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In 2014, the World Bank pronounced how the informal sector is probably responsible for half of the GDP in developing countries. This sector can no longer be ignored as it is embedded in most developing countries’ economies. In a country like South Africa, the informal sector is a gateway to economic freedom where the historically deprived groups were left behind and could not participate in the formal economic sectors, as they would have liked. This was due to racially skewed policies of the apartheid regime. The country saw black racial groups marginalised from acquiring appropriate skills, education and resources to allow them to participate in the formal economy. The barrier to entry into formal economies resulted in the significant rise of the informal economy. One of the most prevalent business forms in this sector has been Spaza Shops. In fact, in South Africa, Spaza Shops have become synonymous with the informal sector. Post-apartheid, with the opening of the country’s borders over the years, there has been an increase in foreign owned Spaza Shops both legally and illegally, at the expense of locally owned ones. Using an exploratory research design, this paper sought to uncover various practices and procedures that have been accredited to the success of foreign owned Spaza’s in townships. Through qualitative engagement with relevant literature published over a period of six years, a relationship between foreign owned businesses and locally owned businesses in the townships of South Africa was investigated. The study outcomes identified motives for increased and successful foreign owned businesses in townships. These are Networking and Economies of Scales; Socio-Economic Motivators; Geographic Location; Financial Management, Entrepreneurial Orientation and Business practice. All of these motives are seen as equally important and can be used to upskill and motivate local informal traders to be as competitive within the township economy.

Controversial constitutional and institutional reforms voted in May in parliament opened the way for President Gnassingbe to stand for a fourth and fifth term (2020 and 2030) because the law does not apply retroactively. The first local elections since more than 30 years resulted in the victory of the ruling party. Grand expectations of the opposition which had hoped for a fundamental change at least at the grassroots were again dashed. The human rights situation sharply deteriorated due to growing political and social tensions related to the prospects of the head of state running for a fourth term. Islamist terrorist violence spread from Mali to the northern frontier region of Togo. The autonomous deep-water port of Lome developed as a growth pole and hub for the sub-region. China became the major partner beside the established partners the EU, France and Germany. The informal sector still dominated the economy. Economic freedom remained with the overall status 'mostly unfree'.

This study aims to scrutinize the interplay between economic freedom and tax revenue performance in 14 SADC countries. The study makes use of dynamic panel data spanning from 2000 – 2017 with 238 year-country observations. The econometric modeling applied includes Generalized Methods of Moments and Cross-country Correlations. The dynamic panel estimation results indicate that both conventional and unconventional determinants of tax revenue mobilization are statistically significant in explaining variations in tax revenue performance. In contrast to earlier studies, the researcher found that economic freedom exhibits a negative impact on tax revenue mobilization. These findings can be based on the assumption that African countries are characterized by agrarian activities which take place in the informal sector and are thus are difficult to regulate and tax. As a result, the benefits of economic freedom cannot be fully realized. The policy implication is for African countries to invest substantially in the manufacturing sector to increase tax revenue and eliminate the substantial informal sector. Further to this, governments in SADC countries should focus more on reducing red tape and unnecessary bureaucracy to enhance the ease of doing business and realize the full benefits of economic freedom.

This paper examines the spatial spillovers of pollution onto the underground economy. The extant literature has considered the pollution-informal economy nexus to some extent, but the spillover effects across national borders have been ignored. Pollution can increase the underground sector when some formal sector production moves to the informal sector (“scale effect”), whereas greater pollution can reduce the underground sector when it invites tougher regulations (“substitution effect”). Results, based on a panel of more than 130 nations and allowing for reverse causality, show both own- and border pollution reduce the underground sector - consistent with the substitution effect. In other results, we find opposite effects of economic and political freedom, and some differences in the influences of specific dimensions of economic freedom and the role of the government. Further, we find that while the size of government increases the underground sector, better institutional quality reduces it. Policy implications of these findings are discussed. The spillovers from neighboring nations are especially relevant for nations that are not islands, which is true for a majority of countries around the world.

The paper suggests the hypothesis that increasing level of social unease which can be seen in the world since the start of Arab spring is directly related to dynamics of informal economy. Subsequently in the paper some other suggestions are tested, including relation between the level of social unease and level of economic freedom, interrelation between the level of corruption and social unease which were not proven to be true. Quantitative testing of the above mentioned hypothesis proved there is direct relation between dynamics of informal economy and level of social unease. Also the paper deals with the role of information accessibility, and it is defined that limitations of information access influence the informal economy dynamic’s influence on social unease level. It is also suggested in the paper, and some argumentation is provided that current social unease is based on changing values and beliefs and informal economy dynamics is an important indicator of that process.

Approaches to economic development have overemphasized negative economic freedom for multinational corporations at the expense of a majority of the population in developing countries. An inevitable outcome has been the growth of informal sector and "vulnerable" employment in developing countries and entrenchment of existing inequalities. We argue that rather than an emphasis on negative freedom, an emphasis on using labor standards to facilitate positive economic freedom must occur. Labor standards do this not only through the "core" rights of union membership and collective bargaining, but also in addressing substantive ("non-core") rights at work (wages, working-time, etc.), thereby facilitating positive freedom.

The paper briefly presents environment for business in Poland as of the end of the year 2005. A few comments, however, on its evolution in the course of the transition period are also made. The paper broaches administrative, legal and financial requirements to start and run business activities by both natural and legal persons. In addition, it presents government support schemes for investors. A brief description of the scope of the grey economy and corruption completes the picture of the business environment. The topic has been approached from the foreign investor's perspective. Although foreign investors are subject to the same laws as domestic (Polish) ones, in a limited number of cases they are treated differently than the latter. These cases, and specifically land purchase and employment of foreign citizens, are reviewed. Foreign investors are subject to the same laws as domestic (Polish) ones. The Law of 2 July 2004 on Economic Freedom guarantees foreign natural and legal persons from the European Union and the European Free Trade Agreement zones belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) the same rights as domestic investors to start, run and close business activities in Poland. In the case of entrepreneurs coming from other countries, the principle of reciprocity is employed, i.e. equal right are adopted vis-a-vis entrepreneurs from countries with which Poland has ratified international agreements. There is one exception, however: foreign investors are treated differently than domestic ones in the case of land purchase (see Section 6 below). Employment of foreign citizens is also restricted; however this is relevant equally for domestic and foreign-owned companies registered in Poland (see Section 5).