No. 75: Informal Economy

Author(s): Hrant Mikaelian, Farid Guliyev, Philippe Rudaz
Editor(s): Denis Dafflon, Lili Di Puppo, Iris Kempe, Natia Mestvirishvili, Matthias Neumann, Robert Orttung, Jeronim Perovic, Heiko Pleines
Series: Caucasus Analytical Digest (CAD)
Issue: 75
Publisher(s): Center for Security Studies (CSS), ETH Zurich; Research Centre for East European Studies, University of Bremen; Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University
Publication Year: 2015

This issue of the Caucasus Analytical Digest discusses the current state of the informal sector in the three South Caucasus countries. In the article about Georgia, Philippe Rudaz points out that self-employed entrepreneurs and micro enterprises share some characteristics typical of firms active in the informal sector. Facilitating business registration through tax incentives is therefore not sufficient. In Azerbaijan, Farid Guliyev estimates the scale and composition of the informal economy focusing on the extent and structure of informal employment. His analysis shows that informal economic activity makes up a considerable part of the country's GDP and that the share of informal employment is very high. In Armenia, Hrant Mikaelian considers several indirect methods to estimate the size of the informal sector. His article shows that informality is still prevalent among large businesses and SMEs and that it is a form of employment.

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