PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT IN THE SHADOW ECONOMY OF UKRAINE

Abstract

Purpose. The goal of the article is to identify the psychological factors of career development in the shadow economy of Ukraine. For this purpose, the attitudes of students of Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics (KNUTE) to the problem of fictitious entrepreneurship and tax evasion were studied.

Methods. We conducted two experiments with KNUTE students using imaginary situations. In general, the imaginary situation was about a delinquent entrepreneur who sells goods. The entrepreneur exceeds the annual income and therefore opens a sales outlet for a fictitious person to avoid paying taxes. There were nine imaginary situations in total: a delinquent entrepreneur (zero framing), as well as other delinquent entrepreneurs such as a mother of three children, a father of three children, a foreigner, a student, a KNUTE student, a foreign student, a graduate, a KNUTE graduate. The first experiment was aimed at determining the willingness to punish or not punish the delinquent entrepreneur for tax evasion.

The second experiment was carried out simultaneously on a different sample, and there were seven imaginary situations: a delinquent entrepreneur (zero framing) as well as other delinquent entrepreneurs including a mother of three children, a father of three children, a foreigner, a student, a KNUTE student, and a foreign student. In addition to framing with a delinquent entrepreneur, three perspectives were analyzed: neutral perspective, first perspective, third perspective (tax officer). Each student received one imaginary situation and three perspectives to it, which influenced the decision about a delinquent entrepreneur. The second experiment was aimed at determining the willingness to punish or not punish the delinquent entrepreneur for tax evasion as moderated by neutral, first, and third perspectives.

Experiments were conducted online at SurveyMonkey at the end of 2019. Participation was anonymous, voluntary, and free of charge. For statistical data processing, we used the Mann-Whitney test, the Kruskal- Wallis test, and the Friedman test.

Results. The following facts were revealed: 1) Regardless of imaginary situations, students with business experience are less likely to punish delinquent entrepreneurs for tax evasion than students without such experience. We believe that this is related to profit motivation; 2) regardless of imaginary situations, law students are more likely to punish delinquent entrepreneurs for tax evasion than trade students as well as non-trade and non-law students. We believe that this is related to legal awareness of KNUTE law students; 3) non-trade and non-law students are more likely to punish a delinquent foreign entrepreneur than a delinquent entrepreneur who is a mother of three children in an imaginary situation of tax evasion. The result may be explained by empathy towards the entrepreneur-mother of three children. Furthermore, law students did not show empathy for the entrepreneur-mother of three children. This is associated with legal awareness; 4) the effect of neutral, first, and third perspectives moderate the decision to punish or not punish a delinquent entrepreneur in an imaginary situation of tax evasion.

Findings. Upon summarizing the results, we found that the acquisition of entrepreneurial experience and the manifestation of empathy are likely factors underlying a tolerant attitude towards tax evasion. Legal awareness is an opposite factor. Changing the perspective is a frame that adapts to any audience and can potentially be used to change different career decisions.