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Macroeconomic Implications of the Underground Sector: Challenging the Double Business Cycle Approach

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  • Catalina Granda-Carvajal

    (Universidad de Antioquia Calle 67 53-108 Medellín, Colombia)

Abstract

Within the literature on business cycles featuring underground activities, there is an approach based on the arguable premise that these are countercyclical. This paper develops a real business cycle model without such an assumption. Preferences are additively separable in formal and underground labor. Further, leisure time is spent on irregular work and non-market activities. Simulations permit examining how the model performs and comparing the results with related findings. Also, computational experiments allow analyzing the effects of taxes, enforcement and tastes for underground labor on aggregate fluctuations. These experiments offer a comprehensive view of the cyclical implications of the shadow economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Catalina Granda-Carvajal, 2012. "Macroeconomic Implications of the Underground Sector: Challenging the Double Business Cycle Approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 237-256, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:42:y:2012:i:2:p:237-256
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    Cited by:

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    2. Slim, Sadri, 2015. "Un modelo Mundell-Fleming con economía ilegal y lavado de dinero [Modeling illegal economy and money laundering: a Mundell-Fleming framework]," MPRA Paper 64675, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. 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.
    4. Shapiro, Alan Finkelstein, 2015. "Institutions, informal labor markets, and business cycle volatility," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123408, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Jesús J. Rodríguez De Luque, 2014. "Efectos de las políticas tributaria y fiscalizadora sobre el tamano del sector informal en Colombia," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, August.
    6. Alan Finkelstein Shapiro, 2015. "Institutions, Informal Labor Markets, and Business Cycle Volatility," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2015), pages 77-112, October.
    7. Soldatos, Gerasimos T., 2015. "An Anti-Austerity Policy Recipe against Debt Accumulation in the Presence of Hidden Economy," MPRA Paper 69911, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Underground economy; Shadow economy; Business cycles; Dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E26 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Informal Economy; Underground Economy
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements

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