In From the Shadow : Integrating Europe's Informal Labor

Koettl, Johannes ; Packard, Truman ; Montenegro, Claudio E.

Washington, DC: World Bank

关键词: ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESSIBILITY;    ACCOUNTABILITY;    ACCOUNTABILITY STRUCTURES;    ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY;   

DOI  :  10.1596/978-0-8213-9549-3
RP-ID  :  70602

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This book is about Magda and Jacek andmillions of others like them, who earn a living workingfull- or part-time in Europe's untaxed markets forgoods, services, and labor. Magda was certified as ahairdresser years ago, and she's very proud of thesalon apprenticeship she did shortly after. She learned alot and made good friends but was never fully comfortableworking for somebody else. Jacek's clients pay him incash, and he pays his men in cash as well. He sometimesneeds to show a license to get the trade price on parts andmaterials. But he can keep it up-to-date by declaring onlypart of what he actually earns to the tax office. This bookventures a general conclusion about what policy makers cando to bring more economic activity in from the shadow:Although it may be necessary to improve the structuralincentives created by taxation, social protection policies,and labor market regulation, doing so is not sufficient forsubstantive improvement to be achieved. To back up thisgeneral conclusion, the book presents a large body ofevidence indicating that much more than the fairlymechanical incentive structures of taxation, social policy,and labor market regulation is at work in shaping thecircumstances that lead people into the shadowy unregulatedand untaxed markets for goods, services, and labor.