HIDDEN ECONOMY
| SPAIN |
| ECONOMIA SUMERGIDA HIDDEN ECONOMY |
Sector of the economy which eludes administrative control and inclusion in official statistics; also known as the economía irregular (irregular economy), economía oculta (concealed economy) or economía informal (informal economy). Its essential motivation is to evade taxation and social security charges. It is calculated that as a proportion of the entire economy Spain's hidden (or "black") economy accounts for 20-25 per cent. of GDP; it is concentrated in the agriculture, service and consumer goods sectors; and it is particularly characteristic of work/production units with low levels of capitalization. It is encouraged by the relative inflexibility of the institutional framework and massive unemployment. Its parallel in the labour field is hidden, irregular or undeclared employment , which usually concerns the weakest group of workers, contributes to segmentation of the labour market, and is characterized by insecurity of employment, poor working conditions and little or no unionization.
Please note: the European industrial relations glossaries were compiled between 1991 and 2003 and are not updated. For current material see the European industrial relations dictionary.