IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp5053.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Shadow Economy and Entrepreneurial Entry

Author

Listed:
  • Estrin, Saul

    (London School of Economics)

  • Mickiewicz, Tomasz

    (Aston University)

Abstract

We analyze theoretically and empirically the impact of the shadow economy on entrepreneurial entry, utilising 1998-2005 individual-level Global Entrepreneurship Monitor data merged with macro level variables. A simple correlation coefficient suggests a positive linear link between the size of the shadow economy and entrepreneurial entry. However, this masks more complex relationships. With appropriate controls and instrumenting for potential endogeneity where required, the impact of the shadow economy on entry is found to be negative, based on a linear specification. Moreover, there is also evidence of nonlinearity: entrepreneurial entry is least likely when the shadow economy is of medium size. We attribute the negative effects of shadow economy on entry to perceived strong competition faced by new entrants when the shadow economy is widespread. At the individual level, an extensive shadow economy has a more negative impact on respondents who are risk averse. In addition, in the economies where property rights are strong, the negative impact of the shadow economy is weaker.

Suggested Citation

  • Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2010. "Shadow Economy and Entrepreneurial Entry," IZA Discussion Papers 5053, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5053
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp5053.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. André Stel & David Storey & A. Thurik, 2007. "The Effect of Business Regulations on Nascent and Young Business Entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 171-186, March.
    2. Dani Rodrik, 2006. "Institutions for High-Quality Growth: What They Are and How to Acquire Them," Chapters, in: Kartik Roy & Jörn Sideras (ed.), Institutions, Globalisation and Empowerment, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Klapper, Leora & Laeven, Luc & Rajan, Raghuram, 2006. "Entry regulation as a barrier to entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 591-629, December.
    4. Torsten Persson & Guido Tabellini, 2009. "Democratic Capital: The Nexus of Political and Economic Change," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 88-126, July.
    5. Sander Wennekers & André Stel & Roy Thurik & Paul Reynolds, 2008. "Nascent entrepreneurship and the level of economic development," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 325-325, March.
    6. Robinson, Peter B. & Sexton, Edwin A., 1994. "The effect of education and experience on self-employment success," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 141-156, March.
    7. Zoltán J. Ács & Sameeksha Desai & Leora F. Klapper, 2015. "What does ‘‘entrepreneurship’’ data really show?," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 24, pages 464-480, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Fields,Gary S., 2005. "A guide to multisector labor market models," Social Protection and Labor Policy and Technical Notes 32547, The World Bank.
    9. Buehn, Andreas & Schneider, Friedrich, 2009. "Corruption and the Shadow Economy: A Structural Equation Model Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 4182, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Mihir Desai & Paul Gompers & Josh Lerner, 2003. "Institutions, Capital Constraints and Entrepreneurial Firm Dynamics: Evidence from Europe," NBER Working Papers 10165, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Ruta Aidis & Saul Estrin & Tomasz Marek Mickiewicz, 2007. "Entrepreneurship in Emerging Markets: Which Institutions Matter?," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 81, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    12. Aidis, Ruta & Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2008. "Institutions and entrepreneurship development in Russia: A comparative perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 656-672, November.
    13. Fields,Gary S., 2005. "A guide to multisector labor market models," Policy Research Working Paper Series 32547, The World Bank.
    14. Rauch, James E., 1991. "Modelling the informal sector formally," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 33-47, January.
    15. Aureo de Paula & Jose A. Scheinkman, 2006. "The Informal Sector," Levine's Bibliography 122247000000001030, UCLA Department of Economics.
    16. Acs, Zoltán J & Audretsch, David B & Evans, David S, 1994. "Why Does the Self-Employment Rate Vary Across Countries and Over Time?," CEPR Discussion Papers 871, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. Parker,Simon C., 2006. "The Economics of Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521030632, October.
    18. Baumol, William J., 1996. "Entrepreneurship: Productive, unproductive, and destructive," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 3-22, January.
    19. Arnold C. Cooper & William C. Dunkelberg, 1987. "Entrepreneurial Research: Old Questions, New Answers and Methodological Issues," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 11(3), pages 11-24, January.
    20. Loayza, Norman V., 1994. "Labor regulations and the informal economy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1335, The World Bank.
    21. Klarita Gërxhani, 2004. "The Informal Sector in Developed and Less Developed Countries: A Literature Survey," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 120(3_4), pages 267-300, September.
    22. Crawford, Sue E. S. & Ostrom, Elinor, 1995. "A Grammar of Institutions," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 582-600, September.
    23. Simon Johnson & John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 2002. "Property Rights and Finance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1335-1356, December.
    24. Davidsson, Per & Honig, Benson, 2003. "The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 301-331, May.
    25. Ruta Aidis & Julia Korosteleva & Tomasz Marek Mickiewicz, 2008. "Entrepreneurship in Russia," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 88, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    26. Schneider, Friedrich G. & Buehn, Andreas, 2009. "Shadow economies and corruption all over the world: revised estimates for 120 countries," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 1, pages 1-53.
    27. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Love, Inessa & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2006. "Business environment and the incorporation decision," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2967-2993, November.
    28. Frederic Delmar & Per Davidsson, 2000. "Where do they come from? Prevalence and characteristics of nascent entrepreneurs," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2009. "Do Institutions Have a Greater Effect on Female Entrepreneurs?," IZA Discussion Papers 4577, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Ruta Aidis & Saul Estrin & Tomasz Mickiewicz, 2012. "Size matters: entrepreneurial entry and government," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 119-139, July.
    3. Saul Estrin & Tomasz Mickiewicz, 2011. "Institutions and female entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 397-415, November.
    4. Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz & Aidis, Ruta, 2009. "Entrepreneurial Entry: Which Institutions Matter?," CEPR Discussion Papers 7278, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva, 2011. "Entrepreneurship and Cities: Evidence from the Post-communist World," WIFO Working Papers 397, WIFO.
    6. Ivano Dileo & Thaís García Pereiro, 2019. "Assessing the impact of individual and context factors on the entrepreneurial process. A cross-country multilevel approach," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1393-1441, December.
    7. Herrera-Echeverri, Hernán & Haar, Jerry & Estévez-Bretón, Juan Benavides, 2014. "Foreign direct investment, institutional quality, economic freedom and entrepreneurship in emerging markets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1921-1932.
    8. Isabel Grilo & Roy Thurik, 2008. "Determinants of entrepreneurial engagement levels in Europe and the US," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(6), pages 1113-1145, December.
    9. R. Sandra Schillo & Ajax Persaud & Meng Jin, 2016. "Entrepreneurial readiness in the context of national systems of entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 619-637, April.
    10. Maksim Belitski & Julia Korosteleva, 2011. "Entrepreneurship and cities: evidence from the post-communist world," ERSA conference papers ersa11p288, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Pekka Stenholm & Zoltán J. Ács & Robert Wuebker, 2015. "Exploring country-level institutional arrangements on the rate and type of entrepreneurial activity," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 20, pages 387-404, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Peter van der Zwan & Ingrid Verheul & Roy Thurik & Isabel Grilo, 2009. "Entrepreneurial Progress: Climbing the Entrepreneurial Ladder in Europe and the US," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 09-070/3, Tinbergen Institute, revised 17 Mar 2010.
    13. Dominic S.K. Lim & Eric A. Morse & Ronald K. Mitchell & Kristie K. Seawright, 2010. "Institutional Environment and Entrepreneurial Cognitions: A Comparative Business Systems Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(3), pages 491-516, May.
    14. Aidis, Ruta & Estrin, Saul & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2008. "Institutions and entrepreneurship development in Russia: A comparative perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 656-672, November.
    15. Yongseok Jang & Woo Jin Lee & Brandy Hadley, 2020. "Interactive Effects of Business Environment Assessment and Institutional Programs on Opportunity Entrepreneurship," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-18, July.
    16. David Urbano & Claudia Alvarez, 2014. "Institutional dimensions and entrepreneurial activity: an international study," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 42(4), pages 703-716, April.
    17. Christopher J. Boudreaux & Boris Nikolaev, 2019. "Capital is not enough: opportunity entrepreneurship and formal institutions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 709-738, October.
    18. Estrin, Saul & Korosteleva, Julia & Mickiewicz, Tomasz, 2009. "Better Means More: Property Rights and High-Growth Aspiration Entrepreneurship," IZA Discussion Papers 4396, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Monia Lougui & Kristina Nyström, 2014. "What obstacles do entrepreneurs encounter?," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 3(2), pages 275-291, October.
    20. Claudia Alvarez & David Urbano, 2008. "Entorno e Iniciativa Emprendedora: una Perspectiva Institucional," Working Papers 0807, Departament Empresa, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, revised Dec 2008.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    entrepreneurship; shadow economy;

    JEL classification:

    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • P14 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Property Rights

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:iza:izadps:dp5053. 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: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    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.