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Tackling falsely-declared salaries in Bulgaria: evidence from a 2015 survey

Author

Listed:
  • Colin C Williams

    (University of Sheffield, United Kingdom)

  • Junhong Yang

    (University of Sheffield, United Kingdom)

Abstract
Recently, there has been growing interest in the illegal wage practice where formal employers pay their formal employees two wages, namely an official declared wage plus an additional undeclared (envelope) wage, which reduces the tax and social contributions that are paid to the authorities. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the prevalence and nature of this illegal practice in Bulgaria and the effectiveness of different policy approaches for tackling this practice. Until now, two competing policy approaches have been advocated, namely a conventional rational economic actor approach which seeks to increase the perceived or actual penalties and probability of being caught, and an emergent social actor approach that seeks to improve tax morale. Reporting a 2015 nationally representative survey comprising 2,004 face-to-face interviews conducted in Bulgaria, the finding is that just under 1 in 7 formal employees (14.4 per cent) reported receiving an additional undeclared (envelope) wage from their formal employer, with the mean amount of their net income unreported amounting to 29.8 percent. Contrary to the widely-held assumption that this illegal wage practice is always purely the decision of employers, a key finding is that this is the case in less than two-thirds (65.3 per cent) of reported cases. Employees in some one-third of cases asserted that it was either a joint idea or that they had suggested this illegal arrangement. Adopting an evidence-based approach to evaluating how this should be tackled, a logit marginal effects regression analysis reveals little support for the rational economic actor approach that seeks to reduce falselydeclared salaries by increasing the penalties and probability of being caught, but strong support for the social actor approach that decreases instances of falsely-declared salaries by improving tax morale. The paper concludes by discussing implications for theory and policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Colin C Williams & Junhong Yang, 2017. "Tackling falsely-declared salaries in Bulgaria: evidence from a 2015 survey," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 3, pages 333-351, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nwe:eajour:y:2017:i:3:p:333-351
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    Cited by:

    1. Colin C. Williams, 2023. "A Modern Guide to the Informal Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18668.
    2. Ioana Alexandra Horodnic & Colin C. Williams & Rodica Ianole-Cãlin & Adrian V. Horodnic, 2023. "Exploring the illegal practice of under-reporting wages in the construction industry: some lessons from Romania," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(26), pages 2978-2992, June.
    3. Colin C. Williams & Adnan S. Efendic, 2020. "Evaluating the Relationship Between Migration and Participation in Undeclared Work: Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 4, pages 592-606, December.
    4. Ioana Alexandra HORODNIC & Colin C. WILLIAMS & Iuliana M. CHIÈšAC, 2022. "Evaluating the relationship between sustainable development, localisation and the informal economy: evidence from Romania," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 13, pages 54-76, December.
    5. Colin Williams & Brunilda Kosta, 2021. "Why do Consumers Buy from Informal Sector Suppliers in East-Central Europe? A Case Study of Home Repair and Renovation Services," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 1, pages 134-152, March.

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