Underground economy: definition and causes

Abstract

There are increased numbers of research articles postulating or discussing the similar terminology for the concept of “Underground Economy”. Such attempt has shown that this elusive social economy is worth to study empirically. Despite its numerous research studies, there is presently no single or universally agreed definition for “underground economy”. Different camps of scholars and researchers have conceptualised this terminology with various definitions according to their respective study purposes. In this paper, we focus on a holism definition of underground economy initiated from the taxonomy and factors of determine. It is intended that this paper would advance the understanding of the definition and causes of underground economy via empirical review of research articles. This attempt also reduces scepticism and misperception about underground economy endeavours thus providing a better insight with the most holism definition for this controversial paradigm.