IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/intecj/v24y2010i4p421-441.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shadow Economy, Tax Evasion, and Transfer Fraud - Definition, Measurement, and Data Problems

Author

Listed:
  • Hans-Georg Petersen
  • Ulrich Thiessen
  • Pierre Wohlleben

Abstract

The paper tries to shed some light on the definition of the shadow economy, in order to separate shadow activities from market activities and household production. A total income concept is applied, which is based on the labor force being engaged in market, shadow and household activities. Based on such a clear concept, tax evasion can be defined and identified in the market sector and is also usually taking place in the shadow economy, where it is often accompanied by evasion of social security contributions as well as transfer fraud. Money usage in the three sectors is then critically analyzed, and measurement as well as data problems are seriously taken into consideration. The results of our research project suggest that the size of the shadow economy as estimated with the currency approach often yields the highest possible values. Other approaches and plausibility considerations produce much lower values, which seem to be much more realistic. Consequently, policy considerations to strengthen the control mechanisms should be met with utmost skepticism.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans-Georg Petersen & Ulrich Thiessen & Pierre Wohlleben, 2010. "Shadow Economy, Tax Evasion, and Transfer Fraud - Definition, Measurement, and Data Problems," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 421-441.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:intecj:v:24:y:2010:i:4:p:421-441
    DOI: 10.1080/10168737.2010.525973
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10168737.2010.525973
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/10168737.2010.525973?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Friedrich Schneider (ed.), 2008. "The Economics of the Hidden Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, volume 0, number 3074.
    2. Lkhagvadorj, Ariunaa, 2010. "Fiscal Federalism and Decentralization in Mongolia," MPRA Paper 28758, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Mar 2010.
    3. Nancy D. Ruggles & Richard Ruggles, 1999. "National Accounting and Economic Policy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1673.
    4. Hans-Georg Petersen & M. Rose, 2003. "Zu einer Fundamentalreform der deutschen Einkommensteuer: Die Einfachsteuer des "Heidelberger Kreises"," Finanzwissenschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge 34, Universität Potsdam, Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hans-Georg Petersen & Ulrich Thiessen, 2010. "Editors' Introduction: Shadow Economy in High Income Countries - Much Ado about Nothing?," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 413-419.
    2. Ligita Gasparėnienė & Rita Remeikienė & Colin C. Williams, 2022. "Unemployment and the Informal Economy," SpringerBriefs in Economics, Springer, number 978-3-030-96687-4, October.
    3. Mai Hassan & Friedrich Schneider, 2016. "Modelling the Egyptian Shadow Economy: A Currency Demand and A MIMIC Model Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 5727, CESifo.
    4. Lompo, Miaba Louise & Ouoba, Marie Madeleine, 2022. "How they hide money? An investigation on tax evasion of large corporations and wealthy taxpayers," MPRA Paper 114235, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Lee A. Swanson & Vincent Bruni-Bossio, 2019. "A Righteous Undocumented Economy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 225-237, November.
    6. Carlos Bethencourt & Fernando Perera‐Tallo, 2020. "On the relationship between sectorial and institutional structural changes," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 533-565, July.
    7. Mai HASSAN & Friedrich SCHNEIDER, 2016. "Modelling the Egyptian Shadow Economy: A MIMIC model and A Currency Demand approach," Journal of Economics and Political Economy, KSP Journals, vol. 3(2), pages 309-339, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Reinhard Neck & Jens Wächter & Friedrich Schneider, 2012. "Tax avoidance versus tax evasion: on some determinants of the shadow economy," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 19(1), pages 104-117, February.
    2. Colin C. WILLIAMS, 2015. "Out of the shadows: Classifying economies by the extent and nature of employment in the informal economy," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 154(3), pages 331-351, September.
    3. Brümmerhoff, Dieter, 2007. "Geschichte des Staates in den Volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnungen," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 78-2, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    4. Colin C. Williams & Ioana A. Horodnic, 2015. "Explaining and tackling the shadow economy in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: a tax morale approach," Baltic Journal of Economics, Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 81-98.
    5. Brümmerhoff, Dieter & Reich, Utz-Peter, 2007. "Treatment of owner-occupied housing in national accounts: Some questions," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 78-1, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    6. Cohen, Nissim & Rubinchik, Anna & Shami, Labib, 2020. "Towards a cashless economy: Economic and socio-political implications," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    7. Meskerem Brhane & Hernando Garzón & Ariunaa Lkhagvadorj, 2013. "City Finances of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia," World Bank Publications - Reports 16795, The World Bank Group.
    8. Hans‐Georg Petersen & Antje Fischer & Juliane Flach, 2005. "Wirkungen der Einfachsteuer auf die Steuerbelastung von Haushalten und Unternehmen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 6(1), pages 71-94, February.
    9. Bruno S. Frey & Jana Gallus, 2013. "Political economy of happiness," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(30), pages 4205-4211, October.
    10. Dombrowsky, Ines & Lkhagvadorj, Ariunaa & Schoderer, Mirja, 2018. "River basin management and fiscal decentralisation: mutually supportive or counterproductive? A case study of Mongolia," IDOS Discussion Papers 10/2018, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    11. Manfred Rose & Daniel Zöller, 2012. "Abzug von Eigenkapitalzinsen als Betriebsausgaben – ein steuersystematischer Beitrag zur Krisenabsicherung von Unternehmen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 13(3), pages 214-238, August.
    12. Nora Angour & Mohammed Nmili, 2019. "Estimating Shadow Economy and Tax Evasion: Evidence from Morocco," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(5), pages 1-7, May.
    13. Vardon, Michael & Keith, Heather & Lindenmayer, David, 2019. "Accounting and valuing the ecosystem services related to water supply in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    14. Colin C. Williams, 2014. "Confronting the Shadow Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15370.
    15. Ibrahim M. Awad & Wael Alazzeh, 2020. "Using currency demand to estimate the Palestine underground economy: An econometric analysis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 1-11, December.
    16. Diego Ravenda & Josep Argilés-Bosch & Maika Valencia-Silva, 2015. "Labor Tax Avoidance and Its Determinants: The Case of Mafia Firms in Italy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(1), pages 41-62, November.
    17. Cristina Timofte (Coca) & Dan-Andrei Coca, 2020. "Shadow Economy – Bibliometric Mapping," Book chapters-LUMEN Proceedings, in: Carmen NĂSTASE (ed.), 16th Economic International Conference NCOE 4.0 2020, edition 1, volume 13, chapter 4, pages 34-45, Editura Lumen.
    18. World Bank, 2013. "City Finances of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia," World Bank Publications - Reports 13255, The World Bank Group.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:intecj:v:24:y:2010:i:4:p:421-441. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RIEJ20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.