How Participating in the Shadow Economy Affects the Growth of Latvian Firms

This paper examines the relationship between the growth of Latvian firms and their involvement in the shadow economy in 2015. When up to 10% of the overall economic activity of firms is in the shadow economy, this had a growth-enhancing effect on firms that recorded non-positive growth during the last five years. Using the perceptions of corruption and interview languages as instruments of measuring the shadow economy participation rate, the authors conclude that there is a positive relationship between perceptions of corruption and the shadow economy participation rate