TACKLING INFORMAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE: FROM A DETERRENCE TO PREVENTATIVE APPROACH

Colin Williams

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), 2020, vol. 25, issue 04, 1-20

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of two contrasting policy approaches in tackling informal sector entrepreneurship. The dominant deterrence approach theorizes entrepreneurs as rational economic actors who operate in the informal sector when the benefits of doing so outweigh the costs. The resultant policy focus is upon deterring participation by increasing the costs of operating in the informal sector through increased penalties and probability of being caught. Recently, a more preventative approach has emerged theorizing entrepreneurs as social actors operating in the informal sector when there is a lack of vertical trust (in government) and horizontal trust (in others). The consequent policy focus is upon improving entrepreneurs’ vertical trust (in the state) and horizontal trust (in each other). To evaluate these approaches, evidence is reported from a 2019 Eurobarometer survey in six East-Central European countries (Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia). The finding is that participation in informal entrepreneurship is not significantly associated with the deterrent measures of raising the penalties and probability of being caught but is significantly associated with the preventative measures of improving vertical and horizontal trust. The implications for theory and policy are discussed.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; informal economy; tax compliance; tax evasion; public policy; East-Central Europe (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S1084946720500247
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:wsi:jdexxx:v:25:y:2020:i:04:n:s1084946720500247

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from

DOI: 10.1142/S1084946720500247

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE) is currently edited by Peter Koveos

More articles in Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE) from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Tai Tone Lim ().