Underground Economy - A Parameter of Social Influence During the COVID-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of this research is to present a perspective on the cases of underground economy that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact they had on the general population, and the interventions that were implemented.

METHODS:

The collection of data related to the cases of underground economy, during the pandemic, was carried out by electronic recording of calls, from the Call Center (11110) of Attiki Region (Greece) Operations Center and the Athens Medical Association. Analysis of the individual phone calls followed. In 2020 and 2021, 159,656 calls were recorded. Of them, 115,622 (72.4%) were made in 2020 and 44,034 (27.6%) were made in 2021.

RESULTS:

A total of 1592 cases of underground economy were recorded. 35.6% of them were related to masks, 31.7% to general products and 27.9% to antiseptics. The underground economy cases during the pandemic were that extreme that the price of personal protective equipment was increased by 3000%. More specifically, regarding masks, antiseptics and gloves, the majority of cases of underground economy occurred at pharmacies, with the rates being 45.3%, 45.7% and 39.0% respectively. Regarding general products, 33.9% of underground economy incidents took place in supermarkets and 51.8% elsewhere. Apart from the cases of underground economy there were also cases of goods with false certification.

CONCLUSIONS:

The coronavirus and the measures adopted to deal with it, created the essential conditions for the emergence of underground economy. This study hopes to contribute to the reduction of underground economy, which was recorded during the first waves of the COVID- 19 pandemic.