The research activities designed for the purpose of this project are fundamental and involve the application of modern and proven methods and research techniques. In order for the objectives of the project to be achieved a series of research activities are planned. Those activities are relatively independent, but will be coherent in nature and bound by rigorous research logic.
Subject of the study are factors and reasons determining and explaining the existence of the shadow economy in Bulgarian society, as well as the relevant approaches to its limitation.
Object of the study are the shady business practices and their presence and impact on the lifestyle and the mentality of the contemporary Bulgarians as well as the typical behavioural patterns within which different generations in the Bulgarian society resort to the illegitimate shady business practices.
In accordance with the above defined objectives of the project and the ensuing subject and object of study, the project team will apply appropriate research methods and techniques, so as adequate and reliable empirical data to be collected. Afterwards, on the basis of the empirical data the projected analysis and the development of relevant interpretative models will be performed.
For the purposes of the project two types of data will be gathered and analyzed – primary and secondary. Data will be gathered from the following sources of information:
First – a secondary analysis of existing paradigms and methodological approaches to empirical study of the shadow economy: Documentary and methodological sources of European and Bulgarian origin will be explored and analyzed through desk-research.
Second, the population (15 years old +) in Bulgaria: in the context of the goals and objectives of the project, this source of information is the most important and is thus prioritized. The information will be collected through quantitative methods (face-to-face interview with a questionnaire). Previous studies of the shadow economy show that different types of shady economic practices are performed by people of all ages, ranging from adolescents aged 15 to the most advanced age at which people are able to carry out economic activities.
Third, experts – leading Bulgarian researchers in the field of the informal economy and the shadow economy: this source of information is necessary for the refinement of the core assumptions of the conceptual model of the project and it will have key methodological significance for the construction of research tools and for collecting information from the population. The data collected from this source is primary. The data will be collected by means of the in-depth interview method.
Fourth, representatives of trade unions and employers’ organizations in Bulgaria. The information is to be gathered by the method of expert evaluations.