IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-13-00777.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shadow economy and tax revenue in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Oasis Kodila-Tedika

    (University of Kinshasa)

  • Mihai Mutascu

    (LEO (Laboratoire d''Economie d''Orléans) - UMR7322, and West University of Timisoara)

Abstract

The paper explores the effects of shadow economy on tax revenues, in the case of several African countries, based on a panel-model approach. The dataset covers the period 1999-2007. The main results reveal that the change in shadow economy has a significant and negative impact on change in tax revenues. In other word, when the shadow economy tends to extend, the level of tax revenues decreases. These outputs show that the African governments, in order to maximise the collected tax revenues, should better “control” the shadow economy phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Mihai Mutascu, 2014. "Shadow economy and tax revenue in Africa," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(1), pages 469-479.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-13-00777
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2014/Volume34/EB-14-V34-I1-P45.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2003. "Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, March.
    2. Johnson, Simon & Kaufmann, Daniel & Zoido-Lobaton, Pablo, 1998. "Regulatory Discretion and the Unofficial Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 387-392, May.
    3. de V. Cavalcanti, Tiago V. & Villamil, Anne P., 2003. "Optimal Inflation Tax And Structural Reform," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(3), pages 333-362, June.
    4. Levin, Mark & Satarov, Georgy, 2000. "Corruption and institutions in Russia," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 113-132, March.
    5. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    6. Eric Friedman & Simon Johnson & Daniel Kaufmann & Pablo Zoido-Lobaton, 1999. "Dodging the Grabbing Hand: The Determinants of Unofficial Activity in 69," Departmental Working Papers 199921, Rutgers University, Department of Economics.
    7. Benno Torgler & Friedrich Schneider & Alison Macintyre, 2011. "Shadow Economy, Voice and Accountability, and Corruption," Chapters, in: Friedrich Schneider (ed.), Handbook on the Shadow Economy, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Schneider, Friedrich, 2005. "Shadow economies around the world: what do we really know?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 598-642, September.
    9. Axel Dreher & Friedrich Schneider, 2010. "Corruption and the shadow economy: an empirical analysis," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 144(1), pages 215-238, July.
    10. Friedrich Schneider & Friedrich Schneider, 2008. "Shadow Economies and Corruption all over the World: What do we Really Know?," Chapters, in: Michael Pickhardt & Edward Shinnick (ed.), The Shadow Economy, Corruption and Governance, chapter 7, pages 122-187, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. repec:bla:scandj:v:86:y:1984:i:4:p:423-39 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Richard M. Bird & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Benno Torgler, 2014. "Societal Institutions and Tax Effort in Developing Countries," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 15(1), pages 301-351, May.
    13. Friedrich Schneider, 2000. "The Increase of the Size of the Shadow Economy of 18 OECD Countries: Some Preliminary Explanations," CESifo Working Paper Series 306, CESifo.
    14. Friedrich Schneider & Andreas Buehn & Claudio E. Montenegro, 2011. "Shadow Economies All Over the World: New Estimates for 162 Countries from 1999 to 2007," Chapters, in: Friedrich Schneider (ed.), Handbook on the Shadow Economy, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    16. Dani Rodrik, 1998. "Why Do More Open Economies Have Bigger Governments?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(5), pages 997-1032, October.
    17. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2013. "Taxation and Development," STICERD - Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers Series 041, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    18. Schneider, Friedrich, 2012. "The Shadow Economy and Work in the Shadow: What Do We (Not) Know?," IZA Discussion Papers 6423, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Mr. Dhaneshwar Ghura, 1998. "Tax Revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa: Effects of Economic Policies and Corruption," IMF Working Papers 1998/135, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Mazhar, Ummad & Méon, Pierre-Guillaume, 2017. "Taxing the unobservable: The impact of the shadow economy on inflation and taxation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 89-103.
    21. Friedrich Schneider & Andreas Buehn & Claudio Montenegro, 2010. "New Estimates for the Shadow Economies all over the World," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 443-461.
    22. repec:cep:stieop:41 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Ms. Janet Gale Stotsky & Ms. Asegedech WoldeMariam, 1997. "Tax Effort in Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Working Papers 1997/107, International Monetary Fund.
    24. Nicolini, Juan Pablo, 1998. "Tax evasion and the optimal inflation tax," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 215-232, February.
    25. Koreshkova, Tatyana A., 2006. "A quantitative analysis of inflation as a tax on the underground economy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 773-796, May.
    26. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    27. Bird, Richard M. & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Torgler, Benno, 2008. "Tax Effort in Developing Countries and High Income Countries: The Impact of Corruption, Voice and Accountability," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 55-71, March.
    28. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kaliberda, Aleksander, 1996. "Integrating the unofficial economy into the dynamics of post-socialist economies : a framework of analysis and evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1691, The World Bank.
    29. Abhijit Sen Gupta, 2007. "Determinants of Tax Revenue Efforts in Developing Countries," IMF Working Papers 2007/184, International Monetary Fund.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joseph Keneck-Massil & Alphonse Noah, 2019. "Shadow economy and educational systems in Africa," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(2), pages 1467-1478.
    2. Omodero Cordelia Onyinyechi, 2019. "The Consequences of Shadow Economy and Corruption on Tax Revenue Performance in Nigeria," Studia Universitatis „Vasile Goldis” Arad – Economics Series, Sciendo, vol. 29(3), pages 64-79, September.
    3. Friedrich Schneider & Mangirdas Morkunas & Erika Quendler, 2021. "Measuring the Immeasurable: The Evolution of the Size of Informal Economy in the Agricultural Sector in the EU-15 up to 2019," CESifo Working Paper Series 8937, CESifo.
    4. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Mutascu, Mihai, 2014. "Tax Revenues and Intelligence: A Cross-Sectional Evidence," MPRA Paper 57581, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Mutascu Mihai & Hegerty Scott W., 2022. "The role of refugees in the underground economy of the European Union," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, January.
    6. Cong Minh Huynh & Vu Hong Thai Nguyen & Hoang Bao Nguyen & Phuc Canh Nguyen, 2020. "One-way effect or multiple-way causality: foreign direct investment, institutional quality and shadow economy?," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 219-239, February.
    7. Cordelia Onyinyechi Omodero, 2020. "Taxation Income, Graft and Informal Sector Operations in Nigeria in Relation to Other African Countries," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 11(2), pages 163-172, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2020. "Internet and tax reform in developing countries," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    2. Kodila-Tedika, Oasis & Mutascu, Mihai, 2014. "Tax Revenues and Intelligence: A Cross-Sectional Evidence," MPRA Paper 57581, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Mazhar, Ummad & Méon, Pierre-Guillaume, 2017. "Taxing the unobservable: The impact of the shadow economy on inflation and taxation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 89-103.
    4. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2022. "Financial development and tax revenue in developing countries: investigating the international trade channel," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-26, January.
    5. Ceyhun Elgin & Burak Uras, 2013. "Is informality a barrier to financial development?," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 309-331, August.
    6. Robert G. Blanton & Bryan Early & Dursun Peksen, 2018. "Out of the shadows or into the dark? Economic openness, IMF programs, and the growth of shadow economies," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 309-333, June.
    7. Suslov, N. & Mel'tenisova, E., 2015. "Analysis of Energy Price's Impact on Shadow Economies Around the World," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 12-43.
    8. Nedra Baklouti & Younes Boujelbene, 2020. "A simultaneous equation model of economic growth and shadow economy: Is there a difference between the developed and developing countries?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 151-170, February.
    9. Nihal Bayraktar & Tuan Minh Le & Blanca Moreno-Dodson, 2012. "Tax Capacity and Tax Effort: Extended Cross-Country Analysis from 1994 to 2009," EcoMod2012 3858, EcoMod.
    10. Prianto Budi Saptono & Gustofan Mahmud, 2022. "Institutional environment and tax performance: empirical evidence from developing economies," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 46(2), pages 207-237.
    11. Crivelli, Ernesto & Gupta, Sanjeev, 2014. "Resource blessing, revenue curse? Domestic revenue effort in resource-rich countries," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 88-101.
    12. Feige, Edgar L., 2015. "Reflections on the meaning and measurement of Unobserved Economies: What do we really know about the “Shadow Economy”?," MPRA Paper 68466, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Jean-François Brun & Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2019. "Tax reform, public revenue and public revenue instability in developing countries: Does development aid matter?," CERDI Working papers halshs-02089734, HAL.
    14. Luisanna Onnis & Patrizio Tirelli, 2011. "Institutions, policies and economic development. What are the causes of the shadow economy?," Working Papers 206, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2011.
    15. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2019. "Financial Development and Tax Revenue in Developing Countries: Investigating the International Trade and Economic Growth Channels," EconStor Preprints 206628, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    16. Aguima Aime Bernard Lompo, 2021. "How Financial Sector Development Improve Tax Revenue Mobilization for Developing Countries?," Working Papers hal-03328502, HAL.
    17. Fredström, Ashkan & Peltonen, Juhana & Wincent, Joakim, 2021. "A country-level institutional perspective on entrepreneurship productivity: The effects of informal economy and regulation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
    18. Andreas Buehn & Alexander Karmann, 2011. "The Shadow Economy and Do-it-Yourself Activities: What Do We Know?," Chapters, in: Friedrich Schneider (ed.), Handbook on the Shadow Economy, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Psychoyios, Dimitrios & Missiou, Olympia & Dergiades, Theologos, 2021. "Energy based estimation of the shadow economy: The role of governance quality," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 797-808.
    20. Manuchehr Irandoust, 2024. "Informality and Taxation: Evidence from Seven Latin American Countries," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 248(1), pages 91-114, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Shadow economy; Tax revenues; Effects; Implications; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-13-00777. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.