventative and deterrence measures has significant implications for the future role of enforcement authorities1, and the skills and competencies required.
This thematic review workshop (TRW) will provide Platform members with an opportunity to engage in mutual learning and share understanding of the key human resource management issues for both inspectorates as well as inspectors. These issues arise from transforming undeclared work into declared work, the adoption of a wider range of deterrence and preventative approaches and achieving a good balance between deterrence and prevention. In addition, enforcement authorities …
Preventative Approaches For Tackling Undeclared Work, Focusing Upon Tax Rebates And Notification Letters: Learning Resource Paper For The European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work Seminar, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
Effective preventative approaches are long-term, tailored strategies. Over time, they can trigger behavioural change to declare work and increase trust in institutions. Preventative strategies should combine a range of measures and must be regularly tested, evaluated and adapted according to the results. Pilot schemes can be used to find effective ways to tailor approaches to the national context and culture. However, preventative approaches and deterrence approaches are complementary. Both can be used to tackle undeclared work.
Moving towards preventative measures requires a change of strategy of the role of enforcement institutions. A preventative approach requires support of all …
Ifth Plenary Meeting Of The European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work Report On Tackling Under-Declared Employment In The European Union, Colin C. Williams
Ifth Plenary Meeting Of The European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work Report On Tackling Under-Declared Employment In The European Union, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
The fifth Plenary meeting of the European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work was held in Brussels on 18-19 October 2018. The first day of this meeting was dedicated to the topic of tackling under-declared employment in the European Union. This report summarises the discussions at the workshop, which drew on the findings of two studies on this topic produced as part of the Platform’s work programme.
The objective of this thematic discussion on under-declared employment in the European Union was: (i) to exchange information on what works and what does not, (ii) to generate knowledge about under-declared employment, and (iii) to …
Elements Of A Preventative Approach Towards Undeclared Work: An Evaluation Of Service Vouchers And Awareness Raising Campaigns, Colin C. Williams
Elements Of A Preventative Approach Towards Undeclared Work: An Evaluation Of Service Vouchers And Awareness Raising Campaigns, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
1. Introduction
The aim of this study is to review the range of preventative approaches for tackling undeclared work available to Member States, and to focus upon two types of preventative measure, namely service vouchers and the use of awareness raising campaigns.
2. Rationales for a preventative approach
· The rationale for a preventative approach is to shift away from resolving problems after they have occurred towards preventing non-compliance in the first place.
· Article 1 of Decision (EU) 2016/3441, establishing the Platform, explicitly encourages such a preventative approach. It states that ‘”tackling”, in relation to undeclared work, means preventing, …
2018 European Platform Undeclared Work Survey Report: Obstacles To Tackling Undeclared Work At The Cross-Border And National Levels, Bilateral And National Agreements, And Complaint Reporting Tools, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
Responses were received from 45 authorities with responsibilities for tackling undeclared work in 25 Member States (MS), most of whom were labour inspectorates or Ministries of Labour. The issues covered: obstacles to tackling undeclared work at the cross-border and national levels; the use of bilateral and multilateral agreements, and the use of complaint reporting tools in Member States
European Platform Undeclared Work 2017 Platform Survey Report: Organisational Characteristics Of Enforcement Bodies, Measures Adopted To Tackle Undeclared Work, And The Use Of Databases And Digital Tools, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
This report presents the main findings of the first online survey of members of the European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work. A total of 23 Member States responded.
Organisational characteristics of enforcement bodies
Undeclared work covers paid activities that are lawful as regards their nature but are not declared to public authorities so as to evade either payment of taxes, social security contributions and/or labour laws. In three-quarters of Member States, responsibility for these three forms of evasion lies in separate public authorities, with each having separate targets and key performance indicators (KPIs). The outcome is a departmental ‘silos’ approach, and …
Tackling Undeclared Work In Southeast Europe: Knowledge-Informed Policy Responses, Colin C. Williams
Tackling Undeclared Work In Southeast Europe: Knowledge-Informed Policy Responses, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
Ø Undeclared work is socially accepted and widely practiced in Bulgaria, Croatia, and the FYR of Macedonia.
Ø More than 1 in 5 adults in these countries acknowledge that they have bought goods and services on the undeclared economy in the prior year. More than 1 in 12 report that they have undertaken undeclared work, and more than 1 in 10 declared employees report that they receive from their employer in addition to their declared salary an additional undeclared ‘envelope’ wage.
Ø But undeclared work differs across and within the three countries. For every …
Illegitimate Economic Practices In Bulgaria: Findings From A Representative Survey Of 2,005 Citizens, Colin C. Williams, Junhong Yang
Illegitimate Economic Practices In Bulgaria: Findings From A Representative Survey Of 2,005 Citizens, Colin C. Williams, Junhong Yang
Colin C Williams
This report presents the findings of a survey on illegitimate economic practices in Bulgaria conducted between July and October 2015. This representative survey of 2005 citizens focused on the experiences of Bulgarians with undeclared work, envelope wages and the practice of “pulling strings”, as well as on their opinion about these types of dishonest behaviour.
According to the respondents, illegitimate economic practices are strongly ingrained in Bulgarian society. According to the estimation of Schneider (2013), the undeclared economy accounts for 31% of GDP in Bulgaria in 2013, which is the highest estimation for any country in the EU-28. According to …
Paying For Favours: Evaluating The Role Of Blat In Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams
Paying For Favours: Evaluating The Role Of Blat In Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
To evaluate whether the illicit practice of using personal connections to
acquire goods and services, or to circumvent formal procedures, known as
blat in the Soviet era, persists in the post-Soviet world, 200 face-to-face
interviews conducted in the city of Mykolayiv in Ukraine are reported. The
finding is that personal networks are still commonly and widely used.
However, unlike Soviet era blat which was non-monetized friendly help,
control over access to assets and possessing personal connections to those
controlling access to assets, has become a commodity bought and sold for
illicit monetary payments. The paper concludes by discussing how this …
Envelope Wages In The European Union, Colin C. Williams
Envelope Wages In The European Union, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
This article reveals how many formal employees in the European Union
receive from their formal employer not only a declared wage but also an undeclared
“envelope wage”. Reporting the results of a 2007 survey involving
26,659 face-to-face interviews, the authors find that one in 18 formal employees
receives an envelope wage from their formal employer, amounting to 25 per cent
of their gross pay on average. Such hybrid wage arrangements are ubiquitous,
but are more common in some countries, employee categories and types of firm
than others. The authors conclude by discussing the theoretical and policy implications
of these findings.
Informal Employment In Developed And Developing Economies: Perspectives And Policy Responses, Colin C. Williams
Informal Employment In Developed And Developing Economies: Perspectives And Policy Responses, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
The aim of this introductory article is to provide a critical overview of
how informality has been defined and measured, together with selected findings
on its extent and character, and a summary of competing views regarding its role
in contemporary economies and how it can be tackled. The outcome is a set of
conceptual frameworks for understanding both the burgeoning literature on informal
employment and how each of the perspectives presented in this Special Issue
contributes to the advancement of knowledge on this subject so as to set the scene
for the articles that follow.
Evaluating The Prevalence And Nature Of Self-Employment In The Informal Economy: Evidence From A 27-Nation European Survey, Colin C. Williams, Jan Windebank, Sara Nadin
Evaluating The Prevalence And Nature Of Self-Employment In The Informal Economy: Evidence From A 27-Nation European Survey, Colin C. Williams, Jan Windebank, Sara Nadin
Colin C Williams
Despite the emergent recognition that many in the informal economy work on a self-employed basis, few have evaluated the extent and character of such endeavour. To start to fill this gap, a 2007 Eurobarometer survey composed of 26,659 face-to-face interviews in 27 European countries is reported. This reveals that 1 in 28 of the surveyed population participated in self-employment in the informal economy over the previous year, albeit with some significant socio-economic and spatial variations in the commonality and character of participation, and their reasons for doing so. The paper concludes by reviewing the implications for future research and policy.
Evaluating The Variations In Undeclared Work In The Eu28, Colin C. Williams
Evaluating The Variations In Undeclared Work In The Eu28, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
Drawing upon the results of 26,659 face-to-face interviews in the 27 member states of the
European Union (EU-27), the aim of this paper is to evaluate its varying magnitude and
whether such work is mostly wage-based (of an envelope wage or undeclared variety) or
own-account work (of a market-oriented or solidarity-oriented variety). The finding is
that in ‘welfare capitalist’ work and welfare regimes, which are more equal (measured by
the gini coefficient) pursue more extensive labour market interventions, have higher
levels of social protection and greater state redistribution, undeclared economies are
smaller and are composed mostly of solidarity-oriented own-account work. …
Rethinking The Nature Of Community Economies: Some Lessons From Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Peter Rodgers
Rethinking The Nature Of Community Economies: Some Lessons From Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin, Peter Rodgers
Colin C Williams
This paper contributes to a small but growing body of thought that
has questioned the hegemony of capitalism by revealing the
persistence of multifarious economic practices in everyday community
economies. To further advance this school of thought, first, a
conceptual framework is developed to map the diverse economic
practices used by communities and second, this is applied through a
survey of 600 households in Ukraine. The outcome is to reveal that
just as multifarious economic practices prevailed under state
socialism, the same applies in societies in transition to capitalism,
suggesting that there are alternative futures for community economies
beyond market …
Work Beyond Employment: Representations Of Informal Economic Activities, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Work Beyond Employment: Representations Of Informal Economic Activities, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Colin C Williams
For much of the previous century, the informal sector was largely represented as a residue of a
previous mode of production confined to marginal populations and gradually disappearing due to
the inevitable and natural shift towards the formal economy across the globe. Over the past quarter
of a century, however, articles published in Work, Employment and Society have been at the forefront
of re-reading the informal sector. This article reveals how this body of literature has shown informal
economic activities to be a persistent and ubiquitous feature of the economic landscape, mapped
the complex and variable dynamics of formal and …
Evaluating The Persistence Of Selfprovisioning In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Evidence From Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Evaluating The Persistence Of Selfprovisioning In Central And Eastern Europe: Some Evidence From Post-Soviet Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Colin C Williams
Recently, it has become increasingly recognized that the reach of the market
economy is shallower than previously assumed and that other livelihood
practices persist, such as self-provisioning. However, neither the prevalence of
nor the rationales underpinning engagement in these non-market work
practices have been widely evaluated. To start to bridge this gap, this article
evaluates the extent of self-provisioning in post-Soviet Ukraine and the reasons
for engaging in such subsistence production. Until now, participants in selfprovisioning
have been portrayed either as rational economic actors, dupes,
seekers of self-identity, or simply doing so out of necessity or choice. Analyzing
face-to-face interviews …