This paper tests the joint hypotheses that policymakers engage in fiscal policy opportunism and that voters respond by rewarding that opportunism with higher vote margins. Furthermore, it investigates the impact of fiscal illusion on the previous two dimensions. Empirical results, obtained with...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the relationship between fiscal illusion and the shadow economy for 104 countries over the period 1989-2009. We argue that both unobservable phenomena are closely linked to each other, as the creation of a fiscal illusion may be helpful if governments...

Breusch (2005b) critically addresses an important and challenging question: Is it reliable to use the Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes model to estimate Shadow Economy? Breusch concludes that this approach is not suitable for the purpose. Breusch's paper highlights the different procedures...