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The devil is in the shadow: do institutions affect income and productivity or only official income and official income and official productivity?

Author

Listed:
  • Axel Dreher
  • Pierre-Guillaume Méon
  • Friedrich Schneider

Abstract

This paper assesses the relationship between institutions, output, and productivity, when official output is corrected for the size of the shadow economy. Our results confirm the usual positive impact of institutional quality on official output and total factor productivity, and its negative impact on the size of the underground economy. However, once output is corrected for the shadow economy, the relationship between institutions and output becomes weaker. The impact of institutions on total (“corrected”) factor productivity even becomes insignificant. Differences in corrected output must then be attributed to differences in factor endowments. These results survive several tests for robustness.

Suggested Citation

  • Axel Dreher & Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Friedrich Schneider, 2007. "The devil is in the shadow: do institutions affect income and productivity or only official income and official income and official productivity?," DULBEA Working Papers 07-22.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:dul:wpaper:07-22rs
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Bernal, Oscar & Oosterlinck, Kim & Szafarz, Ariane, 2010. "Observing bailout expectations during a total eclipse of the sun," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(7), pages 1193-1205, November.
    3. Philipp Harms & Philipp Meulen, 2012. "The demographics of expropriation risk," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(3), pages 809-832, July.
    4. Knud J., MUNK, 2008. "On the Use of Border Taxes in Developing Countries," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2008005, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques, revised 29 Jul 2011.
    5. Libman, A., 2010. "Empirical Research on Determinants of Decentralization: A Literature Survey," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, issue 6, pages 10-29.
    6. Barseghyan, Levon & DiCecio, Riccardo, 2011. "Entry costs, industry structure, and cross-country income and TFP differences," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 146(5), pages 1828-1851, September.
    7. Pierre-Guillaume Méon & Ariane Szafarz, 2008. "Labor market discrimination as an agency cost," DULBEA Working Papers 08-19.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Abdullah Bin Zafar & Tanvir Ahmed Tuhin, 2024. "An Ordinary Least Squares Approach Measuring the Impact of Factors Affecting the Underground Economy of Bangladesh and Their Implications in the Context of the Country’s Supply Chain," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 34(1), pages 92-107.
    9. Abdeslam Marfouk, 2008. "The African brain drain: scope and determinants," DULBEA Working Papers 08-07.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    shadow economy; income; aggregate productivity; development accounting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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