Šedá ekonomika a měření její velikosti

This thesis is focused on the issue of the shadow economy and mainly handles a summary and comparison of statements from previous literature. Great emphasis is placed on comparing the various definitions of this concept and detailed description of the different causes and implications of the informal sector in the economy. Possible solutions to shadow economy issue are proposed in the text, but their realistic contribution during implementation is rather uncertain. Moreover, various methods of estimating the size of the shadow economy are covered along with a description of the advantages and disadvantages. In the empirical part of the work, based on existing estimates of the size of the gray economy in 156 countries of the world between 1972-2012, we confirm the assumption of a larger size of the informal sector in poor and developing countries, and shows a global downward trend.