This article attempts to scientifically comprehend the accumulated literature on the problems of the shadow economy. Particular attention is paid to considering how the shadow economy has become an independent scientific field in modern scientific literature. In particular, the author investigate the shadow economy and the development of methods for the scientific understanding of this phenomenon taking into account the chronological order, the key works that have the greatest impact on the recognition of the existence. The significance of the selected works in terms of their contribution to the understanding of the shadow economy is presented. Also the author analyse the key methods for measuring the scale of the shadow economy. At the end of the article, there is a conclusion that today the shadow economy has become an independent scientific field with its own research features.