1 Impact of COVID-19 crisis on informality in Argentina: a qualitative approach

FLORENCIA PEDRONI; ANAHÍ BRIOZZO; GABRIELA PESCE

Londres

Congreso; 7th Shadow Conference: The Shadow Economy, Tax Behaviour and Institutions; 2021

We analyse the impact of COVID-19 crisis on economic-financial situation and informality ofArgentine micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), based on the perception of commercialentrepreneurs and certified public accountants (CPAs) from Bahía Blanca city (Argentina). Using primary datacollected through semi-structured interviews, we perform a qualitative content analysis, combining theory-driven and data-driven coding. Our findings show that the variation in sales level mainly depends on the firmeconomic sector and its integration in the supply chain, although this is also affected by macroeconomicvariables. The main difficulties faced by firms are liquidity and financing, even considering access to public aidmeasures. Moreover, we document a drop in average tax compliance. With the exception of widespread use ofelectronic payment methods, the results suggest an increase in both income underreporting and the number ofunregistered firms, supporting countercyclical behaviour of informal sector during the crisis.