IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v160y2019i1d10.1007_s10551-018-3878-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Righteous Undocumented Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Lee A. Swanson

    (University of Saskatchewan)

  • Vincent Bruni-Bossio

    (University of Saskatchewan)

Abstract

The academic literature commonly exposes large components of informal economies housed in developed countries as nefarious systems designed to help people evade taxes or carry on other illegal activities. However, our community-based participatory action study uncovered a significant element of a social and economic system that was largely undocumented, but was viewed as far more righteous than dishonorable and immoral. Our research involved approximately 375 participants from seven communities spread across a large and sparsely populated geographic region in the northern part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The purpose for the research was to explore how entrepreneurship contributes to the good life, well-being, and prosperity by building social and economic capacity across a rural business ecosystem. We found that an important, yet undocumented part of the business ecosystem was grounded in history, culture, and tradition. When considered through a legitimacy theory lens, this perspective challenges the implication drawn from some of the academic literature that those who participate in informal business systems in developed countries usually do so for immoral reasons that might warrant a legal penalty. Further, we propose that researchers, policy makers, and community development professionals use the term undocumented economy rather than expressions like informal, hidden and underground economy to distinguish components of economic systems based on righteous motivations and activities from those founded on iniquitous practices and non-existent or unofficial record keeping. We begin this article with a definition for the undocumented economy in which we describe why we consider it to be righteous.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee A. Swanson & Vincent Bruni-Bossio, 2019. "A Righteous Undocumented Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 225-237, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:160:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-018-3878-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-3878-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-018-3878-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-018-3878-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Feige, Edgar L., 2015. "Reflections on the meaning and measurement of Unobserved Economies: What do we really know about the “Shadow Economy”?," MPRA Paper 68466, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Oliver Reimers, 2015. "Tax Evasion and the Shadow Economy," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(04), pages 61-62, January.
    3. Martha Alter Chen, 2007. "Rethinking the Informal Economy: Linkages with the Formal Economy and the Formal Regulatory Environment," Working Papers 46, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.
    4. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2014. "Why Do Developing Countries Tax So Little?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 99-120, Fall.
    5. Hans-Georg Petersen & Ulrich Thiessen & Pierre Wohlleben, 2010. "Shadow Economy, Tax Evasion, and Transfer Fraud - Definition, Measurement, and Data Problems," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 421-441.
    6. Gabriel Eweje, 2006. "Environmental Costs and Responsibilities Resulting from Oil Exploitation in Developing Countries: The Case of the Niger Delta of Nigeria," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 69(1), pages 27-56, November.
    7. Oliver Reimers, 2015. "Tax Evasion and the Shadow Economy," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 12(4), pages 61-62, 01.
    8. Friederike Welter & David Smallbone & Anna Pobol, 2015. "Entrepreneurial activity in the informal economy: a missing piece of the entrepreneurship jigsaw puzzle," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(5-6), pages 292-306, June.
    9. Asit Bhattacharyya, 2014. "Managerial attitude and support for social responsibility through the lens of legitimacy theory – a cross country comparison," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(4), pages 716-736, September.
    10. Bernard Fortin & Guy Lacroix & Dominique Pinard, 2010. "Evaluation of the Underground Economy in Quebec: A Microeconomic Approach," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 463-479.
    11. Friedrich Schneider & Andreas Buehn & Claudio Montenegro, 2010. "New Estimates for the Shadow Economies all over the World," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 443-461.
    12. Rolf Mirus & Roger S. Smith & Vladimir Karoleff, 1994. "Canada's Underground Economy Revisited: Update and Critique," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 20(3), pages 235-252, September.
    13. Maurizio Bovi & Roberto Dell’Anno, 2010. "The changing nature of the OECD shadow economy," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 19-48, January.
    14. repec:ces:ifodic:v:12:y:2015:i:4:p:19149998 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Esther Salvi & Frank-Martin Belz & Sophie Bacq, 2023. "Informal Entrepreneurship: An Integrative Review and Future Research Agenda," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 265-303, March.
    2. Bacq, Sophie & Hertel, Christina & Lumpkin, G.T., 2022. "Communities at the nexus of entrepreneurship and societal impact: A cross-disciplinary literature review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Feige, Edgar L., 2015. "Reflections on the meaning and measurement of Unobserved Economies: What do we really know about the “Shadow Economy”?," MPRA Paper 68466, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Omodero Cordelia Onyinyechi, 2019. "The Financial and Economic Implications of Underground Economy: The Nigerian Perspective," Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 155-167, July.
    3. Mai Hassan & Friedrich Schneider, 2016. "Modelling the Egyptian Shadow Economy: A Currency Demand and A MIMIC Model Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 5727, CESifo.
    4. Fredström, Ashkan & Peltonen, Juhana & Wincent, Joakim, 2021. "A country-level institutional perspective on entrepreneurship productivity: The effects of informal economy and regulation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    5. Borlea Sorin Nicolae & Achim Monica Violeta & Miron Monica Gabriela A., 2017. "Corruption, Shadow Economy and Economic Growth: An Empirical Survey Across the European Union Countries," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 27(2), pages 19-32, June.
    6. Hans-Georg Petersen & Ulrich Thiessen, 2010. "Editors' Introduction: Shadow Economy in High Income Countries - Much Ado about Nothing?," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 413-419.
    7. Psychoyios, Dimitrios & Missiou, Olympia & Dergiades, Theologos, 2021. "Energy based estimation of the shadow economy: The role of governance quality," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 797-808.
    8. Philippe Adair, 2017. "Non-Observed Economy vs. the Shadow Economy in the EU: The Accuracy of Measurements Methods and Estimates revisited," Post-Print hal-01683929, HAL.
    9. Manamba EPAPHRA & Moga Tano JILENGA, 2017. "Currency Demand, the Subterranean Economy and Tax Evasion: The Case of Tanzania," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 187-211, June.
    10. Benkraiem, Ramzi & Uyar, Ali & Kilic, Merve & Schneider, Friedrich, 2021. "Ethical behavior, auditing strength, and tax evasion: A worldwide perspective," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    11. Ienovan Alexandra Ana, 2018. "Corruption And The Underground Economy In Eu Countries," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 6, pages 190-196, December.
    12. Ligita Gasparėnienė & Rita Remeikienė & Colin C. Williams, 2022. "Unemployment and the Informal Economy," SpringerBriefs in Economics, Springer, number 978-3-030-96687-4, June.
    13. Friedrich Schneider & Mangirdas Morkunas & Erika Quendler, 2021. "Measuring the Immeasurable: The Evolution of the Size of Informal Economy in the Agricultural Sector in the EU-15 up to 2019," CESifo Working Paper Series 8937, CESifo.
    14. Faeyz M. J. Abuamria, 2019. "The Effect of Deterrence Factors on Discourage Shadow Economy Level and Tax Evasion," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 9(1), pages 65-70, January.
    15. Uyar, Ali & Bani-Mustafa, Ahmed & Nimer, Khalil & Schneider, Friedrich & Hasnaoui, Amir, 2021. "Does innovation capacity reduce tax evasion? Moderating effect of intellectual property rights," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    16. Shteryo Nozharov & Petya Koralova – Nozharova, 2018. "Transaction Costs and Institutional Change of Trade Litigations in Bulgaria," Nauchni trudove, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 3, pages 123-133, July.
    17. Yilmaz Bayar & Omer Faruk Ozturk, 2016. "Financial Development and Shadow Economy in European Union Transition Economies," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 14(2 (Summer), pages 157-173.
    18. Nasr G. Elbahnasawy & Michael A. Ellis, 2016. "Economic Structure And Seigniorage: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 940-965, April.
    19. Anastasiou Athanasios & Kalamara Eleni & Kalligosfyris Charalampos, 2020. "Estimation of the size of tax evasion in Greece," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 97-107.
    20. Ceyhun Elgin & M. ayhan Köse & Franziska Ohnsorge & Shu Yu, 2021. "Understanding Informality Abstract:," Working Papers 2021/03, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:160:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1007_s10551-018-3878-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.