The shadow economy in three Mediterranean countries: France,Spain and Greece. A MIMIC approach

This paper offers estimations of the evolution of the shadow economy in three Mediterranean countries, namely France, Spain and Greece. A multiple indicators and multiple causes model based on the latent variable structural theory has been applied. As established by Giles (Working paper on monitoring the health of the tax system, 1995), filtered data to solve the non-stationary problems are used. The model includes the tax burden (both as a whole and disaggregated into direct taxes, indirect taxes and social security contributions), a proxy of regulation burden, theu nemployment rate and self-employment as causes of the shadow economy and the GDP growth rate, the labour force participation ratio and the currency ratio as indicators of the underground economy. The results confirm that unemployment, the fiscal burden and self-employment are the main causes of the shadow economy in these countries, and confirm that an inverse relationship exists between the official GDP growth rate and that of the unofficial economy. This paper has benefited from the comments and suggestions of the anonymous referees. The usual disclaimer applies. The paper was partly written when third author was visiting Real Colegio Complutense at Harvard University. The hospitality of this Institution is gratefully acknowledged.     

The size and development of the shadow economy: An empirical investigation from states of India

Using the state level data from India, this paper investigates the size of the hidden economy in Indian states over the period 1974/75 to 1995/96. Our analysis has shown that after liberalization of the Indian economy in 1991/92, the growth in the size of the hidden economy has decreased on an average. Our results show that the growth in the size of the hidden economy is approximately 4% less in scheduled election years than in all other years. We also demonstrate that the growth is significantly lower in those states where the coalition government is in power. An increased growth of newspapers and the literacy rates translate to cleaner governance, e.g. to fewer amounts of shadow economy activities in the economy.     

我国宏观税负构成的分析与调整

宏观税负率是衡量一个国家宏观税负水平高低的一个重要指标，本文结合我国实际情况，充分考虑收收收入及非税收入的共同作用，对我国从1994年以来不断上升的宏观税负水平加以分析。文章以宏观税负的内部构成为出发点，通过回归模型总结出宏观税负上升的内部原因，用以找到进行合理税制调整的方向。     

Unemployment and the shadow economy

Current research links the shadow economy (SE) and the unemployment rate either indirectly or by means of a preliminary estimate. This article establishes and empirically implements a methodology for estimating the size of the SE as a direct function of the tax and unemployment rates. This link is found to be extremely relevant in countries with high unemployment rates (such as Greece and Spain) and less relevant in countries with moderate unemployment rates (such as Germany and Italy). Unemployment’s contribution to the SE is shown to be significant, especially in the years following the economic downturn of 2008. The calculation of the variance and distribution of these estimates is another significant contribution. The common criticism that SE estimates are unreliable is addressed by calculating the variance and the distribution of the estimates, and the large size of the SE in Greece and Spain is once again confirmed.     

宏观税负、税收结构与区域经济非均衡发展

采用1996～2009年我国东、中、西部地区的样本数据,对宏观税负、税收结构与区域经济发展进行了研究。得到如下结论:区域宏观税负的不同是造成区域经济发展不均衡的一个主要因素;三大地区人均GDP水平对税收政策的结构性冲击存在显著不同的响应模式;流转税、所得税和资源税三大税种对区域经济增长的影响具有不同效应。     

Financial and Institutional Barriers to SME Growth in Albania: Results of an Enterprise Survey

The early transition period witnessed the rapid growth of Albanian SMEs despite the fact that the country was subjected to several severe shocks, especially those associated with the collapse of the pyramid schemes and the war in Kosovo. The growth of small enterprises in agriculture, trade, services, and construction, with microenterprises constituting the bulk of SMEs, has been the engine of growth and contributed to the long term recovery of Albanian economy. However, the growth of SMEs has been hampered by a variety of barriers erected, directly or indirectly, by the state. Fiscal constraints particularly high rate of taxes and contributions, financial constraints and the institutional environment have been some of the major barriers they have had to surmount. These barriers have encouraged many firms to conduct some or all of their activities in the informal sector of the economy. The survey of fifty SMEs established since 1992 highlights the difficulties faced by these enterprises in the environment of early transition. The econometric evidence confirms the role of financial barriers to SME growth, especially when they are combined with the poor institutional environment. The results show that the government has to embark on SME policies designed to disseminate the information on support programmes widely, and to speed up the reform of the financial system, legal framework and law enforcement.     

基于面板数据的地方税收与经济差异性研究

由于地方政府与中央政府博弈造成的效率损失,名义税负与实际税负的错位使得地方税收的主体税种对地方经济的影响各异。营业税对地方经济发展有较强的正效应,而企业所得税则对地方经济增长产生了抑制作用,且在三大区域存在不同的效应。     

金融危机背景下农村需求与河南经济增长关系分析

金融危机会带来经济增长速度的放慢甚至停滞。金融危机对河南省的影响来的迟,影响重,走的慢,为实现其增长目标,河南省需要确定相应的政策。笔者从河南省的经验数据出发,在运用VECM建模分析河南省经济增长中对农村经济的路径依赖并求解动态调整方程的基础上,分析了其政策含义,认为金融危机下河南的经济增长,从长远看要靠积极扩大农村需求来实现,短期内还要依靠增加农村投资抑平波动;农村需求的突破口在于降低物价和加大农村投资。     

Energy Taxes in the Netherlands: What are the Dividends?

In this paper the environmental and economic effects of the introduction of a unilateral energy tax in the Netherlands are analysed using an applied general equilibrium (AGE) model. The effects of a small user energy tax and a general energy tax are compared, while taking into account different tax recycling mechanisms. The model contains a great level of detail with respect to emissions and environmental indicators (greenhouse effect, acidification, eutrophication and waste), which is helpful for assessing environmental quality. The results show that the introduction of a small environmental tax reform not only improves the environment but also raises non-environmental welfare, which is due to an improvement of the efficiency of the tax structure.     

税收政策与居民消费需求——基于结构效应视角的新思考

本文运用税收经济效应原理系统阐释所得税、商品税与财产税对居民消费需求的作用机制,在考察我国税制结构整体状况及其对居民消费需求负面影响的基础上,通过建立动态面板数据模型与采用GMM估计方法实证估计税收政策对居民消费需求的结构效应,结果发现：一方面,财产税挤入居民消费;另一方面,商品税和所得税均挤出居民消费需求,但开征利息税能够显著降低个人所得税对居民消费需求的抑制效应。基于理论分析与实证估计结果,本文认为,政府为了提高税收政策对居民消费需求调节的针对性与激励效果,应充分发挥税收政策的结构效应,积极推进与实行“有增有减”的新一轮税制改革,构建与扩大居民消费需求相协调的税制结构。