Abstract
The paper is a summary of a few recent Austrian studies. Franz analysed official statistics for 1976, he estimated the volume of the hidden economy at AS 27 billion ( i.e. approximately 4 percent of the GDP). Mooslechner tried to use the monetary indicators for the same purpose. He failed because these data are too strongly influenced by changes in the financial system. The tax loss caused by the hidden economy in 1982 amounted, according to Lehner, to AS 18 billion (gross) and AS 13 billion (net). Neubauer has shown that the house-owners and moonlighters contribute about 40 percent of the value added of newly constructed family houses.
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Notes
The research was financed by the “Jubiläumsfonds” of the Austrian National Bank. The author of the paper was the leader of the project (No. 1937), the contributors are staff members of Austrian Central Statistical Office, the Austrian Institute for Economic Research, Vienna University of Business Administration and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce. They have carried out the research in their personal capacity; their conclusions are their personal views and not official opinion of the institution they are attached to. Studies carried out in the framework of the project were published in Skolka, J. (ed.): “Die andere Wirtschaft: Schwarzarbeit und Do-it-yourself in Österreich”, Signum Verlag, Vienna, 1984.
Probably the first definition of this criterion can be found in Reid: “If an activity is of such a character that it might be delegated to a paid worker, then that activity shall be deemed productive” (Reid, M.: “Economics of Household Production”, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1934; quoted from Goldschmidt-Clermont, L.: “Unpaid Work in the Household”, ILO, Geneva, 1982).
Blades, D.W., “The Hidden Economy”, OECD Economic Outlook, Occasional Studies, Paris, June 1982, pp. 28–45.
The terms formal and informal economy are used by Gershuny (see e.g. Gershuny, J., “The Informal Economy, its Role in Post-Industrial Society”, Futures, No. 1, 1979, pp. 3–15). The latter, however, overlaps with that for the “informal sector”, i.e. for small-scale economic activities of the poor in large cities in developing countries. See e.g. Sethuraman, S.V., (ed.), “The Urban Informal Sector in Developing Countries”, ILO, Geneva, 1981. The concept of the “informal economy” used in this paper is broader than that of Gershuny.
The best example is construction of family houses where the informal economy (do-it-yourself by the future house-owner) and moonlighting by bricklayers closely coexist. (See the paragraph on construction in this paper).
For industrial countries see e.g. Goldschmidt-Clermont, op.cit., for Austria see Simhandl, G., “Tagesablauf - Ergebnisse des Mikro-Zensus September 1981 - Ausgewählte Hauptergebnisse”, Statistische Nachrichten No. 9, 1982, pp. 487–493.
A prediction of such a trend can be found e.g. in Skolka, J.V., “Long-Term Effects of Labour Productivity Growth: On the Way to a Self-Service Society”, in Solari, L., Pasquier, J.N., (eds.), “Private and Enlarged Consumption: Essays in Methodology and Empirical Analysis”, North-Holland Publ. Co., Amsterdam, 1976, pp. 279–301
A prediction of such development on more general grounds is in Toffler, A., “The Third Wave”, W. Morrow Comp., New York, 1980.
The informal economy is classified into four categories, first into unpaid work either for “others”, i.e., voluntary work on the one hand, and for own household (self reliance) on the other hand. The work in own household is further subdivided into three elements. The production of goods in own household is called “do-it-yourself” or “production for own-use”, the production of services in own household is called the “household work”. Service activities outside the household which substitute similar market activities are called “self-service activities”.
A. Franz is head of the National Accounts Department of the Central Statistical Office of Austria. A report on his research was presented at the 18th General Conference of the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, held in Luxemburg from August 22 to 27, 1983.
See also his working papers: Franz, A., “Parallele Wirtschaft in Österreich - VGR-bezogene Schätzungen auf Basis amtlicher Statistiken”, Vienna, Feb. 1982 (manuscript), and the final version: Franz, A., “Schätzungen der ”hidden economy“ in Österreich auf der Basis offizieller Statistiken,” in Skolka, J. (1984), op.cit.
An independent survey (financed also by the Jubiläumsfonds of the Austrian National Bank as project No. 2021) gave an estimate of the total number of moonlighters in 1982 of about 470.000. The share of their work on total hours worked was about 1 1/2 percent. See Badelt: “Empirische Befunde zur parallelen Wirtschaft in Österreich” in Skolka J., 1984, op.cit.
See: Dilnot, A., Morris, C.N.: “What Do We Know About the Black Economy? ” Fiscal Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1981, pp. 58–73;
Macafee, K.: “A Glimpse of the Hidden Economy in the National Accounts of the United Kingdom”, Economic Trends, No. 316 (February 1980) pp. 81–87;
Smith, J.D, J.D.: “Omitted Product in the U.S. National Accounts: The Gray Economy”, 18th General IARIW Conference, Luxemburg, 1983;
Isachsen, A.J., Strom, S, S.: “The Size and the Growth of the Hidden Economy in Norway”, 18th General IARIW Conference, Luxemburg, 1983.
Weck-Hannemann, H., Frey, B.S.: “Measuring the Shadow Economy: The Case of Switzerland”, Conference on “The Economics of the Shadow Economy”, Bielefeld, October 10–14, 1983 (this paper is included in this volume).
P. Mooslechner is a staff member of the Austrian Institute for Economic Research, Vienna. See “Der monetäre Ansatz zur parallelen Wirtschaft”, Wirtschaftspolitische Blätter, Nr. 4, 1983, pp. 121–132, and: “Der monetäre Ansatz zur Schattenwirtschaft” in Skolka J. (1984), op.cit.
H. Neubauer is staff member of the Research Institute for Small Business Research (Institut für Gewerbeforschung) at the Vienna University of Business Administration. See “Schwarzarbeit und Eigenleistungen in der österreichischen Bauwirtschaft” in Skolka, J. (1984), op.cit.
The first source is a survey carried out by the Research Institute of the Construction Industry. The sample included all family houses built in 1968 in Vorarlberg (in the west of Austria) and Burgenland (in the east) and one third of family houses built in Upper Austria. The second source is a 1980 survey by the construction materials industry for a sample of 1.500 family houses.
M. Schneider is a staff member of the Austrian Institute for Economic Research; see “Eigenleistungen in der Land-und Forstwirtschaft”, in Skolka, J. (1984), op.cit.
“Österreichs Volkseinkommen 1981”, Österreichisches Statistisches Zentralamt, Vienna, 1982, pp. 14 and 153.
An excellent appraisal of various valuation methods is in GoldschmidtClermont, L., op.cit.
Neubauer, H., (1984), op.cit.
G. Lehner is a staff member of the Austrian Institute for Economic Research. See “Die Schattenwirtschaft und der öffentliche Sektor” in Skolka, J. (1984), op.cit.
Peacock, A., Shaw, G.K.: “Tax Evasion and Tax Revenue Loss”, in Public Finance, No. 2, 1982, pp. 269–278.
Skolka, J., (1976), op.cit.
Skolka, J., “The Expansion of the Public Sector in Sweden”, in Haveman, F.H., (ed.), “Public Finance and Public Employment”, Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 1982, pp. 117–127.
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Skolka, J. (1985). The Parallel Economy in Austria. In: Gaertner, W., Wenig, A. (eds) The Economics of the Shadow Economy. Studies in Contemporary Economics, vol 15. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88408-5_5
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