Informal Employment and Quality of Life in Rural Areas of Ukraine

Abstract

Informal economy is rather difficult to define and demarcate in the methodological context. International Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2003 adopted a set of guidelines regarding definition of statistical categories of informal employment. These include for example employed unregistered own-account workers, contributing family workers, persons who work based on oral agreement, etc. Informal economy is a contentious topic in many developing countries as it brings about many elements that from several aspects adversely affect the development. The most commonly stressed are the fiscal implications (associated with tax revenue loss) and some social concerns. However, in some parts of the world informal sector went from being considered as a negative occurrence to be tolerated as a partial solution to some of the challenges that hinder development of rural regions and communities. The aim of the paper is to determine the relationship between informal economy and level of development and quality of life in Ukrainian regions. The paper examines the role of informal economy in regional structure of Ukraine, while confronting the findings with regional divergence in relevant indicators of development and quality of life. There are statistically significant differences in the size of the informal employment among different types of Ukrainian regions (by rural-urban typology). With increasing share of informal employment in the regions, the income level of households decreases significantly even when we take into consideration the level of unemployment.

The Contemporary Situation and Preferences of the Ukrainian Rural Family

“…At the present time, both countries have very different levels of unemployment which results in temporary or permanent outmigration. Chreneková et al (2016) reveal a high level of informal employment, which is relatively high in the poorest Ukrainian rural regions in the West and South. These facts impact upon the family situation.…”

Upward Transition of Indian Entrepreneurs: from Simple Working to Ethnic Entrepreneurship. A Case Study in an Italian Region

“…Moreover, in agricultural sector, high rates of informality may be found. But, differently from other cases, where informality may represent an opportunity (Chreneková et al, 2016), here informality is linked to illegality, with foreign workers obliged to operate in difficult conditions (Barbieri et al, 2015;Low and Davenport, 2018;Anderson et al, 2006). Recent episodes in the province under study have shed a light on the phenomenon of illegal hiring of workers, well known as "caporalato".…”

Measuring efficiency by using selected determinants in regional SMEs

“…Undoubtedly, we can say that these forms of businesses are an important element of the market that cannot be replaced by large companies due to their robustness (Anyakoha, 2019;Chunling, 2019;Hudáková & Masár, 2018). SMEs form the basis of a market economy, employment, added value or international trade, and are a prerequisite for stable growth of the global economy (Zauskova, Reznickova, 2020;Cooper, 2017;Peracek, et al, 2017;Chrenekova et al, 2016;Csikosova, Culkova, 2012). They are a strategic source of jobs that create entrepreneurship, especially at regional level and contribute to innovation in the EU, therefore the most important entities promoting competitiveness, employment and business efficiency (Harabi, 2005;Kordos, 2018;Poór et al, 2020;Dvorský et al, 2020).…”