Evaluating the Prevalence and Distribution of Unregistered Employment in Kosovo: Lessons from a 2017 Survey

Despite the growing recognition that unregistered employment remains a common problem both in South-East Europe and well beyond, there has been little evidence available on its prevalence and distribution. This paper contributes to filling the gap, by utilising data from a 2017 large scale national representative survey of 8,533 households in Kosovo. This reveals that 34.6% of all employees are engaged in unregistered employment (i.e., they have no employment contract). A Probit regression analysis reveals significant associations between unregistered employment and individual, household, employer and job-related characteristics. Unregistered employment is significantly more prevalent among men, younger people, single, widowed or divorced, those with fewer years in education, living in rural areas and in larger households. It is also significantly more prevalent among those working in construction and services, part-time employees, with shorter employment durations, lower wages, and those in elementary occupations and craft and related trades. The wider theoretical and policy implications are then discussed.