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Извештај за распространетост и трендови на скриената економија во Македонија

Author(s): Ana Mickovska-Raleva,Emil Shurkov / Language(s): Macedonian

Blamed for many of the country’s problems, but at the same time under-researched and ineptly understood, the hidden economy phenomenon has, for many years, been insufficiently tackled by Macedonian academic and political elites. During the past few years, a renewed interest in the topic has led towards its more systematic treatment by institutions, but still largely based on approximations, lack of coordination between institutions and under-evaluation of policy measures. This treatment of the problem opens the floor to many speculations regarding the effectiveness of policies and their actual impact on reducing the size of hidden economy. The analysis, prepared by the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), involves a review of existing reports and data on the hidden economy in Macedonia as well as the available international sources. It reviews the current policy initiatives and whether these have been evaluated, as well as any planned future initiatives. The document aims to address some of the key issues through representing cross-section of existing data on the hidden economy in Macedonia and relevant policies, with the intention to review and summarize the knowledge-base on the issue and provide recommendations for better tackling the problem.

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Raport i hollësishëm mbi përhapjen dhe tendencat e ekonomisë së fshehur në Maqedoni

Author(s): Ana Mickovska-Raleva,Emil Shurkov / Language(s): Albanian

Blamed for many of the country’s problems, but at the same time under-researched and ineptly understood, the hidden economy phenomenon has, for many years, been insufficiently tackled by Macedonian academic and political elites. During the past few years, a renewed interest in the topic has led towards its more systematic treatment by institutions, but still largely based on approximations, lack of coordination between institutions and under-evaluation of policy measures. This treatment of the problem opens the floor to many speculations regarding the effectiveness of policies and their actual impact on reducing the size of hidden economy. The analysis, prepared by the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM), involves a review of existing reports and data on the hidden economy in Macedonia as well as the available international sources. It reviews the current policy initiatives and whether these have been evaluated, as well as any planned future initiatives. The document aims to address some of the key issues through representing cross-section of existing data on the hidden economy in Macedonia and relevant policies, with the intention to review and summarize the knowledge-base on the issue and provide recommendations for better tackling the problem.

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Policy Tracker: EU and Russia’s Energy Policy at the Backdrop of the South Stream Pipeline

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The present paper aims at tracking the development of the South Stream gas pipeline project from the perspectives of the EU and Russia, and in the context of the common EU external energy policy. The EU-Russia energy dialogue has become increasingly complicated since the two natural gas crises in 2006 and 2009, when the gas supply was cut for about two weeks due to a gas pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Until then the energy relations between Europe and Russia have run smoothly as Gazprom had been perceived as a reliable supplier operating under long-term, oil-indexed contracts providing predictability of supplied volumes and prices. For producers such as Russia operating in a glut market, the most important goal was to preserve their market share in Europe. An eventual supply disruption would discredit suppliers and will push consumers look for more viable alternatives.

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Hidden Economy in Macedonia Policy Brief 2: Hit and Miss - The Dynamics of Undeclared Labor in Macedonia

Author(s): Author Not Specified,Center for Research and Policy Making CRPM / Language(s): English

The Center for the Study of Democracy, in collaboration with the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) elaborated a series of policy briefs analyzing the hidden economy in Macedonia. The topics encompass the issues of countering undeclared labour, tax evasion and fraud, media reporting on hidden economy and corruption, etc. The current policy brief underlines that undeclared work, being one of the main manifestations of hidden economy, becomes the bull’s-eye for many countries focusing on reshaping their social and economic policies in order to tackle this issue, especially since the onset of the economic crisis that hit Europe and the World in 2008. The most recent economic indicators coming from Europe show that this crisis has not concluded and European economies are yet to deal with its mid and long-term consequences. Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries are not exempt from this process, with job creation and policies targeting unemployment (28.2% as of Q2 2014) being a major concern and a focal point of political activity. Low growth prospects in the EU and sluggish economic conditions forecasted in 2014 are also limiting Macedonia’s growth prospects, which at this point are still positive at around 4% GDP growth annually (4.3% as of Q2 2014). The authors highlight several key points: According to results from the population survey, the proportion of employees with a primary employment receiving ‘envelope’ payments or temporary service contracts in addition to their salary is about one-third of the employed population; Almost 7% of employees work without a contract and are not being paid social security contributions. Combined with the abovementioned fact, this indicates the salary of about 40% of employees with a primary employment is partially or completely undeclared; More than half of employers confirm that signing contracts with ‘hidden clauses’ happens in their sector; Macedonia’s main focus in tackling undeclared work, just as most Eastern European Countries, is on Labor Law violations). Repressive measures and others aimed at improving detection are the dominant policy approach.

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Погодоци и промашувања – динамика на непријавената работа во Македонија

Author(s): Author Not Specified,Center for Research and Policy Making CRPM / Language(s): Macedonian

The Center for the Study of Democracy, in collaboration with the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) elaborated a series of policy briefs analyzing the hidden economy in Macedonia. The topics encompass the issues of countering undeclared labour, tax evasion and fraud, media reporting on hidden economy and corruption, etc. The current policy brief underlines that undeclared work, being one of the main manifestations of hidden economy, becomes the bull’s-eye for many countries focusing on reshaping their social and economic policies in order to tackle this issue, especially since the onset of the economic crisis that hit Europe and the World in 2008. The most recent economic indicators coming from Europe show that this crisis has not concluded and European economies are yet to deal with its mid and long-term consequences. Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries are not exempt from this process, with job creation and policies targeting unemployment (28.2% as of Q2 2014) being a major concern and a focal point of political activity. Low growth prospects in the EU and sluggish economic conditions forecasted in 2014 are also limiting Macedonia’s growth prospects, which at this point are still positive at around 4% GDP growth annually (4.3% as of Q2 2014). The authors highlight several key points: According to results from the population survey, the proportion of employees with a primary employment receiving ‘envelope’ payments or temporary service contracts in addition to their salary is about one-third of the employed population; Almost 7% of employees work without a contract and are not being paid social security contributions. Combined with the abovementioned fact, this indicates the salary of about 40% of employees with a primary employment is partially or completely undeclared; More than half of employers confirm that signing contracts with ‘hidden clauses’ happens in their sector; Macedonia’s main focus in tackling undeclared work, just as most Eastern European Countries, is on Labor Law violations). Repressive measures and others aimed at improving detection are the dominant policy approach.

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Hidden Economy in Macedonia Policy Brief 1: The Economics of Blurs and Shadows – The Hidden Economy in Macedonia

Author(s): Author Not Specified,Center for Research and Policy Making CRPM / Language(s): English

he Center for the Study of Democracy, in collaboration with the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) elaborated a series of policy briefs analyzing the hidden economy in Macedonia. The topics encompass the issues of countering undeclared labour, tax evasion and fraud, media reporting on hidden economy and corruption, etc. The current policy brief underlines that undeclared work, being one of the main manifestations of hidden economy, becomes the bull’s-eye for many countries focusing on reshaping their social and economic policies in order to tackle this issue, especially since the onset of the economic crisis that hit Europe and the World in 2008. The most recent economic indicators coming from Europe show that this crisis has not concluded and European economies are yet to deal with its mid and long-term consequences. Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries are not exempt from this process, with job creation and policies targeting unemployment (28.2% as of Q2 2014) being a major concern and a focal point of political activity. Low growth prospects in the EU and sluggish economic conditions forecasted in 2014 are also limiting Macedonia’s growth prospects, which at this point are still positive at around 4% GDP growth annually (4.3% as of Q2 2014). The authors highlight several key points: According to results from the population survey, the proportion of employees with a primary employment receiving ‘envelope’ payments or temporary service contracts in addition to their salary is about one-third of the employed population; Almost 7% of employees work without a contract and are not being paid social security contributions. Combined with the abovementioned fact, this indicates the salary of about 40% of employees with a primary employment is partially or completely undeclared; More than half of employers confirm that signing contracts with ‘hidden clauses’ happens in their sector; Macedonia’s main focus in tackling undeclared work, just as most Eastern European Countries, is on Labor Law violations). Repressive measures and others aimed at improving detection are the dominant policy approach.

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Економија на маглини и сенки – скриената економија во Maкедонија

Author(s): Author Not Specified,Center for Research and Policy Making CRPM / Language(s): Macedonian

he Center for the Study of Democracy, in collaboration with the Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) elaborated a series of policy briefs analyzing the hidden economy in Macedonia. The topics encompass the issues of countering undeclared labour, tax evasion and fraud, media reporting on hidden economy and corruption, etc. The current policy brief underlines that undeclared work, being one of the main manifestations of hidden economy, becomes the bull’s-eye for many countries focusing on reshaping their social and economic policies in order to tackle this issue, especially since the onset of the economic crisis that hit Europe and the World in 2008. The most recent economic indicators coming from Europe show that this crisis has not concluded and European economies are yet to deal with its mid and long-term consequences. Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries are not exempt from this process, with job creation and policies targeting unemployment (28.2% as of Q2 2014) being a major concern and a focal point of political activity. Low growth prospects in the EU and sluggish economic conditions forecasted in 2014 are also limiting Macedonia’s growth prospects, which at this point are still positive at around 4% GDP growth annually (4.3% as of Q2 2014). The authors highlight several key points: According to results from the population survey, the proportion of employees with a primary employment receiving ‘envelope’ payments or temporary service contracts in addition to their salary is about one-third of the employed population; Almost 7% of employees work without a contract and are not being paid social security contributions. Combined with the abovementioned fact, this indicates the salary of about 40% of employees with a primary employment is partially or completely undeclared; More than half of employers confirm that signing contracts with ‘hidden clauses’ happens in their sector; Macedonia’s main focus in tackling undeclared work, just as most Eastern European Countries, is on Labor Law violations). Repressive measures and others aimed at improving detection are the dominant policy approach.

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ANTICORRP Background paper on Bulgaria

Author(s): Alexander Stoyanov,Ruslan Stefanov,Boryana Velcheva / Language(s): English

The Worldwide Governance Indicators show that Bulgaria has made significant progress in the area of “control of corruption” since 1996. This finding contrasts with the general opinion of the Bulgarian population who perceive Bulgarian institutions as corrupt, and contradicts the decision of the European Commission to continue monitoring Bulgaria’s progress in fighting corruption and organized crime. Hence, there is a need for careful consideration and analysis to understand how much progress Bulgaria has really made in the fight against corruption. Can Bulgaria be considered an anti-corruption success story? This paper seeks to answer the above questions by providing a background analysis on Bulgaria’s governance regime. According to research, Bulgaria has made some progress in its transition from patrimonialism to open access order but the main features of its governance regime remain these of competitive particularism. In legal terms Bulgaria displays some open access order features but they do not translate into practical implementation.

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GREY Working Paper No. 4: Policy Approaches Towards Undeclared Work, a Conceptual Framework

Author(s): Colin C. Williams / Language(s): English

This working paper is an output of the European Commission’s FP7 "Marie Curie Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways" (IAPP) project entitled "GREY - Out of the shadows: developing capacities and capabilities for tackling undeclared work in Bulgaria, Croatia and FYR Macedonia". The aim of the paper is to provide a conceptual framework for understanding the policy approaches for tackling undeclared work. In doing so, the intention is to provide the structure for a future comprehensive review of the policy measures available for tackling undeclared work.

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Media note: Energy in(security): the parliament’s decision on the South Stream pipeline increases the risks for Bulgaria’s energy security

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The decision of the Bulgarian Parliament from 4 April 2014 to adopt at first reading the amendments in the Energy Law, which grants South Stream special status highlights the lack of logic in the national energy policy and compounds the impression that public interest is not the driving force behind the proposed changes.

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Media Note: Why Electricity Bills in Bulgaria Spoiled the Party

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The so-called “green” premium - a market entry subsidy for renewable energy sources - was used as a convenient explanation for recent increases to the electricity bills in 2012. However, as time went by, consumers realized that a substantial part of their bills has been determined by another expense - the ”bad governance premium”, which, together with the forthcoming parliamentary elections and the increase of energy consumption during the winter, led to the ascent of social discontent and a search for new culprits for the surge in prices.

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Зелено чудовище бърка в джоба на потребителите: дали? Медийна записка

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

The energy sector in Bulgaria is faced with a number of challenges, the biggest of which is poor governance. Abuses triggered by the poor management of state-owned enterprises have an impact on electricity prices for consumers. As long as the governance of state-owned enterprises remains non-transparent and pricing mechanisms remain opaque, consumer confidence in the system cannot be restored.

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Плоският данък: Икономически и социални ефекти

Author(s): Konstantin Pashev / Language(s): English

These however do not necessarily call for the flat rate tax of the design experimented in several of the new market economies. The study argues as well that vertical flattening in itself tends to redistribute the tax burden towards the mid-income groups. Furthermore it cautions that the expectations that the flat income tax will limit tax evasion might be overly optimistic. The paper suggests alternative supply side tax incentives.

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American Investment In Bulgaria, December 1994

Author(s): Daniela Bobeva / Language(s): English

From 1990 until the end of September 1994, sixty-nine investments of declared American origin were registered at the Ministry of Finance. Forty-three of them were made in Bulgarian Leva. The total volume of American investment is 18,662,000 USD, or 6.5% of the total foreign investment inflow to Bulgaria (in comparison, Germany invested 177,305,000 USD). The United States place fifth in terms of invested capital in Bulgaria.

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Financing the private firms in Bulgaria

Author(s): Stefan Ivanov / Language(s): English

The strengthening of the market forces in the economy of Bulgaria is related to the stability and development of the private initiative. Given the stagnation in the state-owned and municipal businesses the private sector is the only one, which is dynamic and provides prospects for future development of the national economy. It is much relied on to create a new economic environment, which makes it necessary to provide conditions for boosting its vitality and expansion...

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Survey of the Efficiency of Foreign Consultant Firms, May, 1994

Author(s): Jordan Markov,Daniela Bobeva / Language(s): English

The beginning of the reforms in the economy brought about the establishment of a market for consulting services. Its formation was determined on the one hand by the appearance of demand for consulting services, and on the other - by the wide range of legal and economic analyses, expert evaluations and recommendations offered by the rapidly growing number of private persons and firms engaged in this specific sphere of the economy.

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The Efficiency of Consulting Firms, 1994

Author(s): Jordan Markov,Daniela Bobeva / Language(s): English

The beginning of the reforms in the economy brought about the establishment of a market for consulting services. Its formation was determined on the one hand by the appearance of demand for consulting services, and on the other - by the wide range of legal and economic analyses, expert evaluations and recommendations offered by the rapidly growing number of private persons and firms engaged in this specific sphere of the economy.

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Measurement of aggregate economic activity by means of composite indicators

Author(s): Valentin Tchavdarov,Evelina Radeva / Language(s): English

The Agency for Economic Cooperation & Development /AECD/ experts have begun to asses three barometers of aggregate economic activity since March 1992: economic activity barometer, economic expectation barometer and diffusion index. In that paper we share our experience on the assessment of composite indicators and their utilization in analyzing performance of Bulgarian economy on macro level.

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The Insurance Market in Bulgaria, September 2004

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

At the end of august 2004, the second consecutive survey was conducted to study and assess the insurance market and services in Bulgaria in one year period. The survey was representative of the country’s adult population. The size of the two-stage cluster sample was N=1000 covering the whole territory of the country. Information was collected by the method of the face-to-face in-home interview.

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Корупционни индекси на Коалиция 2000, Януари 2003

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Bulgarian

Between January 22, 2003 and March 3, 2003, Vitosha Research conducted its survey concerning the corruption among the population in Bulgaria. The study is part of Coalition 2000's Corruption Monitoring System (CMS).

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