ABSTRACT

Economic research on hidden economy in Hungary revealed an increasing tendency in the 80s, representing about 27% of the official GDP in 1992. Several macro economics and company level factors contributed to this trend, e.g. a new phase of the structural transformation followed the transformational recession, profound changes occurred in the organisational structure and adaptability of the Hungarian firms. Hidden economy – as defined in the beginning – had a decisive weight in Hungary in certain fields of consumption of households in the middle of the 90s. Indicative of this have been the surveys that analyzed, on the basis of three empirical surveys of households, the affinity of households to hidden economy and the weight of hidden economy in commerce and services. One of the necessary consequences and accompanying factors of economic transformation is the increase of the weight of the hidden economy, manifest at the start of the transformation.