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 o...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| 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 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3928 |
| Summary: | 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. |
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