Skip to main content

Part of the book series: Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies ((SIST,volume 139))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 463 Accesses

Abstract

The scientific interest to the research of the entrepreneurship in the informal economy is increasing all over the world but the study of this phenomenon in Russia is only beginning. The paper touches upon the concept of the informal entrepreneurship in the broad and narrow sense. People registered in the state register as sole proprietors and receiving income from their business activity are considered to be informal entrepreneurs. The determinants showing labour demand, labour supply and institutional conditions, which influence the number of such entrepreneurs in the individual regions of the Russian Federation are chosen. The attempt to estimate the impact of some determinants on the number of individual entrepreneurs was made. The dynamical model of panel dataset in which we included the indicators of 77 regions of the Russian Federation for the period of 7 years was used for our calculations. Based on those calculations a number of conclusions was made. The labour demand factors have the most significant effect. Inertness and a traditional character of the kinds of employment in the informal economy of the individual Russian Federation regions is confirmed statistically. The size of the informal sector has a positive effect on people’s ambitions to become informal entrepreneurs. Personal income tax increases, the number of informal entrepreneurs being decreased. As the result, the informal sector expands and informal entrepreneurs pass to work in the formal economy. GDP growth per capita doesn’t stimulate people to be engaged in the informal economy but personal income growth does. Therefore, it might be supposed that individual entrepreneurship in Russia to a great extent free-will but not forced. Low qualified population work in the informal sector without registration as sole proprietors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Adom, K., Williams, C.: Evaluating the motives of informal entrepreneurs in Koforidua, Ghana. J. Dev. Entrepreneurship 17(1), 1250005 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Barsukova, S.Yu.: Essays on Informal Economy, or Sixteen Shades of Gray, 216 p. Higher School of Economics – National Research University, Moscow (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Blackburn, R., Kovalainen, A.: Researching small firms and entrepreneurship: past, present and future. Int. J. Manage. Rev. 11(2), 127–48 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Buehn, A., Schneider, F.: Shadow economies around the world: novel insights, accepted knowledge, and new estimates. Int. Tax Public Finance 19, 139–171 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Burov, V.U.: Shadow Activity of Small Business Entities, 296 p. Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Chepurenko, A.: Informal entrepreneurship and informal entrepreneurial activity in Russia. In: The Book: Entrepreneurship and the Shadow Economy, pp. 119–150 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  7. De Castro, J., Khavul, S., Bruton, G.: Shades of grey: how do informal firms navigate between macro and meso institutional environments? Strateg. Entrepreneurship J. 8(1), 75–94 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. De Soto, H.: The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World. Harper & Row, New York (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Elgin, C., Schneider, F.: Shadow economies in OECD countries: DGE vs. MIMIC approaches. Working Papers from Bogazici University, Department of Economics, vol. 13, p. 30 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Frith, K., McElwee, G.: The entrepreneurial wide boy: a modern morality tale. Int. J. Entrepreneurship Small Bus. 6(1), 80–93 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Gollin, D.: Nobody’s business but my own: self-employment and small enterprise in economic development. J. Monetary Econ. 55(2), 219–33 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. ILO: Decent Work and the Informal Economy. International Labor Office, Geneva (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  13. ILO. The Informal Economy and Decent Work: A Policy Resource Guide Supporting Transitions to Formality (2013). http://www.ilo.org/emppolicy/pubs/WCMS_212688/lang–en/index.htm

  14. Gimpelson, V.E., Kapeliushnikov, R.I. (eds.) In the Shadow of Regulation: Informality in the Russian Labor Market. Higher School of Economics – National Research University, Moscow, 536 pages (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Amorós, J.E., Couyoumdjian, J.P., Cristi, O., Minniti, M.: The bottom-up power of informal entrepreneurship. In: The Book: Entrepreneurship and the Shadow Economy, pp. 9–29 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Jütting, J.P., Laiglesia, J.R.: Employment, Poverty Reduction and Development: What’s new? In Is Informal Normal? Towards More and Better Jobs in Developing Countries. OECD, Paris (2009)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  17. Katungi, D., Neale, E., Barbour, A.: People in Low-Paid Informal Work: Need Not Greed. Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Loayza, N., Servén, L., Oviedo, A.M.: The impact of regulation on growth and informality: cross-country evidence. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3623. World Bank, Washington, DC (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Maloney, W.F.: Informality revisited. World Dev. 32(7), 1159–1178 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Nureev, R.M., Akhmadeev, D.R.: Formal and informal employment as ‘Twins Brothers’: modern Russian practice. TerraEconomicus 13(3), 16–33 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  21. On Approval of Methodological Provisions on Carrying out Sample Surveys of the Population on Problems of Employment (Labor Force Surveys): Decree of the Federal State Statistics Service at 21.12.2010, no. 452. http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_site/population/trud/untitled452-10.pdf

  22. Schneider, F., Enste, D.H.: Shadow economies: size, causes, and consequences. J. Econ. Lit. 38(1), 77–114 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Simutina, N.L., Leventov, N.N.: Estimation of the impact of the driving forces of the informal employment on its size in the Russian regions. Revista ESPACIOS, vol. 39, № 14, p. 32 (2018). ISSN 0798 1015

    Google Scholar 

  24. Survey of Population on Problems of Employment. Rosstat (2017). http://www.gks.ru/wps/wcm/connect/rosstat_main/rosstat/ru/statistics/publications/catalog/doc_1140097038766

  25. Titov, V.N.: Informal Economic Subsystem of Market Economy. M.: M-Studio, 456 pages (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Webb, J., Tihanyi, L., Ireland, D., Sirmon, D.: You say illegal, I say legitimate: entrepreneurship in the informal economy. Acad. Manag. Rev. 34(3), 492–510 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Williams, C., Nadin, S.: Entrepreneurship and the informal economy: an overview. J. Dev. Entrepreneurship 15(4), 361–378 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Williams, C.: Beyond necessity-driven versus opportunity-driven entrepreneurship: a study of informal entrepreneurs in England, Russia and Ukraine. Int. J. Entrepreneurship Innov. 9(3), 157–166 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Williams, C.: The Hidden Enterprise Culture: Entrepreneurship in the Underground Economy. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (2006)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  30. Yamada, G.: Urban informal employment and self-employment in developing countries: theory and evidence. Econ. Dev. Cult. Change 44(2), 289–314 (1996)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to N. L. Simutina .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Simutina, N.L., Leventov, N.N. (2019). Informal Business Activity in the Russian Federation: Keep Not Estimate. In: Solovev, D. (eds) Smart Technologies and Innovations in Design for Control of Technological Processes and Objects: Economy and Production. FarEastСon 2018. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 139. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18553-4_25

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics