Unreported employment and envelope wages in mid-transition: Comparing developments and causes in the baltic countries

被引:44
作者
Meriküll J. [1 ]
Staehr K. [2 ,3 ]
机构
[1] Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu, Tartu 51009
[2] Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration, Tallinn University of Technology
[3] Research Department, Bank of Estonia
关键词
envelope wages; informal employment; unreported employment;
D O I
10.1057/ces.2010.17
中图分类号
学科分类号
摘要
This paper compares the prevalence and determinants of unreported employment in the three Baltic countries in 1998 and 2002 using a hitherto little used data set. The prevalence of unreported employment varies substantially across the three countries and across the two sampling years. Microeconometric estimations show that firm-related characteristics, such as sectoral activity, firm size and employment changes, are important determinants of unreported employment in all three countries. The impact of socio-demographic factors, such as gender, age and education, is generally less important and varies across countries and time. Only a small part of the changes in unreported employment between 1998 and 2002 can be accounted for by changes in firm-specific factors and socio-demographic characteristics. Exploratory calculations suggest that the gain for individuals undertaking unreported employment is modest or non-existent, in particular among individuals who engage regularly in such activities. This suggests that the many of the recipients of envelope wages may have few alternatives to accepting unreported employment. © 2010 ACES. All rights reserved.
引用
收藏
页码:637 / 670
页数:33
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