Shadow Economies All over the World : New Estimates for 162 Countries from 1999 to 2007

This paper presents estimations of the shadow economies for 162 countries, including developing, Eastern European, Central Asian, and high-income countries over the period 1999 to 2006/2007. According to the estimations, the weighted average size of the shadow economy (as a percentage of "official" gross domestic product) in Sub-Saharan Africa is 38.4 percent; in Europe and Central Asia (mostly transition countries), it is 36.5 percent, and in high-income OECD countries, it is 13.5 percent. The authors find a clear negative trend in the size of the shadow economy: The unweighted average of the 162 countries in 1999 was 34.0 percent and in 2007 31.0 percent; hence a reduction of 3 percentage points!.The driving forces of the shadow economy are an increased burden of taxation (both direct and indirect), combined with labor market regulations and the quality of public goods and services, as well as the state of the "official" economy.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Schneider, Friedrich, Buehn, Andreas, Montenegro, Claudio E.
Language:	English
Published:	2010-06-01
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE VALUES, AGGREGATE DEMAND, ANNUAL GROWTH, BASE YEAR, BENCHMARK, BENCHMARKING, BUSINESS CLIMATE, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, BUSINESS REGULATION, CAPITAL STOCK, COMPROMISES, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE, CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURES, CONTROL VARIABLE, COVARIANCE MATRIX, CREDIBILITY, CURRENCY, CURRENCY DEMAND, DATA AVAILABILITY, DEPOSITS, DEREGULATION, DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DISTORTION, DRUG, ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC THEORY, ENDOGENOUS VARIABLES, EQUILIBRIUM, ERROR TERM, ERROR TERMS, EXOGENOUS VARIABLES, FOREIGNERS, GDP, GDP PER CAPITA, GOVERNANCE INDICATORS, GOVERNMENT REGULATION, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT, GROWTH RATE, HIGH-INCOME COUNTRIES, IMPACT OF REGULATION, IMPORT, IMPORT QUOTAS, INCOME, INCOME TAX, INDICATOR VARIABLE, INDICATOR VARIABLES, INTERNATIONAL BANK, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKETS, M1, MARKET ECONOMIES, MARKET REGULATIONS, MARKET STANDARDS, MEETING, MONEY MARKETS, OUTPUT, PARTICULAR COUNTRY, PER CAPITA INCOME, POLICY ANALYSIS, POLICY FORMULATION, PURCHASING POWER, PURCHASING POWER PARITY, RECESSION, RECONSTRUCTION, REGRESSION ANALYSIS, REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, RULE OF LAW, SAFETY NET, TAX, TAX RATE, TAX RATES, TAX REVENUES, TAX SYSTEM, TAXATION, TRADE BARRIERS, TRANSITION COUNTRIES, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, VALUE ADDED, WAGES, WIDELY USED CURRENCY,
Online Access:	http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20101014160704 https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3928
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!