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Underground Activities and Labour Market Performance

Author

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  • Larsen, Birthe

    (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School)

  • Kolm, Ann-Sofie

    (Department of Economics, Stockholm University)

Abstract

This paper develops a general equilibrium search and matching model where an underground economy co-exists along with the formal part of the economy. In analyzing how tax and punishment policies a¤ect labour market performance, we nd that punishment of infor- mal sector activities induce workers and rms to reallocate towards the formal sector. However, more importantly, we nd that this real- location tends to improve e¢ ciency in search, reduce the overall wage pressure, and reduce actual unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Larsen, Birthe & Kolm, Ann-Sofie, 2010. "Underground Activities and Labour Market Performance," Working Papers 05-2010, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cbsnow:2010_005
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    Cited by:

    1. Marie Bjørneby & Annette Alstadsæter & Kjetil Telle, 2018. "Collusive Tax Evasion by Employers and Employees: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment in Norway," CESifo Working Paper Series 7381, CESifo.
    2. Piotr Dybka & Bartosz Olesiński & Marek Rozkrut & Andrzej Torój, 2023. "Measuring the model uncertainty of shadow economy estimates," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 30(4), pages 1069-1106, August.
    3. Gaetano Lisi, 2024. "Shadow economy, “mixed” firms, and labour market outcomes," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(3), pages 685-701, June.
    4. Gaetano Lisi, 2023. "Tax Audits, Tax Rewards and Labour Market Outcomes," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-12, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax evasion; Underground economy; matching; unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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