The Impact of Illegal Migration on Regional Labor Markets in Russia

Abstract

The article reveals the problems of the impact of illegal migration on regional labor markets, and the increase in shadow employment, which have a negative impact on the economy of the regions. The paper analyzes negative factors and aspects of illegal migration. The authors present and analyze official statistical data on the number of offenses committed by foreign migrants, on shadow employment in the country, as well as research data from the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences concerning the frequency of manifestations of propensity to illegal activities and the involvement of workers in the shadow labor market in Russia. The shadow sector of the economy is very attractive for the economically active population, which is replenished every year with new groups of the most active, young participants in economic activity as they grow up and enter working age, as a result of a conscious strategy of enterprising people who do not want to pay the state a significant part of their income in the form of taxes and social contributions, as well as employees who are partially or fully employed in the shadow sector of the economy, part of which are migrant workers. The object of the research is the regional labor market on the example of the Sverdlovsk region, and the subject is the nature of the impact of illegal migration of foreign citizens and Russians living in other regions, coming to the region and carrying out illegal business and labor activities. The study presents a typology of illegal migration, the criterion of which is the nature of its impact on the regional labor market. The article analyzes the reasons for the reproduction of the shadow economy, the increase in the number of economic entities operating in the shadow sector, the accession of new types of economic activities to it, which contributes to an increase in capital turnover in it and negatively affects the national security of Russia. The paper considers negative trends in the social and labor sphere in connection with labor migration, factors contributing to the growth of the shadow sector, and assesses the impact of illegal migration on regional labor markets. The authors propose a set of measures implemented within the framework of the state strategy to combat the shadow economy, aimed at minimizing illegal migration, shadow and development of the official labor market, both at the regional and federal levels.