Modern market relations and the "black" economy: the interpretation of the concept

The black (or shadow) economy in the system of modern market relations represents, to a certain extent, quite a natural phenomenon associated with the rejection of restrictive measures. In the transition economy, according to experts, the size of the black economy is increasing (up to 40-50% of GDP), this is due to the fact that market relations in the economy are accompanied by negative development of the private sector, growth of farms, imperfect legislation, and a temporary decline in the quality of life. In such conditions, it is obvious the need to develop an adequate approach to monitoring how the market relations and the black economy at macro- and meso-levels are generally correlated.

At present, scientists have developed many approaches to the definition of the shadow economy and various groups of methods for its assessment: direct, indirect, including employment analysis, monetary methods, alternative estimates, the method of commodity flows, econometric methods. But modern market relations and the black economy are still at such a level of development that there is a multiplicity of definitions of the shadow (black) economy category, unsettled terminology, and the heterogeneity of the quantitative estimates obtained. So, their range in the CIS countries varies between 10 and 55%, in the EU candidate countries - 10 and 22%, in developed countries - 1.2 and 17%. This is due to both differences in official policy, the scale of the informal and hidden economy, and the use of different valuation methods, which represent modern market relations. Among these methods, direct - underestimate the evaluation, others, indirect, structural, as well as methods of hidden determinants, soft modeling - overestimate.

The methodological recommendations of the Eurostat task force, the recommendations of the CIS Statistical Committee and other institutions of economic analysis are not specific and reflect only the need to adhere to common definitions and classifications of black economic activities, take into account the features of the national economy, use the proposed analytical framework (definition and adjustment of the hidden, On enlarged industries), in evaluating give priority to the informal sector.

In a number of countries, the assessment of the black economy is generally or partially absent, only superficial calculations are carried out, private manifestations of the hidden economy are taken into account, most often such parameter as property in the market economy and its shadow segment. A distinctive feature of most of their published estimates of this type of economy today is their bias, as a rule, their underreporting, which is caused by both the objective properties of such a phenomenon as market relations and the black economy, as well as shortcomings in statistical accounting and the deliberate desire to provide untrue information From respondents, obtained as a result of sample surveys of households. In addition, the psychological unpreparedness of society to analyze the values of the black economy (even if such estimates are obtained) also affects.

Long-term studies of the essence, structure, methods of measuring the shadow economy, a number of experimental calculations have made it possible to formulate some general approaches to the definition of this phenomenon.

For consideration of unobserved types of economic activity, a number of scientists have chosen the term shadow economy as a generalization. In terms of the unobservable, unaccounted, unregistered economy, by definition, the refusal to measure these phenomena or, at least, an indication of its unreliability is laid. The term "shadow" seems more successful: it does not emphasize the nature of the assessment, emphasizes the specific conditions for the implementation of activities, the nature of income generation. This approach to the definition allows us to identify any unregistered economic activity. The term black, in this context, should be understood only as an ordinary interpretation of the shadow economy category. Modern market relations, and the black economy in their statistical measurement, require the most complete coverage and quantitative measurement of all types of shadow activity, regardless of the source of their origin.