This paper provides a long term analysis of the determinants of the shadow economy. Using data for the United States over the years 1870–2014 we examine economic and political factors driving the underground sector. Results show that among the economic factors, greater economic prosperity...

This paper provides a long-term view by studying the effect of the underground or shadow economy on economic growth in the Unites States over the period 1870 to 2014. Shadow activities might spur or retard economic growth depending on their interactions with the formal sector and impacts on the...

This article examines the effects of various types of decentralization of government functions on the cross-national prevalence of the shadow economy. Do countries with different prevalence of the shadow economy respond differently to government decentralization? We consider four dimensions of...