Questions on the shadow economy. Consequences of the shadow economy. Pros of the shadow economy

In domestic science and economic practice, interest in the problems of the shadow economy clearly manifested itself in the 80s. This was due to both socio-economic reasons associated with the increasing role of its role in the national economy and criminalization, and ideological reasons.

“Currently, a single generally accepted universal concept of the shadow economy has not been formulated. Let’s consider the main approaches to defining the concept of interest. The understanding of the shadow economy differs most significantly depending on whether a theoretical or operational approach is chosen.

With a theoretical approach, which is more typical for domestic researchers, the shadow economy is considered as an economic category that reflects a complex system of economic relations.

The operational approach, more typical of foreign researchers, is characterized by the definition of the shadow economy through actions to measure it. This approach is used in solving applied, statistical problems, formulating recommendations for improving legislation and adjusting socio-economic policies.

Methodologically, economic, sociological, cybernetic and legal approaches to the study of the shadow economy differ significantly. An interdisciplinary integrated approach is also developing.

A feature of the economic approach is the study of its influence on the effectiveness of economic policy, the distribution and use of economic resources, the development of reliable methods for its assessment and measurement. Economic concepts explore the shadow economy at the global, macro and micro levels, as well as in the institutional aspect.

At the level of the global economy, international shadow relations are considered (for example, drug trafficking, money laundering obtained by criminal means).

At the macro level, shadow economic activity is analyzed from the point of view of its impact on the structure of the economy, production, distribution, redistribution and consumption of gross domestic product, employment, inflation, economic growth, and other macroeconomic processes.

At the micro level, attention is focused on the study of economic behavior and decision-making by subjects of the shadow economy, business enterprises, and individual illegal markets are explored.

The institutional level of analysis puts at the center the socio-economic institutions of the shadow economy, that is, the system of formal and informal rules of behavior, the sanction mechanism, and the patterns of their development.

Sociological concepts of the shadow economy consider this area from the point of view of the interaction of social groups that differ in their position in the system of shadow institutions and the motives for the economic behavior of subjects in significant situations.

Within the framework of the cybernetic concept, the shadow economy is considered as a self-regulating and manageable system; economic and mathematical models are being developed for forecasting and managing the shadow economy, the patterns of its development and interaction with the official sector.

Within the framework of legal concepts, the phenomena of the shadow economy are considered as a special area of ​​deviant (including criminal) behavior. The main attention is paid to the study of socially dangerous forms of economic activity, the prevention of offenses and the fight against them by legal means (criminological and criminal legal control)." 1

“According to V. Ispravnikov’s definition, the shadow economy is an economy that operates outside the right field. Its key feature can be considered evasion of official registration of commercial contracts or deliberate distortion of their content during registration. At the same time, the main function of means of payment is cash, especially foreign currency .

According to V. Yu. Katasonov, the shadow economy is a sphere of economic life (production, commercial, financial activities) that is beyond the control of the state and its regulatory measures." 2

The shadow economy is not so much a set of economic crimes committed by certain legal entities and individuals, but rather a complex synthetic system of socio-economic phenomena that are carried out in a special - criminal - way.

"The shadow economy has the following systemic properties:

universality;

integrity;

connection with the external environment, manifested in the process of interaction with it through close intertwining with the official economy through legal economic structures, as well as with the institutions of the state and society;

structurality, which consists in the presence of stable connections and relationships within the shadow economy, ensuring its integrity and identity with itself, i.e. the ability to preserve its basic properties under various internal and external changes;

the ability for self-organization and continuous development, limited inclusion in global economic relations (through, for example, the widespread use of offshore companies by organized structures operating in the shadow economy);

purposefulness and the presence of a universal functioning mechanism, consisting in the commonality of standard techniques and methods of achieving functioning goals (especially in the most dangerous sector of the shadow economy - in illegal, or criminal, business);

the presence in one whole of two opposite principles - constructive (productive sector) and destructive (criminal sector)." 3

The shadow economy exists in all countries, regardless of their state and socio-economic structure. Naturally, the degree of its prevalence and scale are different.

The shadow economy acts as a self-organizing, adaptive system. It quickly adapts to external influences (the state and its law enforcement, control, fiscal, supervisory and other bodies), continuously develops in accordance with general economic principles and is in harmonious balance with its environment.

We can distinguish five main stages in the evolution of the shadow economy: origin, development, maturity, decline and death, which reflect the characteristics of both the shadow economy itself and the economic system within which it operates.

In one form or another, the shadow economy is inherent in any economic system and perishes only together with it and the state. It will never be possible to completely destroy the shadow economy. We can only talk about reducing its scale and eliminating the most dangerous forms for society (drugs, prostitution business, trafficking in people and human organs, illegal trafficking in radioactive materials and weapons of mass destruction and other destructive types of economic activity).

The main crimes of the shadow economy of Russia include abuse of power, official forgery, corruption, crimes committed to support organized crime, tax evasion, banking fraud, etc.

“Economic and legal analysis allows us to identify the following as the most crime-prone zones in the shadow sphere:

monetary circulation, the criminalization of which is most dangerous for society, affects all parts of the economic system;

property relations, primarily in trade and public catering, real estate in cities, in the production of wood and building materials, construction, agriculture, land relations, as well as in the field of protecting the rights of individuals and legal entities;

foreign economic activity, used not only for the rapid criminal accumulation of capital, but also being the most effective way of exporting illegal capital exports abroad through criminal structures for the export of energy and raw materials, especially strategic ones, which undermines the country’s position in world markets;

the consumer market, traditionally a crime-prone economic zone, is almost completely controlled by crime, strictly quotas on the share of sales, regulating prices and levying taxes on income in the form of both a share of capital participation and direct payments for the right to trade.” 4

"According to L. Ya. Drapkin, the following main features of the shadow economy can be identified:

a) uncontrollability of production, trade and financial activities of the shadow economy by government agencies, including tax services;

b) the illegal nature of the activity, including the commission of crimes of increased social danger (professional drug trafficking and arms trafficking, smuggling, mass production and sale of alcoholic beverages, organization or maintenance of dens for prostitution, etc.);

c) legalization (laundering) of illegal proceeds for the purpose of their further investment in the legal economy;

d) directing part of the illegal proceeds to finance corrupt officials in government bodies, including various law enforcement agencies.

Let's consider the classification of shadow economic phenomena on various grounds.

1) Depending on the nature of the result, shadow economic activity is distinguished: a) productive, making a real contribution to the production of the gross national product; b) redistributive, not related to the actual creation of economic goods, but redistributing income and property.

2) In relation to the official economy, a distinction is made between the internal and parallel economies. The sub-domestic economy refers to the shadow relations built into the official economy, associated with the official status of their participants. In other words, the shadow economy is interpreted from this point of view as the unregistered activity of the same agents who operate in the registered part of the economy. Parallel (invading) economy is a shadow relationship not related to the official economic status of its participants (a special sector with a special production function, where part of the workforce is employed without official registration).

3) Approaches to defining the shadow economy also differ depending on the mechanisms taken into account for coordinating its individual spheres and sectors. In this regard, the following are highlighted:

shadow market;

informal economy;

a power-violent mechanism associated primarily with the use or threat of violence.

According to the types of markets and economic resources in circulation, the following are distinguished:

shadow economic relations in the markets of consumer goods and services;

in investment goods markets;

in financial markets;

in the job market;

other markets (information, technology, intellectual property).

The criteria for classifying economic phenomena as the shadow sphere are the following: a) obtaining economic benefits in the form of appropriation of economic benefits, rights to economic benefits, increasing economic opportunities, reducing costs and risk levels; b) carrying out economic activity outside of official control and regulation, with concealment and camouflage of its significant parameters from law enforcement and regulatory authorities.

Thus, the economic role of the shadow economy is that it collects significant impersonal financial and productive assets under unified (criminal) control

Despite the measures taken in recent years, the expected significant positive changes in neutralizing the shadow economy have not yet occurred. Crime, including corruption, in the economy continues to have a negative impact on economic reforms and destroys the country’s economic and financial system.”

Typology of the varieties of the shadow economy according to three criteria - their connection with the “white” (“first”, official) economy, as well as subjects and objects of economic activity - identifies the following sectors of the shadow economy:

“second” (“white collar”);

“gray” (“informal”);

“black” (“underground”) shadow economy.

Table 1. Criteria for typology of the shadow economy

Rice. 1. Structure of the shadow economy

"White-collar" ("second") shadow economy - This is a hidden economic activity of workers of the “white” economy prohibited by law at their workplaces, leading to a hidden redistribution of previously created national income. Basically, such activities are carried out by “respectable people” from management personnel (“white collar”), which is why this type of shadow economy is also called “white collar”.

White-collar crime, for example, as interpreted by American federal courts, refers to offenses that involve damage to trade, violation of insurance and foreign exchange regulations, bribery of officials, concealment of income from tax authorities, embezzlement, mail fraud, etc. etc.

In general, white collar crime means that:

the subjects of this type of criminal activity are predominantly “decent” representatives of society and business circles - officials and other employees of business entities;

criminal activity is carried out in the sphere of economics and management and uses legal economic, economic, financial activities as its basis and cover;

these are crimes committed without the use of violence, but using economic methods, legal “holes” in the legislation, official position;

this is a high degree of organization, multi-stage criminal activity penetrating into all spheres of the economy;

crimes are committed using the most advanced technologies, including computers and telecommunications, and the same technology makes it possible to disguise the means by which crimes are committed.

The “black” shadow economy (the economy of organized crime) is an economic activity prohibited by law associated with the production and sale of prohibited goods and services. These are all types of activities of professional criminals that are completely excluded from normal economic life, since they are considered incompatible with it, destroying it. This is not only a redistribution based on violence - theft, robbery, extortion, but also the production of goods and services that destroy society, such as drug trafficking and racketeering.

In the economic literature, three groups of subjects of the shadow economy are conventionally distinguished:

the first group is the purely criminal elements at its top and their workforce: drug and weapons dealers, racketeers, bandits-robbers, hitmen, pimps, prostitutes, corrupt representatives of government and administration;

the second group - shadow workers - business executives (entrepreneurs, merchants, bankers, small and medium-sized businessmen, including shuttle traders);

the third group is hired manual and mental workers, small and medium-sized civil servants, more than half of whose income comes from bribes.

High taxes, various restrictions and greed force people to conduct their business in the shadows in order to circumvent the laws and receive excess profits. Shadow business brings significant damage to the state economy and must be actively combated.

What is the shadow economy?

Activities that develop uncontrollably and without government accounting are called the shadow economy. There are a number of reasons that provoke its appearance. The concept and essence of the shadow economy has been studied for many years, and identifying and blocking illegal activities is an important condition for the full development of society and the country. The term began to be used in 1970.

The shadow economy has close and completely legal connections with the real sector of the economy, and it also uses government services, for example, labor or various social factors. Such illegal activities help to obtain huge profits, which are not taxed and are aimed solely at their own enrichment.

Types of shadow economy

There are several types of shadow economy that form a certain structure:

1. White collar. This option implies that officially employed people are engaged in prohibited activities, which becomes the reason for the hidden distribution of national income. The concept of the shadow economy indicates that the subjects of such activities are people from the business community who have high positions. White collar criminals take advantage of their own official position and legal shortcomings in the legislation. Modern technologies are often used to commit crimes.
2. Gray. The structure of the shadow economy includes an informal type of business, that is, when activity is permitted by law, but it is not registered. It is primarily engaged in the production and sale of various goods and services. This type is the most common.
3. Black. This is the economy of organized crime, associated with the production and distribution of things prohibited by law (poaching, weapons, drugs).

Pros and cons of the shadow economy

Many people know that illegal and hidden from the state activities negatively affect a person’s standard of living and the general situation of the country itself, but few people understand that the shadow economy, as a socio-economic phenomenon, has its own advantages. If we compare the pros and cons of such an activity, the disadvantages significantly outweigh the scales.

Disadvantages of the shadow economy

Many countries are actively fighting this problem, since it negatively affects many processes and the development of society.

1. Slows down the growth of economic development of the state, for example, GDP decreases, unemployment increases, and so on.
2. Government revenues are reduced because businesses engaged in illegal activities do not pay taxes.
3. Budget expenditures are being reduced and public sector workers, pensioners and other groups of people receiving social benefits suffer as a result.
4. The trap of the shadow economy is that it contributes to the growth of corruption, but corruption itself stimulates the development of illegal activities.

Pros of the shadow economy

As already mentioned, there are few positive sides to illegal activities, but they do exist:

1. The positive consequences of the shadow economy are due to the fact that such activities bring investments into the legal sector.
2. It is a kind of smoothing mechanism for existing surges in the economic situation. This is possible thanks to the redistribution of resources between the permitted and prohibited sectors.
3. The shadow economy has a positive impact on the consequences of financial crises, when there are massive layoffs of workers who can find a place in the informal sector.

Shadow economy and corruption

It has already been mentioned that these two concepts are interrelated and they are called socio-economic twins. The essence of the shadow economy and corruption are similar in reasons, goals and other factors.

1. Illegal activities can only develop in conditions when all branches of government and management are corrupt.
2. Activities outside the law contribute to the formation of corrupt relations in all areas that affect its prosperous existence.
3. Corruption forces illegal types of business to remain in the shadows, and it also creates the basis for the organization of new areas for shadow business.
4. These two concepts are the mutual financial basis of each other.

Reasons for the emergence of the shadow economy

The main factors that provoke the emergence of illegal activities include:

1. High taxes. It is often officially unprofitable to run a business, since everything goes to taxes.
2. High level of bureaucracy. When describing the causes of the shadow economy, one cannot lose sight of the bureaucratization of all processes necessary for registering and running a business.
3. Excessive government intervention. Many people engaged in legal business complain that the tax office often conducts audits, issues fines, and so on.
4. Small penalties for revealing illegal activities. The fine imposed on a person who engages in illegal activities is in most cases much less than his profit.
5. Frequent crises. During an economic downturn, it becomes unprofitable to conduct legal economic activity and then everyone tries to go into the shadows.

Negative consequences of the shadow economy

Illegal business is a destructive phenomenon that negatively affects the entire economic system of the state. To understand why the shadow economy is bad, you need to look at the list of negative consequences.

1. There is a reduction in the state budget because tax payments do not occur.
2. Due to the impact on the credit and financial sector, negative changes occur in the structure of payment turnover and incentives.
3. The consequences of the shadow economy also apply to foreign economic activity, since there is distrust on the part of foreign investors.
4. Corruption and abuse of power are growing significantly. As a result, the country's economic development slows down and the entire society suffers.
5. Many underground organizations, in order to cut costs and in the absence of funding, do not comply with environmental standards, which negatively affects the environment.
6. The shadow economy is causing working conditions to deteriorate as businesses ignore labor laws.

Methods of combating the shadow economy

Coping with unofficial activity is very difficult given the scale of the spread. The fight against the shadow economy must be comprehensive and cover various aspects.

1. Implementation of tax system reforms that will help bring part of the income out of the shadows.
2. Tougher penalties for corrupt officials.
3. Introducing measures to return capital exported from the country and create an attractive investment climate to stop financial outflow.
4. Identifying industries that operate clandestinely and stopping their activities.
5. Increased control over cash flows, which will not make it possible to launder large amounts.
6. Reducing pressure on business from the state, for example, reducing the number of supervisory authorities and inspections.
7. Prohibition on uncontrolled provision and attraction.
8. Redistribution of power in the courts and other government bodies. Legislation must be tightened.

Literature on the shadow economy

Illegal types of business are carefully studied by economists, which leads to the presence of different literature on this topic.

1. “Shadow economy” Privalov K.V.. The textbook presents a new approach to the interpretation of this concept. The author explores the problem of evolution and various consequences of illegal business.
2. “Conditions for the effective influence of the state on the shadow economy” by L. Zakharova. The author is interested in how the fight against the shadow economy is going; the book pays attention to several methods.

In the economy of each country there is a component that does not fit into the established and legalized ideas about the norm. But the terminology characterizing this component has not yet been established. Until now, there is no single concept of “shadow economy”, and this term is interpreted differently both in different countries and by different authors, which, in general, is natural. There are a large number of approaches to defining the essence of the “shadow economy,” a term that has recently become widespread.

Western scientists often view it as an activity either hidden from direct statistical accounting or removed from taxation. Thus, J. Black defines the “shadow economy” as “economic activity that is not reported to government agencies, tax authorities and other government agencies.” This definition is somewhat “expanded” by K. Pass, B. Laws and L. Davis, who “shadow economy” means “activities that are not taken into account in the calculation of national income because the products of such activities are not exchanged on the market, or because they are illegal "

Synonyms for the “shadow economy” are most often concepts borrowed from international terminology - “unofficial”, “informal”, “hidden”, “unregistered” economy, etc. However, they are not clear enough, and sometimes “overlap”.

Domestic experts, interpreting the essence of shadow economic relations, rely primarily on the sign of “uncontrollability.” Controlled processes, by definition, are not “shadow” or “hidden”. Thus, the Big Economic Dictionary interprets the “shadow economy” as “the production, distribution, exchange and consumption of inventory and services not controlled by society, that is, hidden from government bodies and the public, socio-economic relations between individual citizens and social groups regarding the use of state property for selfish personal or group interests.”

A similar definition is proposed by B. A. Raizberg, L. I. Lozovsky, E. B. Starodubtseva. “The shadow economy is economic processes that are not advertised, hidden by their participants, not controlled by the state and society, and not recorded by official government statistics. These are processes of production, distribution, exchange, consumption of goods and services, invisible to the naked eye from the outside, and economic relations in which individuals and groups are interested.” All named Russian authors “divide” the shadow economy into criminal, “hidden” and “informal” economic phenomena. At the same time, A. Nesterov and A. Vakurin believe that “criminal economy” is a broader concept than “shadow economy” and includes the latter as an integral part.

There is theoretical confusion, which is predetermined by the following main points.

Firstly, there is an incorrect interpretation of the two concepts “shadow economy” and “black economy”, borrowed from English-language sources. Often the term “black economy”, meaning “black economy”, or “purely criminal”, is translated as “shadow economy”

Secondly, the “shadow economy” cannot be adequately described using existing law. According to D. Makarov, part of his dispositions includes actions “related to the illegal and shadow economy, some norms simultaneously regulate the processes of both the shadow and controlled economy, and certain negative processes of the shadow economy are not regulated at all.” We must agree that in fact the “shadow economy” is an economic, not a legal phenomenon, reflecting negative economic processes in society. This is a legal, but uncontrolled economic activity, which is “accompanied” by various legal violations, whether criminal or administrative. It implicitly contains an illegal part.

Thirdly, for a long time there was a persistent stereotype, according to which the entire economy is divided into “white” and “black”, i.e. legal and criminal. Today it becomes clear that the “color” spectrum of economic species is much wider: it is represented by a mass of different shades or “various gradations of gray”

In practice, the activities of most business entities are carried out both within the framework of legal and semi-legal, and sometimes purely criminal, turnover. Working within the legal framework allows an organization to form a favorable image in the market, have a credit history, appeal to the judicial or executive authorities, and also avoid additional risks in the event of an audit by tax or other regulatory authorities. At the same time, the need to “avoid” excessive taxes, and often simply the task of maximizing profits, determines the “transfer” of part of the business to “gray” schemes. Thus, an effective mechanism of economic deformalization is involved, which continuously transforms formal rules and embeds them in informal relations.

It should be noted that for these and other reasons, there is still no truly scientific definition of the “shadow economy”. The task arises of re-evaluating or regrouping existing legislation and highlighting the most negative and interconnected phenomena in the economy, which could have the independent name “shadow economy”, on the one hand, and correspond to the etymological meaning of the concept “shadow economy” on the other. The need for this also arises because under the current legislation, and in practice, in principle, it is difficult to imagine a completely legal, i.e. complying with all existing regulatory economic activities. Therefore, for further consideration of the genesis of the “shadow” economic relations that have developed in Russian society and the characteristics of their types, the following working definition seems quite suitable. “The shadow economy is a parallel underground functioning economic structure of a mafia nature, aimed at extracting excess profits hidden from taxation and undermining the economic relations that have developed in society.” At the same time, we are talking about a wide range of negative economic processes of a “criminal nature.”

Economic activity is also divided into official and shadow (not within the framework of current legislation)

Previous systems of national accounts (SNA), developed by the UN, Eurostat and other organizations, did not contain clear recommendations regarding accounting for the shadow economy. The new version, adopted in 1993, proposes to take almost entirely into account the “shadow economy” as part of production activity. The Blue Book (published by the UN Statistical Committee), which sets out the methodology of the SNA, introduces three concepts that are quite close in meaning and in some aspects even intersect. These are "hidden" (or shadow), informal (or "unofficial") and "illegal" activities.

The first of these, shadow, characterizes activities permitted by law that are not officially presented or downplayed by its subjects for the purpose of evading taxes, performing certain administrative duties or making social contributions. Such activities are possible in almost all sectors of the economy.

According to the methodology of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation “Guidelines for measuring the non-observable economy”, developed in 2002. Taking into account the experience of the Directorate of Statistics of the OPEC, the CIS Statistics Committee, the National Statistical Service of the Netherlands and the National Institute of Statistics of Italy, the economy should be divided into observable and non-observable. Production activities classified as unobservable are illegal, hidden, informal and produced by households for their own use. Paragraph 6.34 of SNA 93 states: “The hidden economy includes all legal production activities that are deliberately hidden from the state.”

The activities of illegal enterprises, just like legal ones, involve a production process. Illegal activities include the illegal production or sale of products and services (for example, the production of weapons or drugs, smuggling). This also includes “unlicensed activities” of practicing doctors, lawyers, teachers of educational institutions, sports instructors, etc. Of course, criminal activities directed against persons or property (for example, robbery, theft and terrorism) cannot be included in the boundaries of production. However, the SNA recommends that its economic impact be treated as a special case in national accounts and reflected in a special account. It can be added that theft, robbery, robbery, racketeering and other activities represent a redistribution of income from one person to another and therefore do not increase the total amount of GDP. Thus, when determining GDP, the following indicators must be taken into account:

legal activities hidden or downplayed by producers in order to evade taxes or fulfill other legal obligations;

informal (unofficial) legal activities, including the activities of unincorporated enterprises with informal employment, working for their own needs;

unofficial illegal activities, including:

a) legal activities that are carried out illegally;

b) illegal activities that involve the production and distribution of goods and services prohibited by law and for which there is effective market demand;

c) illegal activities directed against a person or property.

In this case, all listed types of activities except point 3 “c” are included in the boundaries of production.

Taking into account the above, the term “shadow economy” logically refers to any economic activity that is not registered by official bodies. With rare exceptions (for example, related to the functioning of the household), the shadow economy is a system of social relations that conflict with laws and legal norms, formal rules of economic life. In other words, this system is outside the legal framework. In the economic literature, up to a dozen acts are identified that are associated with the shadow economy. In fact, the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation has many more of them. They are provided for in more than 100 of the 260 articles of the special part of the code. The crimes provided for by these articles are committed for the motives of self-interest, gain, profit (excess profit) and can be considered as a criminal business that provides shadow (black, gray) income uncontrolled by the state. So, how we see the essence of the “shadow economy” can be defined from different points of view. And, of course, there are many other approaches to interpreting the concept of “shadow economy,” but they all note its main feature - its hidden nature.

The structure of the shadow economy and its institutionalization.

From the essence of the “shadow economy” revealed above, it follows that this phenomenon has a very multifaceted and heterogeneous nature. In this regard, various criteria for distinguishing its elements are possible. For convenience of analysis, we will designate each selected layer, stratum, zone or market level with its own color.

White Market(official zone) is based on recorded transactions in the fiscal system, reflected in official statistical reporting, enterprise balance sheets, tax returns, etc. This is a legal market, the participants of which act in compliance with all laws and regulations and are completely transparent. The latter circumstance is especially important when Russia enters the world market and is the most important factor in attracting entrepreneurs from the shadow sphere to the white market.

Rose market(a kind of “VIP” zone) includes the activities of firms authorized by government agencies, endowed with “most favored nation status,” which makes it possible to receive benefits, cheap loans, work with especially liquid goods, etc. In this “untouchable” zone for others, there are so-called “pocket” firms that are allowed, for example, to annually purchase several million tons of oil at reduced prices (including for regional bills of exchange) and send it for processing or export, but at world prices; in fact, occupy land in the city center for nothing for the construction of their facilities and luxury housing, etc. and so on.

The pink market operates at both the federal and regional levels and is cross-cutting. Moreover, a significant part of this market is in complete shadow. The general rule for its “players” is to transfer assets to foreign offshores.

The pink market dates back to the 20s of the last century, when, for example, V.I. Lenin personally gave A. Hammer’s pencil factory permission to do business in Russia with many benefits. This market includes the extensive network of special distributors and special stores (such as Beryozka), created in Soviet times by Stalin, special sanatoriums, and hospitals for those belonging to the government. The sphere of special services was partially preserved in the form of preferential prices and closed distribution of benefits.

Within this market, essentially built into the mechanism of forced distribution of resources, there was its own system of unofficial (and therefore shadow) exchange of services on a regional level - between the center and localities, and on a sectoral level between the government, ministries and individual enterprises. A mechanism of its own for coordinating interests has also emerged - the struggle to allocate the maximum amount of resources and obtain minimum planned targets. In the Central Committee of the CPSU and the State Planning Committee of the USSR, real bargaining took place between departments and “subordinate regions” through barter transactions for all groups and services. The allocation of loans and the location of new enterprises in the regions was often carried out through fierce struggle between regional leaders. Closed nomenklatura selection and placement of personnel flourished, and many representatives of the nomenklatura lived by the principle - “what is allowed to Jupiter is not allowed to the bull.” The rest of the country's population was considered bulls (or even goats). The opening of the market in the early 1990s led to the fact that the economy of total deficit was transformed into an economy of non-payments and monetary deficit.

Currently, along with the open one, a closed (secret) form of exchange and distribution of resources, products and services exists and continues to develop, with the provision of official and unofficial benefits and preferences (tax, customs, transport, supply, rental and others) for their own narrow circle trusted individuals and legal entities located close to the federal and regional authorities.

Gray market- zone of semi-legal operations, such as ensuring capital flight abroad; incomplete collection of proceeds; shuttle business with unaccounted operations; city ​​clothing markets without collection of proceeds, extortion by local authorities from entrepreneurs of money for local needs - holding holidays, for extra-budgetary funds.

This market operates on the basis of the activities of a number of semi-shadow enterprises, organizations and representatives of federal and regional authorities assisting them.

This system began to function back in Soviet times, when business entities and individuals created a semi-legal market for mutual services under the code name “blat-connections” based on barter transactions, especially in the sphere of circulation of scarce goods and services - in trade, construction, transport , supply and other industries. The growing shortage of goods and services in the USSR led to large-scale speculation and trade “under the counter”, which became the basis for the formation of the gray market.

Another component of the gray market is the appropriation (theft) of state property that has reached enormous proportions (the phenomenon of “nonsuns”). Registrations in production also flourished, on the one hand, allowing fictitious implementation of unrealistic plans issued from above, and on the other hand, to hide the theft of materials and equipment , which were then resold on the black market. Despite the harsh penalties, the shadow economy flourished, helping to smooth out the inevitable misallocation of resources under over-centralized management and planning.

In modern conditions, a new type of gray market has emerged, in which authorities, using their powers, force businesses to make contributions to their semi-official extra-budgetary funds. Such quitrents can be replaced by bribes or farm-outs for the right not to pay quitrents. In return, the authorities turn a blind eye to the wrongdoings of businessmen.

Black market -(criminal zone) includes transactions and operations in the field of unaccounted money turnover, shadow production of goods and services in enterprises not registered with tax and other government bodies, or the production of “illegal” unaccounted goods and services in formally law-abiding enterprises; as well as bribes, smuggling, prostitution, racketeering, drug trafficking and activities hidden from taxation ("left" tutoring, services of doctors, sports trainers; shadow banks, black cash). In this market, as in a “zone” (pun intended), the authorities of the underworld determine the rules (concepts) of economic behavior.

The black market is a kind of offshore within the country. Through illegal activities, added value is created, free of taxation. However, there are peculiar transaction costs: tribute to crime (the price of security) and the police (the right to untouchability), as well as “arbitration” costs for “showdowns”.

The gigantic scale of the “black market” and its clear structure allow one to draw conclusions about the presence within the country of a parallel state with a similar official system of governance.

The economic entity of the black market is organized crime, which is clearly structured, well-functioning and ramified. In essence, it is organically integrated into the national economy. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, there are about 20 thousand criminal groups operating in Russia, which includes about 90 thousand active participants. Taking into account accomplices and family members, this area covers about 400 thousand people. Moreover, there is an active process of consolidation - the entry of small groups into large communities, both within individual territories and at the interregional and international levels by establishing connections between large criminal groups. Today, 150 Russian criminal communities have actually divided the country and are actively wedging themselves not only into the economic, but also into the political sphere.

The black market is organized like a pyramid. At its top are the crime bosses, and at the base are the “labor force”: drug and weapons dealers, racketeers, bandits, robbers, hitmen, pimps, etc. Part of the base of the pyramid is occupied by corrupt representatives of government and administration. Through them, the “black market” merges with the pink one, for example, when there is a need to transfer accounted non-cash money into unaccounted cash. According to various estimates, this group of corrupt officials makes up from 5% to 25% of the entire pyramid.

The second group forms the middle part of the pyramid and consists of “shadow business executives” (entrepreneurs, merchants, bankers). Representing the gray market. Here the black market meets the gray one. It should be noted that many representatives of both black and gray can enter the normal white economy. In the meantime, they are forced to go into the “penumbra” because the costs of their activities under the existing rules of the economic game often exceed their income.

The third group is represented by hired workers of physical and mental labor, for whom unregistered activity is secondary (informal) employment. Their occupation in itself is not illegal, but due to various circumstances (legal and economic), these occupations are relegated to the shadows. They are joined by small and medium-sized civil servants, in whose income up to 60% are bribes. In total, this pyramid, according to our calculations, includes about 30 million people. The economically active population of the country, producing more than 40% of GDP. And although this division of the shadow economy into three segments is quite arbitrary, in my opinion, it is very similar to how Yu.V. Latov divides the shadow economy in his book. There is only one small discrepancy in the names of the conventional parts of the shadow economy. “The second (“white-collar”) economy” is how Yu.V. Latov dubbed the sector of the shadow economy that I.M. Ablaev called pink in his article. Both authors define this sector almost identically, so I think it would be appropriate to provide a table of the structure of the shadow economy from the textbook by Yu.V. Latov, in order to clearly show the conditional division of the shadow economy into parts and the interconnectedness of these parts.

Table No. 1: Structure of the economy, taking into account shadow sectors.

1. What is the “shadow economy”, what is its structure? What types of activities are classified as the informal sector?

The shadow economy is all economic activity that is not officially registered by authorized bodies.

The shadow economy is the economic relationships between citizens of society, developing spontaneously, bypassing existing state laws and public rules. The income of this business is hidden and is not a taxable economic activity. Essentially, any business that results in concealing income from government agencies or evading taxes can be considered a shadow economic activity.

Structure of the shadow economy

The informal economy (“gray market”) is, in principle, legal economic transactions, the scale of which is hidden or underestimated by business entities, such as, for example, unregistered labor hire, unregistered repair and construction work, tutoring, rental of real estate and other methods of evading taxes.

The criminal economy (“black market”) is an economic activity prohibited by law in any economic system and in the vast majority of countries: drug trafficking, smuggling, prostitution, racketeering, etc.

Fictitious economy - provision of bribes, individual benefits and subsidies based on organized corrupt connections

The main reasons for the existence and growth of the shadow economy are:

It is formed due to the existence of conditions under which it may be profitable to hide one’s economic activities from a wide range of people. The scale of concealment can be different - from concealing the very existence of a company or the existence of certain assets, to concealing individual transactions.

All other things being equal, the higher the tax burden, the larger the shadow sector of the economy, since enterprises located in it, due to non-payment of taxes, gain a competitive advantage over other firms and force them out of the market. The more complex the bureaucratic procedures in developing countries, the larger the sector of the economy. The economics of crime and punishment, in particular, deals with questions of the appropriateness of such behavior.

Enterprises in the shadow economy usually do not comply with the standards (for example, GOST) that surround any type of licensed activity. Sometimes the shadow sector develops due to increased administrative barriers to entry into the market.

On average, the more employees there are in a company, the less likely it is that they receive an undocumented salary “in an envelope”, on which taxes are not paid.

The more involved an enterprise is in shadow activities, such as cashing out, the shorter the period of its probable existence, since the liquidation of such companies is another way to hide traces of its activities.

The autonomous non-profit organization “National Institute for Systemic Research of Entrepreneurship Problems” (NISIPP) put forward a version of the main reasons for “going into the shadows” in 2007:

The main reason for going into the shadows was and remains high tax rates. Respondents consider the most important “non-tax factor” to be the corruption of the state apparatus: “informal payments” when obtaining licenses, certificates, and permits require the receipt of unaccounted cash. The next most important reason is the work of partners in the shadow sector (the need to purchase raw materials without paperwork, pay interest on loans raised on a “personal” basis, etc.). (Article from Rossiyskaya Gazeta)

Government intervention in the economy. It is believed that the share of the shadow sector directly depends on the degree of government regulation, the severity of the tax burden and the efficiency of tax administration, as well as on the scale of corruption and organized crime. Going into the “shadow” is often caused by the cumbersome bureaucratic mechanism for registering a business (for example, in the late 90s, to register a company in Russia it was necessary to obtain the consent of 54 authorities, and in Finland - 5). Another reason is the reluctance or impossibility of paying what economic agents consider to be excessively high payments. taxes. So, in Russia in the second half of the 90s. firms, while complying with the laws, had to pay in the form of taxes more than half of the newly created value, which was especially intolerable for beginning entrepreneurs in the conditions of “primary accumulation of capital.” Tax evasion was also facilitated by weak tax administration. Firms could receive individual tax breaks or pay off their obligations to the state “by agreement,” i.e. They paid as much as they thought necessary. When characterizing the reasons for the existence of the shadow economy, one should take into account national specifics, for example, the tradition of distrust of the state in Italy, which goes back to the distant past.

A crisis or depression in the national economy, which entails an increase in unemployment and a decrease in the living standards of large sections of the population. Part of the population affected by the crisis is trying to start small businesses, but in the presence of high administrative barriers (rules established by the authorities, compliance with which is a mandatory condition for conducting business activities, for example, obtaining a license to engage in this type of business) and other transaction costs when entering the market, these entrepreneurs are forced enter into shadow relationships, for example, running your own business without official registration.

The breakdown of social relations, especially the transition from one economic system to another, leads to the fact that the economic crisis is intertwined with a social and moral crisis, which leads to the growth of the criminal segment of the shadow economy, which is what happened in Russia in the 90s. As the experience of a number of countries with economies in transition shows, as market relations crystallize and the systemic crisis is overcome, the criminal component of the shadow economy weakens.

2. What are the methods of combating shadow business? How effective are these methods?

The state’s methods of combating shadow business focus on three main areas:

• -- On preventing legal entrepreneurs and employees from being drawn into shadow business;
• -- On measures to reduce the number of illegal entrepreneurs;
• -- On the formation of favorable conditions for the functioning of legal entrepreneurship.

In the first direction, the state acts as follows. Firstly, by means of advertising and propaganda a negative image of shadow business is created, through the media its harmful impact on the economy and society is emphasized, and the damage caused by illegal business to the population and legal business is pointed out. Secondly, law enforcement agencies are conducting active preventive work to prevent illegal entrepreneurship. Thirdly, illegal business activity is suppressed at the stage of its formation, and its organizers are registered and subject to administrative and criminal penalties.

The reduction in the number of illegal enterprises and entrepreneurs is carried out through operational investigative measures by law enforcement agencies related to the detention and punishment of the organizers of shadow businesses.

The third area of ​​combating shadow business includes creating favorable conditions for the development of legitimate entrepreneurship. State bodies, together with representatives of public organizations and legal businesses, are developing a system of organizational, legal, financial and other measures related to facilitating the functioning of officially registered commercial structures. The list of measures to improve the business environment includes:

• - Improving the tax climate;
• -- Reducing administrative pressure on legal businesses;
• -- Protection of the property and personality of entrepreneurs and enterprises from attacks by criminal structures and unscrupulous government officials;
• - Assistance in business lending;
• -- Elimination of the system of extortion and extortion in any form;
• -- Creation of a system of business incubators, training and retraining of entrepreneurs with the participation of public funds and resources.

In order to increase the effectiveness of measures to combat shadow business, government agencies are inviting stakeholders such as legal businesses and public organizations to cooperate on this issue.

3. Is it possible to quickly, only with the help of legislative measures, reduce the shadow sector to generally accepted sizes? Justify your answer

It is impossible, since changing legislation without taking into account the interests of companies will only lead to a worsening of the situation. Many companies will also go into the shadow economy, thereby only increasing its percentage in the country.

4. How can the administrative reform being carried out in Russia affect the reduction of the shadow economy?

Administrative reform will be able to force most companies to work according to the law, thereby leading to a reduction in the shadow economy. Many companies will switch to “clean” business, thereby also reducing its percentage.

5. Do you think it is possible to defeat the shadow economy in general? If this happened, can we say that the consequences of this were only positive?

Perhaps, subject to changes in legislation, observing the conditions of companies and adapting to them, as well as reducing taxes. Under such conditions, there will be not only positive but also negative aspects; the state will not be able to regulate legislation fully, and will also not be able to change the amount of taxes, as this will again lead to an increase in the shadow (gray) economy.

6. Imagine that a person is looking for a job and does not find it, since it is not profitable for business to create new jobs due to high taxes on wages, profits, etc. The person has nothing to live on, he has nothing to feed his family, and he goes to work for “ shadow enterprise. Who is to blame for this? What are the consequences of this choice?

The consequences of this decision are the growth of the gray economy. The blame for this lies with the largest companies, which use the shadow economy to a greater extent to cut costs, as well as the state, which does not take into account the conditions of smaller types of businesses, thereby forcing them to pay the same, equal taxes as large companies that play in the shadow market. . Thus, smaller companies are forced to go into the shadows.

Russia adopted the Federal Law of November 28, 2007 “On combating the legalization (laundering) of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism.” The document obliges market participants (banks, insurance companies, brokerage houses, etc.) to report to a specially created state control body about all “subject to mandatory control” transactions of citizens and organizations. The lion's share of financial transactions of Russians is included in the list of mandatory controlled ones. In particular, these include almost all transactions with securities, all banking transactions with large sums of money, and transfers of funds abroad. And also all operations that are at least somewhat different from absolutely standard ones, such as utility bills. Moreover, banks are required to report other transactions that they consider suspicious.

How effective is this method of combating shadow business? Are human rights violated in this case? What guarantees should the state provide to banks and citizens? Do you think this method of control is practiced abroad?

Abroad, for example in Europe, most likely not; perhaps the same measures have been taken in the USA. The effectiveness of this method is low, since such methods themselves force companies and people to look for other ways to conduct operations, transactions, etc. Thereby again increasing the growth of the shadow economy. I consider these methods of struggle to be a direct violation of human rights, since this is purely personal information, and a person himself has the right to dispose of his property. Guarantees from the state must include non-disclosure of information, as well as ensuring control over transactions, plus possible state insurance of certain transactions or securities, etc.

7. How do the two concepts of “shadow economy” and “hidden shadow economy” differ from each other?

shadow economy business entrepreneur

Hidden shadow economy - an economy hidden in order to avoid taxes or due to the reluctance of economic entities to make their actions and income known.

The shadow economy is a sphere of activity aimed at generating profits hidden from taxation.

In one of the sociological surveys, Russians answered the question of what they understand by the shadow economy. For some, these were underground (knitting, confectionery and other) workshops. For others - income hidden from the tax inspectorate. For others - transactions with the so-called "black cash" - with unaccounted cash. Each of the interviewees was right, but if we sum up everyone’s statements, this will still be far from a complete list of the “faces” of the shadow economy.

All shadow economic activities can be divided into three groups. The first is the unofficial economy (it is also called the second, parallel, informal). Those same underground workshops, illegal entrepreneurship in various sectors of the national economy. They cause the greatest damage to society in the production of alcohol, fish products, and in the extraction, processing and circulation of precious metals and stones.

An amazing paradox of our economic statistics is that the shadow economy, its informal, unofficial group, usually includes goods and services that are not at all clandestinely produced in the household.

This happens because the gross domestic product (the sum of all goods and services produced in the country) also includes the products of private households. Potatoes grown in personal gardens, for example. Since these products went past the cash register, past the state, their production and consumption formally falls into the category of the shadow economy. Although it is clear that such a “shadow economy” is a typical subsistence economy - a consequence of insufficiently developed productive forces. Such activities do not harm anyone - neither society nor individuals - but rather the opposite. Allows you to reduce tension in the labor market and provides a means of livelihood. This is generally accepted: household goods and services are not subject to taxes.

The second group is the fictitious economy. Behind the screen of an officially registered organization (commercial or public), illegal actions are committed. For example, the export of capital from Russia under fictitious contracts or non-payment of taxes. Taxation is one of the most painful knots in the Russian economy, a tangle of many problems. I will mention only one - liability for non-payment of taxes. In 1997, about six hundred people were prosecuted for this crime in Russia. For comparison: in 1921 (the time of NEP), 26 thousand people were convicted of tax evasion. In Moscow, where the largest Russian capital is concentrated, ten sentences were passed last year and only one involved imprisonment.

The fictitious economy also includes the legalization of criminal capital, the so-called laundering of dirty money.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the annual income of organized criminal groups in Russia reaches 10 trillion non-denominated rubles. The amount is so enormous that it is natural for proposals to appear in our press to somehow legally “forgive” the criminal past of this money so that it can be included in the national economy. But here it is important to remember the following. Firstly, behind such capital there really are crimes, and not only financial ones, but often real criminal ones. Secondly, the owners of criminal money do not set themselves patriotic goals. They need legal money so they don’t have to hide big expenses. Thirdly, dirty money, having turned into clean money, is again used to finance criminal organizations, that is, it is reinvested in criminal activities. With their help, the political interests of the criminal world are lobbied. No expense is spared for this. According to data available from the Moscow Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, up to fifty percent of the income of criminal communities goes to bribing government officials.

In addition, the mores and customs of the criminal world are introduced into the business environment. As a result, social tension is growing: incentives for productive, honest work are decreasing, the idea of ​​a “clean” business is losing its attractiveness, and there is an outflow of private, including foreign, investment from law-abiding market agents.

Criminals are well aware of the methods of money laundering, but honest citizens sometimes do not understand why purchasing antiques, building mansions, or owning an expensive car by proxy falls under this definition. A painting by a famous painter, a luxurious country cottage - this is materialized money, because both can be sold, and the amount received will be completely legal. Remember the hero of the famous movie "Beware of the Car", an electronics seller who had nothing of his own: a car, a dacha, an apartment - everything was registered in the name of other people. This type of shadow business has not disappeared even today, and has even become more dexterous: with the help of front men, he buys controlling stakes in operating enterprises, exports currency abroad during tourist and business trips, makes multiple small deposits in commercial banks, and so on.

The third group of the shadow economy is the black economy: the production and sale of drugs, robberies, robberies, thefts, extortion and other crimes, as a result of which some people get rich, causing harm to others, society and the state. This group also includes monopolistic actions in the market, restriction of competition, for example.

So, the shadow economy manifests itself in three forms: unofficial, fictitious and black. It must be said that in real life it is sometimes difficult to attribute a phenomenon to a specific form. For example, an official receiving a bonus for allegedly doing work, say, allegedly delivering lectures, on the one hand, refers to the black economy (bribery), and on the other hand, to fictitious economics (laundering of illegally obtained money). But these are classification problems that are not so important.

The reasons for the growth of the shadow economy in Russia would seem to be clear: the economic crisis, inflation, rapid privatization, and the lack of the necessary legal framework, that is, the necessary laws. But how then can we explain the existence of the shadow economy in a stable society?

The germ of economic crime lies in the product - the elementary cell of the market economy. Every product contains a contradiction between its two properties - use value and simple value. If the seller is interested in the value of the product (price), then the buyer is interested in use value (marginal and total utility). The first wants to sell a product at a higher price than it really costs, the second, on the contrary, wants to buy it for less than its real value.

The state guards fair market exchange, putting this justice into the form of legal laws and punishing violators in accordance with criminal, administrative, civil and other codes. Therefore, a strong state is a guarantee that the shadow economy will not take over most of the country’s national economy.