Widening income disparities, higher corruption and larger informality in many emerging market and developing economies (EMDE) including Latin America, all with pressing and mounting fiscal problems, have rekindled interest in the empirical analysis of the key factors determining the occurrence...

The present work investigates the effect of institutional quality on Africa's underground economy, as well as the mechanisms that modulate this effect. Considering cross-sectional dependency between panels, this study considers data of 41 African countries from the period 1996 to 2017 and the...

Purpose - This paper aims at assessing the impact of a number of behavioral interventions on the willingness of informal businesses, in the Egyptian informal sector, to join the formal sector. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses an experimental methodology to examine the impact of...

This study examines the emergence of international hidden entrepreneurs (IHEs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through an institutional theory lens. An international hidden entrepreneur arises when local regulations impose high costs on an international entrepreneur operating as the legal head of...

Research on the relationship between oil wealth and economic growth has shown that the impact of oil can depend on various factors or conditions. However, the role of the underground eco-nomy in this relationship remains underexplored. This study aims to fill this gap by examining how the...

The paper aims to assess the wage differential that would induce workers to switch between informal and formal sectors, analysing the informal labour market in the Colombian Caribbean region. Relying on the theory of equalising differences, we uncover which workers perceive the highest utility...

This paper uses the Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) approach to determine the annual size and growth of the hidden economy in Jordan for the period 1980-2018. We find that the key causal variables of the hidden economy in Jordan are: female labor force participation, the inflation...

The goal of the article is to explore the potential of explicatory Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and its specifications for measuring the shadow economy (SE). This is done from the perspective of various approaches in selected countries. The article is a review and conceptual paper. The...

The shadow economy's size and impact remain subjects of extensive research and debate, holding significant implications for economic policy and social welfare. In Lebanon, the ongoing crisis since 2019 has exacerbated severe economic challenges, with the national currency's collapse, bank...

The article presents a method for balancing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) when the measurements of its components are distorted by the existence of the shadow economy. Our proposal to measure GDP is based on a multiple ultrastructural model (MUM), where the explanatory variables are subject to...

Using an enhanced MIMIC method, this paper presents new estimates of the Informal Economy (IE) for 110 countries from 1997 to 2022. We address several limitations found in previous estimates of the IE, notably issues surrounding the missing values, time-invariant country characteristics, and...

How do minimum wages affect earnings inequality in countries with large informal sectors? I provide reduced-form evidence that the 2000s minimum wage hike in Brazil raised overall inequality by increasing inequality inside the informal sector. I develop a model where heterogeneous firms select...

This study investigated the impact of mobile financial services on the shadow economy in Southern Africa countries and explored how regulatory quality moderates this relationship. Utilising panel data from 1993 to 2022, this study employed dynamic common-correlated effect (DCCE) and dynamic...

The study investigates the determinants of tax revenue in Zimbabwe using the ARDL approach for the period 1980 to 2022. This study aims to offer a thorough summary of the different factors that influence tax revenue within the framework of economic and social factors. The variables included in...

This paper focuses on analyzing the impact of the shadow economy on economic growth in ASEAN countries. In particular, the authors examine the role of institutional quality in the effects of the shadow economy on economic growth, which means that this study is different from previous studies....

Using an enhanced MIMIC method, this paper presents new and long-run estimates of the Informal Economy (IE) for 152 countries from 1997 to 2022. We address several limitations found in previous estimates of the IE, notably issues surrounding the missing values, time-invariant country...

The objective of the study was to determine the size of Ghana's "underground economy" and the extent of tax evasion in Ghana. The underground economy in most countries is vital because it serves as a survival place for most people. However, their activities are mostly related to tax evasion...

Purpose - The study's objective is to examine the relevance of globalization in affecting the size of the shadow economy in selected African nations. Design/methodology/approach - To do this, the authors employ the KOF globalization index and implement both static and dynamic common correlated...

This scoping review systematically examines the definitions, challenges, and methodologies for estimating the illegal gambling market, spanning literature from 2000 to 2023. Given the clandestine nature of illegal gambling and its significant economic and social implications, understanding its...

This study aims to bridge the gap in the existing literature by examining the impact of prevailing traditional slavery institutions and democratization processes on human capital development. In our pursuit, we conducted a residential survey in Sumba Island, Indonesia. Notably, despite...

Legal and illegal markets often coexist. In theory, marginal legalization can either substitute for the remaining parallel market, or complement it via scale effects. I study migrants crossing without prior authorization at the US southwest border, where large-scale unlawful crossing coexists...

Hogaru is a digital platform that offers Colombian households and small businesses cleaning services. Its workers have formal, permanent contracts and access to vital benefits. This contrasts with the informal employment and limited workplace protections that are the norm for both the cleaning...

The present analysis has examined the effect of the shadow economy on tax reform in developing countries. The first type of tax reform is the "structural tax reform" (STR) characterized by large episodes of tax revenue mobilization, identified by Akitoby et al. (2020) [Tax revenue mobilization...

This study is about relationships between Unregistered Economy and Corruption. Especially, Corruption is investigated as one of the main stimulative factors of Unregistered Economy and presented Azerbaijan initiatives of struggle against this problem. Firstly, it is explained concept of...

Non-farm informal businesses comprise the majority of the firm distribution in developing countries. We document novel stylized facts about entry and exit of informal, non-farm firms using nationally representative panel data over 15 years and across regions with varying levels of local economic...

This study tests the asymmetric impact of the tax burden structures under the forms of direct, indirect, and social contributions, upon the shadow economy. For this purpose, a panel dataset analysis of the 27 European Union (EU) Member States is conducted over the 2005–2018 time period. Our...