Determinants of entrepreneurs' views on the acceptability of tax evasion and the informal economy in Slovakia and Ukraine: an institutional asymmetry approach

Nataliia Ostapenko and Colin Williams

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2016, vol. 28, issue 2/3, 275-289

Abstract: In recent years, it has been argued that citizens view tax evasion and the informal economy as socially acceptable when the codified laws and regulations (formal institutions) of a country are not aligned with the norms, values and beliefs of the population (informal institutions). Reporting a 2013 survey of 238 entrepreneurs' views on the acceptability of tax evasion and the informal economy in Slovakia and Ukraine, this paper confirms for the first time this institutional asymmetry thesis with regard to entrepreneurs, revealing that the gap between state morality and entrepreneurial morality has an impact on the acceptability of illegal behaviour. The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and policy implications.

Keywords: illegitimate behaviour; shadow economy; tax evasion; institutional theory; entrepreneurship; Slovakia; Ukraine; informal economy; institutional asymmetry; state morality; entrepreneurial morality; acceptability; illegal behaviour. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=76639 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijesbu:v:28:y:2016:i:2/3:p:275-289

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().