A Discursive Contextualisation of Hustling in Nigerian Hip-Hop

One of the endearing qualities of the Hip-Hop genre is its penchant for crass materialism where artistes lyrically brag about their successes while unabashedly flaunting the ostentatious proceeds of their newfound fame. This resonates with the contemporary constructs of individualism and self-realisation in line with social expectations. However, beyond the photo ops, these artistes indeed go the extra mile in achieving success. In this article, the portraiture of hustling, which indexes survival in any form, is explored. Fifteen purposively selected songs by Nigerian Hip-Hop artistes constitute the data. For one, many of the popular Hip-Hoppers defied the stranglehold of poverty before recording personal successes. They thus reference the street as a domain of hustling and recount their experiences. Different contextual or social orientations of hustling in Nigeria are discursively constructed by the artists. It is framed as a prerequisite for achieving success (regardless of how!); as a necessity to meet familial responsibility; and as combat with perceived enemies. Additionally, Nigerian Hip-Hop artistes annex hustling as a psychological/mental activity as well as a metaphor for God’s blessings. The study concludes that hustling typifies the underground economy and the almost limitless extent to which Nigerian Hip-Hoppers work for their successes.

Can the AD-AS Model Explain the Presence and Persistence of the Underground Economy? Evidence from Italy

The underground economy crucially affects growth and unemployment in both developed and developing countries. Nevertheless, this widespread phenomenon does not appear in the basic model for macroeconomic analysis, namely the Aggregate Demand-Aggregate Supply (or simply AD-AS) model. Therefore, this paper introduces–for the first time, to the best of our knowledge–the underground sector of the economy into the popular AD-AS model, with the aim of increasing its descriptive power. Indeed, the present theoretical extension of the AD-AS model shows that the underground economy –despite its negative effects on aggregate demand and growth– can trigger a supply-side positive shock that mitigates, at least in the short run, the problem of high unemployment. Empirical evidence from Italy is also provided.

Investigating if the Financial Markets Performance Affects the Shadow Economy: Additional Evidence From EU Countries

The shadow economy also known as the informal or unobserved or underground economy, is a phenomenon that affects not only emerging markets and developing countries but also advanced economies. In general, this undeclared economic activity is hard to measure given its hidden nature in addition to its relation with unlawful activities. Nevertheless, apart from the legal aspects that may appear, shadow economy has negative implications in terms of tax revenue and social security contributions for the nations. To this end, an extensive literature has explored the measurement issues as well as the root causes of this phenomenon proving that the underground economy constitutes a significant portion of the overall economy in a number of countries. This paper tries to investigate the relationship between the shadow economy and the financial markets. This paper employs a number of panel data regression models to detect the association between the financial market metrics and the shadow economy (as a% of GDP). The outcome of this paper is that it finds evidence that increased market capitalization, GDP per capita and FDI as well as low unemployment and inflation rates contribute to low levels of shadow economy. This can be of value to policy makers and the competent authorities of the countries that wish to find means to contain their shadow economy.

THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES ON TAX EVASION

Measurement of an economic indicator or phenomenon starts by defining it first and determining its components. Tax evasion as a component of the underground economy is a phenomenon that is hard to be observed and estimated because of its hidden nature. To be able to compare the figures for tax evasion from different countries, there is the need for a definition internationally accepted. This paper aims to make a literature review on the phenomenon and to find a definition that is widely accepted. In this area, not only the literature review is important but also the legislation from different countries. We will look closely at the definition of tax evasion given by the legislation of different countries from the EU and the USA. In the literature, there are several methods to estimate the underground economy. There are direct methods (questionnaire), indirect methods (indicator methods), and statistical methods (MIMIC), but all of them have their shortcomings. In the paper, all the shortcomings of each method used in the present are discussed to estimate the underground economy. As a conclusion, we can state that at the present moment there is not a definition internationally accepted for the underground economy, making it hard to estimate and to compare the results from different countries. In addition, the methods used to estimate the phenomenon have advantages and disadvantages. None of the methods is better than the other. When estimating the underground economy, it is advised to use more than one method. At this moment it is safe to say that the link between theory and empirical estimation is still unsatisfactory. Keywords: tax evasion, underground economy

The spectre of rootless urban youth (bayaaye) in Kulyennyingi, a novel of Amin-era Uganda

Bayaaye is a Luganda word meaning ‘hooligans’ used since the 1970s to both disparage Ugandan urban youth and celebrate their streetwise resourcefulness. The original so-called bayaaye were youth, often fresh from the countryside, who worked as street hustlers in the 1970s underground economy. This article focuses on how one Ugandan intellectual, M. B. Nsimbi, in his Luganda-language novel about the Idi Amin era, Kulyennyingi (1984), diagnosed the rise of the bayaaye as a national moral pathology. I discuss how this novel relates to earlier Luganda literary works, which advocated an idealized precolonial, rural African tradition as a moral reference point for modern living. A recent revised discourse about urban youth as ‘bayaaye’ or ‘ghetto’, accompanying the political rise of reggae star Bobi Wine, is considered in light of the earlier history of the bayaaye stereotype.

The portrait of the underground economy and tax evasion: Descriptive analysis from border region

Underground economic activity is a phenomenon that requires special and continuous treatment. This phenomenon is counterproductive to local revenues and is related to corrupt practices and tax evasion. The research was conducted in Bengkayang Regency, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. The qualitative phenomenological method was carried out by interviewing underground economic actors such as liquor producers, "pangku" coffee shops, and street vendors. The findings indicate that corruption activities in the form of collecting bribes and offering bribes are carried out in cash without going through a legal transaction mechanism. The underground economy practices tax evasion, does business without a permit, pays substandard wages, and does not protect workers with insurance. The underground economic activity will contribute to an increase in the circulation of money in society, but do not take into account the regional economy. Such situations call for massive supervision of individuals and the introduction of pentahelix elements to form synergies between actors and to begin to integrate and develop digital structures in every financial activity using e-government systems.JEL Classification D73; E26; O17

Effects of Corruption and the Black Economy on Economic Growth in the CFA Franc Zone Countries

We conducted this study to empirically analyse the effects of corruption and the underground economy on economic growth in the case of the CFA franc zone countries over the period 2000-2016. To do so, we have carried out econometric estimations using panel data. Our empirical results obtained by the PMG (Pooled Mean Group) method confirm a negative relationship between economic growth and the underground economy in the short and long term. However, the long-run effect of corruption on economic growth is positive, while this effect becomes negative in the short run. The results could provide insight into different ways of fighting corruption and the shadow economy.

MANAGEMENT OF THE INCOME AND BUSINESS ACTIVITY OF THE POPULATION IN THE CONTEXT OF DE-SHADOWING THE ECONOMY OF UKRAINE

The shadowing of the economy is a significant obstacle on the way to stable economic development and the reason for deteriorating investment climate and imbalance of economic incentives in the national economy of Ukraine. The aim of the article is to determine the factors of shadowing and de-shadowing of Ukraine’s economy in the areas of household income and business and investment activity of the population, as well as justification of measures to de-shadow economic processes in Ukraine. On the basis the calculation of the Fechner correlation coefficient, the relationship between the level of the shadow economy of Ukraine and indicators of household income and indicators of small and medium-sized business development was revealed. Іn the sphere of household income factors determining level of the black economy are as follows: increacing in disposable income per capita (the correlation coefficient -0,75), the change in the wage share in househol incomes (the correlation coefficient -0,75), the level of social payments (the correlation coefficient +0,5) and employment (the correlation coefficient +0,75). In the field of entrepreneurship the most sagnificant factors determining level of the underground economy are change in the volume of sales of small and medium-sized businesses (the correlation coefficient -0,75) as well as change of financial result of small enterprises (functional inverse relationship). It is necessary to increase the incomes of the population, stimulate their investment and entrepreneurial activity, in particular, liberalize tax policy for small and medium-sized businesses in order to reduce the level of the underground economy of Ukraine. Special attention should be paid to the development of small businesses, in particular, to changing approaches to regulatory policy in the field of small businesses, to simplify organizational procedures related to doing business as much as possible and ensure the availability of credit. Keywords: underground economy, tax policy, small businesses, medium-sized businesses, entrepreneurial activity. JEL Classification O17, H25, D31 Formulas: 1; fig.: 9; tabl.: 8; bibl.: 21.