Methodological approaches to the assessment of informal and shadow employment

The research relevance is determined by the increased risk of informality and the growth of the potential of shadow employment in Russia and its regions during the post-pandemic recovery of the labor market, which creates new challenges to the state employment policy. The authors of the article examine the differences between the definitions of employment in the informal sector, informal and shadow employment as objects of state policy. A critical review of a number of methodological approaches to the assessment of informal employment through the comparison of income and expenses, gross value added, econometric approaches using official statistics or the results of opinion polls is presented. The authors' methodological approaches to assessing the potential of shadow employment and determining targets for reducing the number of citizens in shadow employment for Russian regions are proposed. The results of the authors' research can be used as part of the implementation of the policy of labor formalization and legalization of labor relations in Russia and its regions to develop targets in the form of indicators for evaluating the effectiveness of the efforts of interdepartmental structures to combat shadow employment.

informal work, informal employment, shadow employment, methodological approaches