Shadow sector of national economy (problems and peculiarities)

The formal and informal sectors of national economy are characterized in the article. The tools, which regulate the system of economic relations, affecting basic economic indicators, key of which is a level of real output, are considered. The paper concentrates on the problems of the national economy performance in the context of shadow sector development and corruption component. The general causes of the shadow economy occurrence and specific causes, typical for Russia (including peculiarities of denationalization and privatization) are examined. Special attention is given to the corruption component, which acquired in recent years a significant scale. The notion “corruption rent” as a consequence of corruption practices is considered. The cause of its occurrence, related with the ownership of scarce resources and as a result the formation of monopoly rent, is explained. The essence of system corruption, caused by the conditions of closed monopoly, secured by various legal barriers and standard regulations, is revealed. The chosen approach is based on the situation studied in economics when natural resources are used and economic rent is created. The term “creeping” corruption, which reflects spreading of this phenomenon to all types of economic activity and the economy sector, is used in the paper. The scheme which contains comparative evaluation of formal and informal economy sectors with singling out the shadow economy is developed. The place of corruption component in relation to the mentioned sectors is determined. The list of features, identifying the “status” of corruption component (including the use of undervalued assets; submit and get profitable state and municipal contracts) is formed. Besides, the formal economy functions according to formal rules inside the formal institutional frames. The informal economy functions outside the formal institutional frames, as well as the shadow economy. At the same time the corruption component functions inside and outside the formal institutional frames, and consequently, projects to all types of economic activity.