Evaluating the Extent and Nature of ‘Envelope Wages’ in the European Union: A Geographical Analysis

Colin Williams

European Spatial Research and Policy, 2009, vol. 16, issue 1, 115-129

Abstract: To evaluate the spatialities of the illegal wage practice where employers pay their declared employees both an official declared wage and an undeclared ‘envelope’ wage so as to avoid tax liabilities, a 2007 survey conducted in 27 European Union (EU) member states is reported. The finding is that 5% of employees received envelope wages which amount on average to some two-fifths of their wage packet. Revealing how, although heavily concentrated in a small group of East-Central European nations, this wage practice is nonetheless ubiquitous, the paper concludes by discussing how this practice might be tackled.

Keywords: illegal work; informal economy; envelope wages; tax evasion; European Union (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:eusprp:v:16:y:2009:i:1:p:115-129:n:7

DOI: 10.2478/v10105-009-0007-3

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