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Tackling Undeclared Work In The European Union: Policy Report, Colin C. Williams
Tackling Undeclared Work In The European Union: Policy Report, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
Undeclared work represents a persistent feature of contemporary economies and results in lost public revenue, lack of worker protection and unfair competition for legitimate businesses. Conventionally, undeclared work has been viewed as an individual criminal act, which is solved by governments increasing the penalties and risks of detection in order to discourage participation. This, however, only deals with the outcome (i.e., participation in undeclared work) and does not address the drivers of this behaviour.
This report explores the formal institutional failures which make undeclared work an acceptable behaviour in the eyes of citizens and, consequently, result in high participation in …
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 …
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 …
Tackling Undeclared Work In The Agricultural Sector: A Learning Resource, Colin C. Williams
Tackling Undeclared Work In The Agricultural Sector: A Learning Resource, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
On 24 January 2019, the European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work organised a seminar in Brussels on Tackling undeclared work in the agricultural sector, with a focus upon seasonal workers and horticulture. The seminar brought together Platform members or designated representatives from EU Member States (MS) representing labour inspectorates and social security, tax and customs authorities, and national and European social partner representatives from the agricultural sector. The intention was to provide participants with an opportunity to engage in mutual learning and exchange knowledge on how to tackle undeclared work in the agricultural sector and transform undeclared into declared work. Participants …
Diagnostic Report On Undeclared Work In Bosnia And Herzegovina: A Preliminary Report, Colin C. Williams
Diagnostic Report On Undeclared Work In Bosnia And Herzegovina: A Preliminary Report, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
The main objective of this study is to investigate undeclared employment in Bosnia and Herzegovina, its extent, character, potential determinants and current policy approach in tackling this problem. The study relies on the existing EU literature with similar focus, typical secondary data and two primary data sources gathered through a representative survey of BiH population and in-depth interviews with state officials working on undeclared employment. The study thus provides in-depth analysis of undeclared employment in BiH and as such it aims to serve as an underpinning tool which should help to identify new set of policies needed to improve the …
Institutional Asymmetry And The Acceptability Of Undeclared Work: Synthesis Report, Colin C. Williams
Institutional Asymmetry And The Acceptability Of Undeclared Work: Synthesis Report, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
This report is part of the project SHADOWSwhich aims to investigate the effectiveness of different policy measures in reducing undeclared work. As such, the project evaluates not only the effectiveness of using a rational economic actor approach (that tackles undeclared work by ensuring that the payoff from undeclared work is outweighed by the costs), and a social actor approach (grounded in a view that undeclared work arises when tax morale is low), but also analyses the interaction effects (between deterrents and tax morale, and vertical and horizontal trust) in various contexts. This report focuses on the social actor approach, …
Tackling Undeclared Work In The Agricultural Sector, Colin C. Williams
Tackling Undeclared Work In The Agricultural Sector, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
This study evaluates the prevalence, distribution and characteristics of undeclared work in the agricultural, forestry and fishing sector (henceforth ‘agricultural sector’) in the EU and how this can be tackled. To do so, the prevalence, distribution and characteristics of undeclared work in the agricultural sector, along with its systemic drivers, are analysed. This analysis then provides the evidence base for an analysis of how undeclared work can be tackled. To identify how to achieve this, an analysis is undertaken of the legislative and institutional frameworks, of the policy approaches for tackling undeclared work in the agricultural sector, and an evidence-based …
Explaining And Tackling Under-Declared Employment In Fyr Macedonia: The Employers Perspective, Colin C. Williams, Slavko Bezeredi
Explaining And Tackling Under-Declared Employment In Fyr Macedonia: The Employers Perspective, Colin C. Williams, Slavko Bezeredi
Colin C Williams
The aim of this paper is to evaluate how employers who illegally under-report their employees’ salaries to
evade paying the full tax and social contributions owed can be explained and tackled. These employers have
been conventionally explained as rational economic actors doing so when the benefits outweigh the costs,
and thus the solution is to increase the sanctions and/or probability of detection. An alternative social actor
approach, however, explains employers as under-reporting salaries because of their lack of both vertical trust
(i.e., their beliefs are not in symmetry with the laws and regulations) and horizontal trust (i.e., they believe
many …
Evaluating Policy Approaches Towards Undeclared Work: Some Lessons From Fyr Of Macedonia, Colin C. Williams
Evaluating Policy Approaches Towards Undeclared Work: Some Lessons From Fyr Of Macedonia, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
To tackle undeclared work, the conventional rational economic actor approach
uses deterrents to ensure that the costs of engaging in undeclared work outweigh
the benefits. Recent years have seen the emergence of a social actor approach
which focuses upon improving tax morale. To analyse the association between
participation in undeclared work and these policy approaches, 2,014 face-toface
interviews, conducted in FYROM in 2015, are reported. Logistic regression
analysis reveals no association between participation in undeclared work and the
perceived level of penalties and risk of detection, but there is an association with
the level of tax morale. The paper concludes …
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
Explaining Cross-Country Variations In The Prevalence Of Informal Sector Competitors: Lessons From The World Bank Enterprise Survey, Colin C. Williams
Explaining Cross-Country Variations In The Prevalence Of Informal Sector Competitors: Lessons From The World Bank Enterprise Survey, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
To advance understanding of informal sector entrepreneurship, the aim of this
paper is to evaluate and explain the cross-country variations in the prevalence of informal
sector competitors. To do so, World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) data is reported
from 142 countries. This reveals that 27% of formal enterprises view competition from the
informal sector as a major constraint on their operations, although this varies from 72%of
formal enterprises in Chad to no formal enterprises in El Salvador. To explain these crosscountry
variations, four competing theories are evaluated which variously view informal
sector entrepreneurship and enterprise to bemore prevalent when there …
Tackling Salary Under-Reporting In Croatia: Evidence From Employer And Employee Surveys, Colin C. Williams
Tackling Salary Under-Reporting In Croatia: Evidence From Employer And Employee Surveys, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
The aim of this paper is to evaluate how to tackle the illegal wage practice where formal
employers pay their formal employees an undeclared (envelope) wage in addition to their
official declared salary, which reduces the tax and social contributions paid to the authorities.
Until now, two competing policy approaches have been advocated, namely a conventional
rational economic actor approach which seeks to increase the perceived or actual penalties
and probability of being caught, and an emergent social actor approach that seeks to improve
tax morale. Reporting two nationally representative surveys of employers and employees
conducted in 2015 in Croatia, …
Under-Declaring Work, Falsely Declaring Work: Under-Declared Employment In The European Union, Colin C. Williams, Ioana Horodnic
Under-Declaring Work, Falsely Declaring Work: Under-Declared Employment In The European Union, Colin C. Williams, Ioana Horodnic
Colin C Williams
Under-declared employment occurs when a formal employer pays a formal employee an official declared wage but also an additional undeclared (‘envelope’) wage in order to evade the full social insurance and tax liabilities owed. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence, characteristics and distribution of this fraudulent wage practice in the EU28, to explain its existence, to provide an evidence-based evaluation of the effectiveness of different policy approaches for tackling it, and propose a set of policy recommendations.
Prevalence, characteristics and distribution of under-declared employment
To evaluate the prevalence, characteristics and distribution of under-declared employment in the …
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 …
Tackling Undeclared Work In Croatia: Knowledge-Informed Policy Responses, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers, Ruslan Stefanov
Tackling Undeclared Work In Croatia: Knowledge-Informed Policy Responses, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers, Ruslan Stefanov
Colin C Williams
KEY POINTSØ Undeclared work has deep roots in Croatia. One in eleven declare to have done some fully undeclared work. Six out of ten though believe at least 20% of their compatriots violate tax and labour laws.
Ø The perception of the widespread nature of undeclared work and the lack of trust in formal institutions seem to be the main incentives for people to engage in undeclared work. These have been exacerbated by high unemployment and low retirement income.
Ø Hence, the conventional rational actor approach to tackling undeclared work that focuses upon increasing penalties …
Greypolicybrief2_Macedonia.Pdf, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers, Ruslan Stefanov
Greypolicybrief2_Macedonia.Pdf, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers, Ruslan Stefanov
Colin C Williams
KEY POINTS
Ø Undeclared work hasdeep roots in FYR of Macedonia. 1 in 16 adults and 1 in 8 of the employed engage in undeclared work. The use of informal connections to circumvent formal institutions is practiced by 35% of Macedonians.
Ø Formal institutions in the country are underdeveloped. Unemployment also remains unusually high compared with the EU average.
Ø The traditional repression approach to tackling undeclared work, which has been prioritised so far by the authorities, is ineffective.
Ø Increasing penalties and surveillance/ control should at the very least be supplemented by public awareness …
Tackling Undeclared Work In Bulgaria: Knowledge-Informed Policy Responses, Ruslan Stefanov, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers
Tackling Undeclared Work In Bulgaria: Knowledge-Informed Policy Responses, Ruslan Stefanov, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers
Colin C Williams
KEY POINTS
Ø Undeclared work is socially accepted and widely practiced in Bulgaria. The undeclared economy is estimated at roughly a third of GDP. Nearly one in ten people do some undeclared work.
Ø Undeclared work is motivated primarily by lack of trust between the people and the authorities.It involves mostly people who voluntarily exit the declared economy but also those that are excluded.
Ø The conventional repressive approach to tackling undeclared work has exhausted its effects in Bulgaria. It should be complemented with more curative, preventative and commitment policies.
Ø Policymakers …
Tackling Undeclared Work In The Construction Industry: A Learning Resource, Colin C. Williams
Tackling Undeclared Work In The Construction Industry: A Learning Resource, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
On 3 May 2017, the European Platform Tackling Undeclared Work organised a seminar in Brussels on Tools and approaches to deal with undeclared work in the construction sector. The seminar brought together Platform members and observers from 21 EU Member States (MS) and Norway (EEA) representing labour inspectorates and social security, tax and customs authorities, as well as national and European social partner representatives from the construction sector.
This learning resource paper describes the seminar outcomes. The first section looks at the extent and nature of undeclared work in the construction sector. This is followed by an overview of the …
Tackling The Urban Informal Economy: Some Lessons From A Study Of Europe’S Urban Population, Colin C. Williams, Ioana Horodnic
Tackling The Urban Informal Economy: Some Lessons From A Study Of Europe’S Urban Population, Colin C. Williams, Ioana Horodnic
Colin C Williams
The aim of this paper is to evaluate the
most effective way of tackling the urban informal
economy. It has been recently argued that the
conventional rational economic actor approach
(which increases the costs of participating in the
urban informal economy so that they outweigh
the benefi ts) should be replaced or complemented
by a social actor approach which focuses
upon improving tax morale. To evaluate the effectiveness
of these supposedly alternative approaches
to tackling the participation of urban
populations in the informal economy, we report
the results of face-to-face interviews conducted
in 2013 with 17,886 urban dwellers across the …
Assessment Of Under-Declared Employment In Croatia, Colin C. Williams, Miroslav Radvansky, Miroslav Stefanik
Assessment Of Under-Declared Employment In Croatia, Colin C. Williams, Miroslav Radvansky, Miroslav Stefanik
Colin C Williams
This report evaluates ‘under-declared employment’, which is the practice where a formal employer pays a formal employee an official declared wage but also an additional undeclared (envelope) wage in order to evade the full social insurance and tax liabilities owed. The aim is to evaluate the prevalence, characteristics and distribution of this fraudulent wage practice in Croatia, to explain its existence, and to provide an evidence-based evaluation of the different policy approaches for tackling it, and a set of policy recommendations.
Developing A Holistic Approach For Tackling Undeclared Work: Background Paper, Colin C. Williams
Developing A Holistic Approach For Tackling Undeclared Work: Background Paper, Colin C. Williams
Colin C Williams
What is a holistic approach to tackling undeclared work? A holistic policy approach towards tackling the undeclared economy uses in a strategic and coordinated manner the full range of both the direct and indirect policy approaches and measures available to increase the power of, and trust in, authorities respectively.
Direct approachesreduce the costs and increase the benefits of operating on a declared basis, and increase the costs and reduce the benefits of operating undeclared. To do this, it uses:
· Deterrence measures that detect and punish participation in undeclared work firstly, by increasing the perceived or actual …
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. …
Blurring The Formal/Informal Economy Divide: Beyond A Dual Economies Approach, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Blurring The Formal/Informal Economy Divide: Beyond A Dual Economies Approach, Colin C. Williams, Sara Nadin
Colin C Williams
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 alternative “total social organization of labor” approach is here proposed that maintains the terms formal and informal as useful broad descriptors of different work relations, but recognizes a spectrum from purely formal to purely informal labor practices cross-cut by another spectrum from wholly monetized to wholly non-monetized labor practices. Reporting evidence from 861 face-to-face …
From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers
From Market Hegemony To Diverse Economies: Evaluating The Plurality Of Labour Practices In Ukraine, Colin C. Williams, Peter Rodgers
Colin C Williams
Drawing inspiration from a burgeoning corpus of scholars who have begun to question
the narrative of impending market hegemony, this paper seeks to further advance this
emergent ‘diverse economies’ literature by constructing a conceptual framework for
representing the multiple labour practices in economies. Transcending the simplistic
market/non-market dichotomy, this conceptualises multiple kinds of labour existing along
a spectrum from market-oriented to non-market oriented practices, which is cross-cut by
another spectrum ranging from wholly monetised to wholly non-monetised practices. The
resultant portrayal of a plurality of labour practices that seamlessly merge into each other
is then applied to understanding the types …