Informality versus shadow economy: reflecting on the first results of a manager’s survey in Kyrgyzstan

Polese A. Moisé G.M. Tokyzhanova T. Aguzzi T. Kerikmäe T. Sagynbaeva A. Sauka A. Seliverstova O.
2023 Routledge

Central Asian Survey
2023 #42 Issue 1 149 - 170 pp.

This article is the first attempt to apply Putnis and Saukas approach to direct measurement of the shadow economy through a survey of company managers in Central Asia. The results of the survey are used to calculate a shadow economy index for 2017 and 2018 in Kyrgyzstan, and to discuss the difference between direct and indirect methods in calculating the size of a shadow economy. We also propose a distinction between shadow economies and informality in general. While a shadow economy is usually understood to arise as a consequence of underreporting of income, we argue that informality is best understood as the aggregate of non-monetary and non-economic practices used in society. Applying this distinction to our case, we suggest that the origins of Kyrgyzstans shadow economy are not only economic; rather social and cultural processes have had significant effects. This has implications for policy responses that address shadow economic activities.

informality , Kyrgyzstan , shadow economy , survey

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School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Chair of Political Science and Political Technologies, Al Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Tallinn University, Institute of Social Studies, Tallinn, Estonia
University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
School of Business and Governance, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia
SIAR Research and Consulting, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Stockholm School of Economics, Riga, Latvia
Department of Law, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

School of Law and Government
Chair of Political Science and Political Technologies
Tallinn University
University of Tsukuba
School of Business and Governance
SIAR Research and Consulting
Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
Department of Law

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