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Informal Economy, Tax Evasion, and Poverty in a Democratic Setting: Greece

Generally speaking, informal economy refers to undeclared economic activity that is not recorded in the formal national economic ledgers. Also known as black, unofficial, hidden, unrecorded, shadow, gray, parallel, dual, moonlight, unobserved, or underground, it is as old as humanity itself. The most widely used definition of informal economy refers to that portion of economic activity that should be but is not registered in state or national ledgers.1 It is neither a new phenomenon nor limited to the changing societies of the developing world; instead, it affects authoritarian as well as economically developed and democratic societies. By its very nature, informal economic activity is hard to pinpoint and even harder to measure. In addition, economists and other social scientists disagree with respect to its impact. Some view underground economy in negative terms because it denies the state revenue and wreaks havoc on the reliability and accuracy of the economic data governments rely on to plan economic policy and determine fiscal and monetary policy. Others find informal economic activity as something tolerated, if not deliberately promoted, by governments. They see it as increasing disposable income and competition, reducing unemployment, and acting as a safety valve in times of slowdown and economic transition.2