IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-21-00876.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urbanization, Governance and Informal Economy: an African Tale

Author

Listed:
  • Hermann Ndoya hegueu

    (University of Dschang, Cameroon)

  • Aristophane Djeufack dongmo

    (University of Dschang, Cameroon)

Abstract

Using system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), and Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) on an unbalanced panel data of 45 African countries over the period 2000-2015, this paper empirically analyzes the role of governance in the relationship between urbanization and informal economy. Our results show that there is a reverse U-shaped relationship between urbanization and the informal economy. At the earlier stage, urbanization increases informal economy in Africa, and in the later stage the effect of urbanization on informal economy decreases with the interaction of governance quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Hermann Ndoya hegueu & Aristophane Djeufack dongmo, 2021. "Urbanization, Governance and Informal Economy: an African Tale," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(3), pages 1525-1540.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-21-00876
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2021/Volume41/EB-21-V41-I3-P130.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. González, Andrés & Teräsvirta, Timo & van Dijk, Dick & Yang, Yukai, 2005. "Panel Smooth Transition Regression Models," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 604, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 11 Oct 2017.
    2. Gilbert COLLETAZ & Christophe HURLIN, 2006. "Threshold Effects of the Public Capital Productivity : An International Panel Smooth Transition Approach," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 1669, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    3. Rita Almeida & Pedro Carneiro, 2012. "Enforcement of Labor Regulation and Informality," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 64-89, July.
    4. Leandro Medina & Mr. Friedrich Schneider, 2018. "Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years?," IMF Working Papers 2018/017, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Torgler, Benno & Schneider, Friedrich, 2007. "Shadow Economy, Tax Morale, Governance and Institutional Quality: A Panel Analysis," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt26s710z8, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    6. Leandro Medina & Mr. Andrew W Jonelis & Mehmet Cangul, 2017. "The Informal Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Size and Determinants," IMF Working Papers 2017/156, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Torgler, Benno & Schneider, Friedrich, 2009. "The impact of tax morale and institutional quality on the shadow economy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 228-245, April.
    8. Ceyhun Elgin & Ferda Erturk, 2016. "Is Informality a Barrier to Convergence?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(4), pages 2556-2568.
    9. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Series Working Papers 2001-W21, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    10. Erik Jonasson, 2012. "Government Effectiveness and Regional Variation in Informal Employment," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(4), pages 481-497, June.
    11. Henri Njangang & Luc Ndeffo Nembot & Joseph Pasky Ngameni, 2020. "Does financial development reduce the size of the informal economy in sub‐Saharan African countries?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 375-391, September.
    12. Ana Moreno-Monroy, 2012. "Critical Commentary. Informality in Space: Understanding Agglomeration Economies during Economic Development," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(10), pages 2019-2030, August.
    13. Hansen, Bruce E., 1999. "Threshold effects in non-dynamic panels: Estimation, testing, and inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 345-368, December.
    14. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    15. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    16. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler & Jonathan Temple, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Papers 2001-W21, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    17. Andreas Buehn & Friedrich Schneider, 2012. "Shadow economies around the world: novel insights, accepted knowledge, and new estimates," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 19(1), pages 139-171, February.
    18. Prado, Mauricio, 2011. "Government policy in the formal and informal sectors," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 1120-1136.
    19. Elgin, Ceyhun & Oyvat, Cem, 2013. "Lurking in the cities: Urbanization and the informal economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 36-47.
    20. 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.
    21. Colin C Williams & Ioana Alexandra Horodnic, 2016. "An institutional theory of the informal economy: some lessons from the United Kingdom," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(7), pages 722-738, July.
    22. Yuki, Kazuhiro, 2007. "Urbanization, informal sector, and development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 76-103, September.
    23. Dick van Dijk & Dennis Fok & Philip Hans Franses, 2005. "A multi-level panel STAR model for US manufacturing sectors," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(6), pages 811-827.
    24. Ceyhun Elgin & Ferda Erturk, 2019. "Informal economies around the world: measures, determinants and consequences," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(2), pages 221-237, June.
    25. Ceyhun Elgin & Oguz Oztunali, 2014. "Institutions, Informal Economy, and Economic Development," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(4), pages 145-162.
    26. Bosch, Mariano & Goñi-Pacchioni, Edwin & Maloney, William, 2012. "Trade liberalization, labor reforms and formal–informal employment dynamics," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 653-667.
    27. Granger, Clive W. J. & Terasvirta, Timo, 1993. "Modelling Non-Linear Economic Relationships," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198773207.
    28. Eghosa Igudia & Rob Ackrill & Simeon Coleman & Carlyn Dobson, 2016. "Determinants of the informal economy of an emerging economy: a multiple indicator, multiple causes approach," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 28(2/3), pages 154-177.
    29. Ceyhun Elgin, 2010. "Political Turnover, Taxes and the Shadow Economy," Working Papers 2010/08, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    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. KOUAKOU, Dorgyles C.M. & YEO, Kolotioloma I.H., 2023. "Can innovation reduce the size of the informal economy? Econometric evidence from 138 countries," MPRA Paper 119264, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Ndoya, Hermann & Okere, Donald & Belomo, Marie laure & Atangana, Melissa, 2023. "Does ICTs decrease the spread of informal economy in Africa?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2).
    3. Jingyi Wang & Qingning Lin & Xuebiao Zhang, 2023. "How Does Digital Economy Promote Agricultural Development? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-19, December.

    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. Ceyhun Elgin & Ferda Erturk, 2019. "Informal economies around the world: measures, determinants and consequences," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(2), pages 221-237, June.
    2. Ndoya, Hermann & Okere, Donald & Belomo, Marie laure & Atangana, Melissa, 2023. "Does ICTs decrease the spread of informal economy in Africa?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2).
    3. Unbreen Qayyum & Sohail Anjum & Samina Sabir, 2020. "Religion and economic development: new insights," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 793-834, November.
    4. Wafa Ghardallou, 2022. "Financial System Development and Democracy: a Panel Smooth Transition Regression Approach for Developing Countries," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(2), pages 1714-1735, June.
    5. Jude C. Eggoh & Patrick Villieu, 2013. "Un réexamen de la non-linéarité entre le développement financier et la croissance économique," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 123(2), pages 211-236.
    6. Montes, Gabriel Caldas & da Cunha Lima, Luiza Leitão, 2018. "Effects of fiscal transparency on inflation and inflation expectations: Empirical evidence from developed and developing countries," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 26-37.
    7. Filippo Berti Mecocci & Amir Maghssudipour & Marco Bellandi, 2022. "The effect of cultural and creative production on human capital: Evidence from European regions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(6), pages 1263-1287, December.
    8. de Mendonça, Helder Ferreira & Galvão, Délio José Cordeiro & Loures, Renato Falci Villela, 2013. "Credit and bank opaqueness: How to avoid financial crises?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 605-612.
    9. Borsato, Andrea & Lorentz, André, 2023. "The Kaldor–Verdoorn law at the age of robots and AI," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    10. López-Villavicencio, Antonia & Mignon, Valérie, 2011. "On the impact of inflation on output growth: Does the level of inflation matter?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 455-464, September.
    11. Seydou Coulibaly, 2019. "Impact of natural resource wealth on non-resource tax revenue mobilization in Africa: Do institutions and economic diversification matter?," CERDI Working papers halshs-02108128, HAL.
    12. Taha Zaghdoudi & Samir Maktouf, 2017. "Threshold effect in the relationship between environmental taxes and CO2 emissions: A PSTR specification," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(3), pages 2086-2094.
    13. Rao, B. Bhaskara & Tamazian, Artur & Kumar, Saten, 2010. "Systems GMM estimates of the Feldstein-Horioka puzzle for the OECD countries and tests for structural breaks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1269-1273, September.
    14. Rojas-Vallejos, Jorge & Lastuka, Amy, 2020. "The income inequality and carbon emissions trade-off revisited," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    15. Barra, Cristian & Papaccio, Anna & Ruggiero, Nazzareno, 2024. "Are cooperative and commercial banks equally effective in reducing the shadow economy? International evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    16. Hao, Yu & Liao, Hua & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2015. "Is China’s carbon reduction target allocation reasonable? An analysis based on carbon intensity convergence," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 229-239.
    17. Cong Minh Huynh & Tan Loi Nguyen, 2020. "Fiscal policy and shadow economy in Asian developing countries: does corruption matter?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(4), pages 1745-1761, October.
    18. Eggoh, Jude C. & Khan, Muhammad, 2014. "On the nonlinear relationship between inflation and economic growth," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 133-143.
    19. Monica Violeta Achim & Viorela Ligia Văidean & Sorin Nicolae Borlea & Decebal Remus Florescu, 2021. "The Impact of the Development of Society on Economic and Financial Crime. Case Study for European Union Member States," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-20, May.
    20. Valeria Costantini & Francesco Crespi, 2015. "European enlargement policy, technological capabilities and sectoral export dynamics," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 25-69, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urbanization; Governance; Informal economy; U-shaped relationship; Africa.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

    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-21-00876. 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.