ABSTRACT To evaluate the prevalence and impacts of the illegitimate wage practice where employers pay formal employees both a declared wage and an additional undeclared 'envelope wage', a survey involving 10,171 interviews across 10 East–Central European nations is reported to evaluate its commonality and evidence from 313 interviews conducted in Moscow to analyse its impacts. Finding that 10% of employees were paid envelope wages during 2007 amounting on average to two-fifths of their gross wage, and that this ...
