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This paper investigates whether and how digital economy (especially digital platforms and digital finance) restrains the informal economic activities in China measured by the MIMIC (multiple indicators multiple causes) model. Using Chinese provincial panel data from 1995 to 2020, we find that the average size of China's provincial informal economy displays a five-stage fluctuation, ranging from 13.63 % to 17.53 %. More importantly, we uncover a robust "inverted U-shaped" nonlinear relationship between the digital platform development and the informal economy, with a turning point of 0.4189. Initially, the development of digital platforms increases informal economic activities by disrupting traditional sectors, causing new types of tax evasion, challenging regulators and raising digital crime. However, beyond a certain threshold, digital platforms can overcome these problems through more job creations and improved regulation. Meanwhile, the digital financial development is proved to have a negative impact on the informal economy because it can offer much more advantages in addressing informality such as making payments transparent, easing credit constraints, raising total income, helping governments reach people and businesses. Our study provides convincing evidence and valuable advice for policymakers when developing digital economy to curb the informal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The massive migration of the rural population, triggered by agrarian distress, to the more developed regions of India for lowly paid jobs in the informal sector has been one of the most striking phenomena in neoliberal India. The last two decades have also witnessed an unprecedented out-migration of rural population from the northeast Indian state of Assam to the metropolises and growth centres in other parts of India in search of livelihood. Based on a study conducted in Bengaluru among migrant workers from Assam, this article examines the networks that facilitate such out-migration, its circular nature, and their working and living conditions in the city. The remittances of the migrants provide only temporary relief to their families in the villages and despite their periodic return to the village with the intent to settle down, poverty and lack of alternative livelihood force them to migrate to the city again. The oscillation between the dehumanising conditions of their life in the city and the economic hardship in the village continues without any reprieve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries, informal economies have been successfully managed, and effective plans, mechanisms, and procedures have been implemented to include these activities in urban areas. In Egypt, there is a wide gap between this goal and the competence of the different applied mechanisms in dealing with informal markets, economies, and its activities. This paper aims to propose policies and mechanisms that shall guide the planning process in Egypt, by amending the shortcomings in the currently implemented mechanisms and understanding the reasons for their emergence and their spatial arrangement. The research hence includes analysis for problem evolution and investigates successful policies and mechanisms in selected countries (India, China, and Algeria) in an attempt to highlight their shortcomings and potential amendments. These mechanisms will be tested through a structured interviews with Egyptian stakeholders comprising experts in planning, economy and decision makers, and in the light of the interviews results and outcomes this paper will present a list of proposed mechanisms. A comparative analysis has shown that Prospective mechanisms and policies will include legislative, planning, design, financial, management, and control mechanisms that if coherently combined can help integrating the informal economy in Egypt to achieve a successful inclusion and preventing problems related to these markets in urban areas and better regulate of these areas in future cities planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the drivers and constraints affecting enterprise capacity utilization (CU) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. We used data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey and a fractional logit model to examine the impacts of institutional, infrastructural, and sustainability factors on firms' CU. Our analysis highlights corruption and competition in the informal sector as significant impediments to firms' CU, alongside complex infrastructure barriers that hinder the optimization. Conversely, environmental responsibility and innovation emerge as critical drivers for enhancing CU. Surprisingly, top managers' experience introduces a counteractive influence that negatively affects CU. Beyond the empirical findings, this study's implications extend to various stakeholders, notably policymakers. Emphasizing the need to address corruption, foster an enabling business environment, strategically invest in infrastructure, promote sustainability initiatives, and foster innovation to enhance CU are paramount. Additionally, providing targeted managerial training to mitigate negative managerial influences is crucial. Implementing these recommendations promises to foster an environment conducive to improved CU, driving economic growth, and sustainable development in the MENA region and benefiting stakeholders across sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractProtracted displacement of refugees and IDPs (internally displaced people) is one of the most critical humanitarian problems today. Legislation often prohibits refugees’ rights to work, move beyond camps, or attain citizenship, while IDPs lack access to security and services. New approaches are urgently needed to overcome barriers to economic integration of displaced people’s livelihoods and enterprise as a stepping-stone to broader social integration. Drawing on refugee, development and informality literatures, this paper proposes a new Displacement Economies Framework, a theoretical and programming tool that helps bridge the humanitarian-development divide and highlight the agency and collective economic contribution of displaced people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional food markets in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are pivotal urban spaces, especially for vulnerable populations. These markets are vibrant hubs for commerce, cultural exchange, and social interaction, yet they face challenges such as food safety issues, inadequate infrastructure, and regulation that is a complex mix of informal mechanisms in need of a balanced degree of formalization. Rapid urbanization in SSA and the vulnerabilities of informal settlements underline their enduring importance. The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted their crucial role in promoting food access, supporting local economies, and preserving social connections during crises. However, a comprehensive understanding of their multifaceted impact on urban life remains limited. This study provides a systematic narrative literature review with the aims of mapping the existing literature and evaluating their complex impact on vulnerable communities. The review employed a systematic search strategy, encompassing research studies and gray literature. It highlights the geographic distribution of studies across SSA, with a concentration in East and Southern Africa. Nutrition is the most explored theme, followed by governance, with economics and social aspects relatively under examined. Traditional food markets are vital sources of affordable food for the urban poor and serve as pillars of economic mobility, providing livelihoods and employment opportunities, especially for women, and act as hubs for diverse groups to interact. Market governance is complex, often marked by policy misalignments due to insuficient collaboration among stakeholders. Policy initiatives to support traditional foodmarkets in SSA should focus on formalization and context-aware regulations to enhance effciency and vendor security, investment in market- related infrastructure, and nutrition-focused policies and economic support for vendors. Further research is needed to bridge thematic and regional gaps, and to inform evidence-based policy measures to support these vital urban institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Çalışma ve Toplum is the property of Calisma ve Toplum and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The present paper seeks to reveal the factors underlying the intentions of women on maternity leave to engage in informal economy activities. Design/methodology/approach: A representative cross sectional survey of 417 women on maternity leave was selected as a main research approach. A structural equation modelling – partial equation modelling served as a research tool. Findings: The study revealed that the most important determinants of intentions to become involved in informal economy activities during maternity leave are unsatisfactory financial situation, complicated legal regulation and fear of becoming uncompetitive in the labour market. Originality/value: To the best of authors' knowledge, it is the first scientific attempt to investigate the informal work/economy during maternal leave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between government spending, public debt and the informal economy. In addition, this paper investigates the moderating role of public debt in government spending and the informal economy nexus. Design/methodology/approach: By utilizing a data set spanning from 2000 to 2017 of 32 Asian economies, the study has employed the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS). The study is also extended to consider the marginal effects of government spending on the informal economy at different degrees of public debt. Findings: The results indicate that an increase in government spending and public debt leads to an expansion of the informal economy in the region. Interestingly, the positive effect of government spending on the informal economy will increase with a rise in public debt. Originality/value: This study stresses the role of government spending and public debt on the informal economy in Asian nations. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study pioneers to explore the moderating effect of public debt in the public spending-informal economy nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the main acts of international law and the jurisprudence of European courts that aim to ensure decent working conditions for domestic workers. The author analyzes the legal status of this group of workers in Poland from the times before the Second World War until now. The publication argues that Polish legislation should be complemented by specific provisions concerning domestic workers. The introduction of such measures to the Polish legal system is necessary to align national law with the ILO legal acts. Moreover, the author proposes that state financial incentives for natural persons employing domestic workers should be available in certain cases to encourage the legalization of this type of work.

This study aims to investigate the impacts of the informal economy, climate migration and temperature changes on energy demand and long-term urban energy system planning. The elasticity of energy demand to changes in the size of the informal sector, urban population and mean temperature is estimated for the case study city of Accra, Ghana. Elasticities are then applied to estimate energy demand under different Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). An energy system optimization model analyzes SSP impacts on energy planning. Accra's energy demand is found to be most elastic to climate change-induced migration and rising temperatures; for example, energy demand is up to 43% higher in 2050 in a worst-case scenario compared to the base case. These factors will exacerbate the city's ability to meet its sustainability targets and manage informal sector growth. Photovoltaics, waste CCP and decarbonization of the transportation sector through electrification are found to be critical solution pathways for Accra to meet rising demand while supporting sustainability objectives. However, significant local distribution grid upgrades are required to support these technologies' rollout. Overall, this work demonstrates the importance and value of incorporating climate migration, rising temperature and informal sector analysis in energy planning models and decision-making processes, particularly in low and middle-income countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change. Although the approach is demonstrated on Accra, it can be applied at other scales and scopes globally.

In this article we develop and analyse novel datasets to retrace the persistence and scale of underground market activity in Maoist China. We show that, contrary to received wisdom, Chinese citizens continued to engage in market-based transactions long after "socialist transformation" was ostensibly complete, and that this activity constituted a substantial proportion of local economic output throughout the Maoist era. This helps to explain, in part, why, when markets were officially reopened in China, private economic activity took off. We arrive at these findings through the development and analysis of novel datasets based on unconventional historical sources – namely, a collection of 2,690 cases of "speculation and profiteering" that were recovered from flea markets in eastern China. We show how these grassroots sources can be systematically analysed and used, in lieu of official statistical aggregates, to develop new insights into the macro workings of the Maoist economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses what might be gained from placing informal urban settlements at the centre of analyses of contemporary Fiji. Holding around 20 percent of the total population and growing rapidly, these settlements represent significant demographic movement and economic transformations. Analytically, they offer a paradigm shift. Heterogeneous and complex, racially mixed, transient and rapidly changing, squatter settlements are places that challenge many of the taken-for-granted assumptions used to analyse Fiji, including its politics of ethnic division, rigid social hierarchies, and the centrality of village economies. Instead, they offer new insights into the contradictions, ambiguities, and insecurities that come to signify the contemporary moment for many Fiji citizens. Following Brij Lal's later work, I draw upon ongoing ethnographic research in two urban settlements to ask what centring the narratives of urban squatters themselves, in discussions about nation-building, citizenship rights, and social justice, can teach us about Fiji in the present as well as its potential for future transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Taiwan Journal of East Asian Studies is the property of National Taiwan Normal University, College of International Studies & Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study aims to assess the role of technological advancement and institutional quality in mitigating the formal economy and fostering more inclusive economic well-being for families and consumers in ASEAN countries. This study employed panel data analysis using yearly data for the ten countries in ASEAN, spanning from 2008 to 2018. Findings indicate significant and diverse impacts of technological advancement on the informal economy. The study found that the interaction between technological advancement and economic growth strengthens the relationship between the informal economy across models. The higher economic growth in a country is associated with reduced informal economic activities, as reflected in the principles of modernization theory. The finding further shows the significance of institutional quality in shaping the informal economy. Strong institutional quality helps to create a structured environment that reduces informal economic activities, aligning with neoliberal theory. Governance quality, including the absence of violence and terrorism and the control of corruption, plays a role in mitigating informalities. The study’s primary contribution is its specific focus on the informal economy and the intricacies of ASEAN nations. The study also provides empirical insights into the behavior and determinants of the informal economy in ASEAN nations. Even though the study acknowledges limitations related to data availability and the challenges of quantifying the gig economy, it holds valuable policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Kinshasa, chronic crises and lack of access to employment, quality education, and other resources contribute to the social exclusion of a growing number of disadvantaged young people. They are deprived of the possibilities of leading a decent life and alienated from both the market and legitimate authorities. Despite their social, political, and economic marginalization, many of these precarious Congolese youth have proved adept at improvising livelihoods in the informal economy and seek out ways to be agents of social change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana's informal economy through institutional theory. Specifically, the study sought to understand how the elements of the institutional theory (norms, culture, and regulations, which form formal and informal institutions) support or discourage immigrant entrepreneurship in the Sub-Saharan African context, with insights from Ghana. It is qualitative research that adopts an in-depth face-to-face interview with 30 respondents. Analyzing the data from the interviews, the key findings are immigrants' inability to find paid jobs, failure to gather sufficient funds to operate in the formal sector, and the willingness to use innate ability. The Ghanaian culture of hospitality and the government's inability to implement trade regulations have been an enabler to the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana. The legal frameworks that prohibit immigrants from participating in retailing, especially in the informal economy of Ghana, are well known by immigrant entrepreneurs, albeit it has yet to adhere. Therefore, there is a call for policy measures to address the weak institutional framework, which encourages disregard for the country's laws. Immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to remain in doing business in Ghana must obey the rules or suffer the punishment thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monopolies constituted one of the main institutions to control the economy from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic of Turkey. Over time, monopolies' roles changed from revenue sources for the sultans' treasuries to assigning foreign debts to debtors, creating a Muslim-Turkish bourgeoisie, structuring property relations by commercializing the economy and finally generating revenues for modernization projects. The new Turkish state also used monopolies to raise funds for its radical modernization and state-building projects. This article examines how low-income consumers, producers and traders coped with monopolies via smuggling during the first two decades of the Republic. It argues that most of what was called smuggling were economic survival methods and the continuation of the practices that had a very long pedigree among low-income people to cope with the high prices of monopoly products due to high taxes and high monopoly profit margins. This article lays out a different interpretation of smuggling as 'social smuggling', which lessened the burden of the monopolies over low-income cultivators, traders and consumers. It argues that this informal economy limited the state's extractive capacity and economic interventionism required for modernization projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informed by the capability approach and critical discourse analysis, this article examines how the development of green skills among master craftspersons and apprentices in the informal sector of Ghana could be promoted for cleaner production and sustainable futures. The findings show that inequality and poverty; cyclical policy trap; sectoral green initiatives and the green coordination gap; and limited human resource capacity including uncoordinated informal learning approaches serve to constrain the development of green skills among master craftspersons and apprentices in the informal sector of Ghana. To address these challenges, the current study proposes the development of a framework that (1) harmonises the different sectoral initiatives and strategies on green skills to avoid the cyclical policy trap; (2) expands the current green Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) agenda to include green skills development for individuals in the informal TVET sector; (3) closes the coordination gap in government green initiatives by creating an agency responsible for national green agenda; and (4) creates clear qualification models and strategies for the development of green skills in the informal sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines how legislative instability in tax laws affects the growth of informal economic activities in Egypt. It suggests that unclear or unsustainable tax regulations drive a shift towards the informal sector, fueled by benefits like tax evasion and reduced compliance costs. To encourage voluntary integration, the study proposes measures such as transparent tax laws, awareness campaigns on tax compliance benefits, and simplification of procedures. It advocates for policymakers to prioritize creating an environment conducive to integration over punitive measures. By fostering a fair tax system and addressing underlying factors driving informality, Egypt can boost tax revenue, ensure fairness, and promote sustainable growth. Employing a descriptive-analytical approach, the study analyzes secondary data from official reports, academic literature, and relevant publications. This method allows for a systematic examination of tax legislative disruptions' impact on informal economic activities. It facilitates understanding the dynamics of tax regulations and their effects on informality by analyzing diverse information sources. This approach ensures reliable insights into the relationship between tax laws and the informal economy in Egypt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2023, Argentina elected Javier Milei, a right-wing former television personality, as its president. Milei promised to implement radical, libertarian policies such as abolishing the central bank and eliminating public institutions. His victory, with 56 percent of the vote, was supported by sections of the working class, particularly young males in the informal sector. This election marks a potential transition to a new political and social regime in Argentina. The country has previously been governed by populist left and neoliberal right governments, but neither type of government has been able to fully address the country's economic challenges. [Extracted from the article]

This article delves into a compelling case study examining the intricate connection between plastic waste management in Morocco, with a particular focus on Casablanca and Rabat, and the disparate working conditions experienced by workers, both in formal and informal roles, within this sector. All of this unfolds within the broader context of the sector's shift towards the principles of the Circular Economy. To accomplish this, we draw upon insights from a diverse array of experts in the field, as well as input from key stakeholders, including public administration overseeing the transition process, representatives from the private business sector, and the informal waste collectors themselves. Through this multifaceted approach, we gain a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies and subtleties surrounding the evolution of waste management practices in Morocco. Additionally, it enables us to pinpoint the primary challenges associated with achieving social justice in the context of transitioning toward a Circular Economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is one of the first which provides an in-depth quantitative analysis of how the development of the tourism industry impacts on the size of the shadow economy of a specific destination. The paper employs time-series techniques and annual data from 1960 to 2018 from Turkey. First, the size of the shadow economy is estimated using the electricity consumption method. The estimates are then used to assess the effect of tourism development on the size of the shadow economy. The findings show that there is a negative relationship between the two. A 1% increase in international tourism arrivals leads to a 0.21% and 0.316% fall in the size of the shadow economy in the short-run and long-run respectively. It implies that as the tourism sector develops, it becomes instrumental in modernising the Turkish economy leading to the movement of resources from the shadow economy to the formal sector. In the long-run the effect of the tourism industry in reducing the size of the shadow economy surpasses that of the financial sector of Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a form of informal economy, the street-stall economy has a positive role in providing employment opportunities, but at the same time, there are problems such as low quality of employment and insufficient social security. Therefore, the question explored in this paper is whether the quality of informal economy employment generated by the ground stall economy is an effective job and whether it can be a way for low-income groups to earn a living. In this paper, the composition and proportion of the intangible costs of the stall economy and the average monthly income of the urban low-income group are analyzed to determine whether the informal jobs created by the stall economy can meet the basic needs of the urban low-income group. Taking the average per capital income of the low-income group as the standard, if the stall economy can steadily bring more than the standard net income to the low-income group, it means that the informal jobs created by the stall economy are effective jobs. The study shows that nearly 30% of the vendors in the statistics of the monthly net income of the street-stall economy are unable to reach the average income of the low-income group in the city, indicating that the informal economy jobs created by the street-stall economy are of low quality and are not enough to satisfy the basic living needs of the lowest-income group and that the proportion of effective jobs is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study considers the motivations of food truck owners and prospective owners in Bangkok during a difficult period both locally and globally. Plans for Bangkok’s future development were opaque. Inflation was rising rapidly, particularly food and energy costs critical to the industry. COVID-19 continued throughout the research. The aim was to stress-test motivation and commitment within the industry. The study asked participants what motivates them through qualitative and quantitative techniques, the former subject to thematic content analysis. Further, there was discussion with stakeholders and observation. Stakeholders particularly included training providers in the industry. Vendors requested more help so they could sustain themselves and prosper in the industry. Food trucks were of interest because of the relatively casual labour that found a place during COVID-19, although the number of trucks had declined before the pandemic. The study found that food truckers are still highly motivated and eager to help shape Bangkok’s food truck industry going forward and, thereby, the urban landscape and economy of the city. Demotivating factors suggested by the participants themselves focused on murky city planning, which became a major element in the study. Clearly, a transparent path forward must be negotiated between relevant stakeholders in determining the future development of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vallholder economy is an important driving force for urban economic and social development in the new era. Under the background of socialism with Chinese characteristics, through comparative research, empirical research, investigation and analysis, this paper concluded that the street vendor economy is informal, long-term and complex. For the governance of Chinese street vendors, we should learn from the theory, absorb foreign experience based on the national conditions and urban status, and find the breakthrough of governance from the root. Formulate “flexible” flexible policies, optimize space politics, divide and rule, break through the constraints of regularization, reconstruct and innovate the economic governance model of Chinese street vendors, and realize the “Sinicization of governance concept, local governance policy and contemporary governance model”. The research has enlightenment and reference significance for enriching the development of political economy theory, innovating the informal economic governance model and developing the informal economy in the new era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Underpinned by resource-based and disruptive innovation theories, this study examines the effects of informal players' perceived threat on the formalized tour operators' operational performance and customer bonding. The study involved a sample size of 130, collected from the inbound tour operators in Zanzibar. Using partial least squares (PLS-SEM) to analyze the data, our study found that the perceived threat of informal players is positively associated with service quality, which is linked to increased operational performance. Equally, operating performance was found to have a direct positive impact on customer bonding. While perceived threat directly enhances operational performance, customer bonding is only enhanced through service quality. Finally, the study advances the literature on tourism by providing theoretical and practical implications and recommending future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies the factors that describe informal economies and summarizes them into indices measuring informality. We use data from 189 countries for the years 2015 and 2020. We carry out a factor analysis to identify the variables which structure informal economies and use the scores from a logistic regression to measure the degree of informality for each country. The results show that the degree of informality is related to the level of development. Thus, developing countries are generally those with the highest degree of informality while developed countries are generally characterized by a low level of informality. One of the important contributions of this paper is the method used to derive and then determine the depth of the informal economy in each country from the logistic regressions. Since the informal economy is not directly measurable, we first construct a binary variable named "prior informality." It is this variable that will be used in the logistic regression to measure the magnitude of the informal economy in each country. Thus, we construct a synthetical indicator that takes into account all dimensions of the informal economy with their particularity depending on whether we are in developed countries, in middle-income countries, or in underdeveloped countries. Mathematically, the principal component analysis gives us the best graphical representations of informal economies according to their characteristics. Likewise, the study enables us to classify countries into groups according to the variables that determine informality and draw dynamic charts representing the countries according to their level of informality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research considers a new dimension of the effects of the underground sector by examining the spillovers on cryptocurrency holdings. Cryptocurrencies offer a relatively greater ability to dodge taxes and ensure the anonymity of holders, providing attractive avenues for underground operators to stash their informal-sector earnings. Our results, based on data from more than 50 nations, show that a greater prevalence of the underground economy in a nation is indeed associated with greater cryptocurrency holdings. This result holds across an alternative measure of the shadow economy, and when the bi-directional causality between the shadow economy and cryptocurrency holdings is considered. In other noteworthy findings, greater FDI crowded out cryptocurrency holdings, while greater financial globalization and greater economic uncertainty, ceteris paribus, increased them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The restoration of precolonial authorities in contemporary Uganda has inspired the revival of practices constitutive of local identities. The article focuses on the role of (re)distribution in the formation of Ganda identity in the Buganda kingdom, by exploring the moral conundrums lived by workers in Kisekka Market (Kampala). The article describes two principles underpinning economic relations. First, it explores culturally approved patronage and downwards distribution which, given the pyramidal structure of society, translates simultaneously into forms of redistribution and the upward submission of subjects to a higher order (clans and kingdom). This two-way process is called 'nested redistribution'. Second, it shows how culturally approved forms of (re)distribution conflict with individual accumulation, culturally condemned but paradoxically key to afford redistribution itself. The ethnography describes how tensions between these principles are resolved, making use of the same categories (culture, morality) that engender them in the first place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is nowadays widely understood that undeclared work cannot be efficiently combated without a holistic view on the mechanisms underlying its existence. However, the question remains whether we possess all the pieces of the holistic puzzle. To fill the gap, in this paper, we test if the features so far known to affect the behaviour of taxpayers are sufficient to detect noncompliance with outstanding precision. This is done by training seven supervised machine learning models on the compilation of data from the 2019 Special Eurobarometer on undeclared work and relevant figures from other sources. The conducted analysis not only does attest to the completeness of our knowledge concerning the drivers of undeclared work but also paves the way for wide usage of artificial intelligence in monitoring and confronting this detrimental practice. The study, however, exposes the necessity of having at disposal considerably larger datasets compared to those currently available if successful real-world applications of machine learning are to be achieved in this field. Alongside the apparent theoretical contribution, this paper is thus also expected to be of particular importance for policymakers, whose efforts to tackle tax evasion will have to be expedited in the period after the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the literature on unregistered economic activity is growing at an increasing rate, we commonly encounter simple ordinary least squares methods and panel regressions, largely ignoring the recent rapid developments in machine learning methods. This study provides a new approach to more accurately estimate the size of the non-observed economy using machine learning methods. Compared to two currency demand-based models used to estimate the size of the non-observed economy, we show that a Random Forest algorithm can more accurately estimate the demand for currency, which is known to provide a fair estimation of the unregistered economic activity. The proposed approach shows superior forecasting capabilities compared to the current state-of-the-art linear regression-based methods dedicated to estimating non-observed economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring effective tools to control the rampant expansion of the informal economy is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on balanced panel data for 19 selected Latin American and Caribbean countries for the period 2008–2017, this study employs fixed-effects estimation, limited information maximum likelihood estimation, and system generalized method of moments estimation to investigate the direct and indirect effects of information and communication technologies (ICT) diffusion on the size of the informal economy. The findings suggest that ICT diffusion can significantly reduce the size of the informal economy in LAC. Moreover, the dampening effect of ICT on the informal economy is more significant in countries with lower levels of financial inclusion. Accordingly, we recommend strengthening ICT sector development to enhance financial deepening and government efficiency and thus reduce informality in LAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Luridica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)