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Shadow Economies around the World: What Do We Know?

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Author Info
Schneider, Friedrich () (University of Linz and IZA Bonn)
Klinglmair, Robert (University of Linz)

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Abstract

Using various statistical procedures, estimates about the size of the shadow economy in 110 developing, transition and OECD countries are presented. The average size of the shadow economy (in percent of official GDP) over 1999-2000 in developing countries is 41%, in transition countries 38% and in OECD countries 18.0%. An increasing burden of taxation and social security contributions combined with rising state regulatory activities are the driving forces for the growth and size of the shadow economy. If the shadow economy increases by one percent the annual growth rate of the “official” GDP of a developing country (of a industrialized and/or transition country) decreases by 0.6% (increases by 0.8 and 1.0 respectively).

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1043.

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Length: 60 pages
Date of creation: Mar 2004
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1043

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Related research
Keywords: shadow economy; interaction of the shadow economy with the official one; tax burden;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
O17 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
O5 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies
D78 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Positive Analysis of Policy-Making and Implementation
H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Johnson, Simon & Kaufmann, Daniel & Zoido-Lobaton, Pablo, 1998. "Regulatory Discretion and the Unofficial Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 387-92, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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    Other versions:
  3. Simon Johnson & Daniel Kaufman & Andrei Shleifer, 1997. "The Unofficial Economy in Transition," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 28(1997-2), pages 159-240. [Downloadable!]
  4. Kirchler, Erich & Maciejovsky, Boris & Schneider, Friedrich, 2003. "Everyday representations of tax avoidance, tax evasion, and tax flight: Do legal differences matter?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 535-553, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Edgar L. Feige, 2005. "A Re-Examination of the 'Underground Economy' in the United States; A Comment on Tanzi," Macroeconomics 0501021, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  6. Friedrich Schneider & Kausik Chaudhuri & Sumana Chatterjee, 2003. "The Size and Development of the Indian Shadow Economy and a Comparison with other 18 Asian Countries: An Empirical Investigation," Economics working papers 2003-02, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. [Downloadable!]
  7. Philip Cagan, 1958. "The Demand for Currency Relative to Total Money Supply," NBER Chapters, in: The Demand for Currency Relative to Total Money Supply, pages 1-37 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Klovland, Jan Tore, 1984. " Tax Evasion and the Demand for Currency in Norway and Sweden. Is There a Hidden Relationship?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 86(4), pages 423-39.
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  13. Friedrich Schneider, 2000. "The Increase of the size of the shadow economy of 18 OECD countries: Some preliminary explanations," Economics working papers 2000-08, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Schneider, Friedrich, 1986. " Estimating the Size of the Danish Shadow Economy Using the Currency Demand Approach: An Attempt," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 88(4), pages 643-68.
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  16. Dell'Anno, Roberto, . "Estimating the Shadow Economy in Italy: a Structural Equation Approach," Economics Working Papers 2003-7, School of Economics and Management, University of Aarhus. [Downloadable!]
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  24. Giles, David E A, 1999. "Measuring the Hidden Economy: Implications for Econometric Modelling," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(456), pages F370-80, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  25. Pissarides, Christopher A. & Weber, Guglielmo, 1989. "An expenditure-based estimate of Britain's black economy," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 17-32, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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