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Government Decentralization and Prevalence of the Shadow Economy

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  • Rajeev K. Goel
  • James W. Saunoris

Abstract

This article examines the effects of various types of decentralization of government functions on the cross-national prevalence of the shadow economy. Do countries with different prevalence of the shadow economy respond differently to government decentralization? We consider four dimensions of decentralization: (1) the tiers of government, (2) subnational government expenditures, (3) subnational government revenues, and (4) subnational government employment. While baseline results show decentralization to reduce the shadow economy, we uniquely find differences in the effectiveness across physical and fiscal decentralization—greater physical decentralization is more effective at reducing widespread shadow economies, while fiscal decentralization is more effective with small shadow sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Rajeev K. Goel & James W. Saunoris, 2016. "Government Decentralization and Prevalence of the Shadow Economy," Public Finance Review, , vol. 44(2), pages 263-288, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:44:y:2016:i:2:p:263-288
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142114545677
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Eugen Dimant & Guglielmo Tosato, 2018. "Causes And Effects Of Corruption: What Has Past Decade'S Empirical Research Taught Us? A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 335-356, April.
    2. Aysel Amir & Korhan Gökmenoğlu, 2023. "Analyzing the Drivers of the Shadow Economy for the Case of the CESEE Region," Journal of Economics / Ekonomicky casopis, Institute of Economic Research, Slovak Academy of Sciences, vol. 71(2), pages 155-181, February.
    3. Camila Henriquez Mora & James W. Saunoris, 2023. "Is there convergence amongst shadow economies? International evidence," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 82(1), pages 15-28, January.
    4. Goel, Rajeev K. & Saunoris, James W., 2014. "Military versus non-military government spending and the shadow economy," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 350-359.
    5. Pankaj C. Patel, 2022. "Recentralization and self‐employment: A quasi‐natural experiment in Switzerland," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(5), pages 1379-1402, July.
    6. Goel, Rajeev K. & Saunoris, James W. & Schneider, Friedrich, 2019. "Drivers of the underground economy for over a century: A long term look for the United States," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 95-106.
    7. Aziz N. Berdiev & James W. Saunoris, 2023. "The case for independence: Does central bank independence curb the spread of the underground economy?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(3), pages 407-435, August.
    8. Bashlakova, Volga & Bashlakov, Henadzi, 2021. "The study of the shadow economy in modern conditions: Theory, methodology, practice," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 468-480.
    9. Canh, Nguyen Phuc & Thanh, Su Dinh, 2020. "Financial development and the shadow economy: A multi-dimensional analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 37-54.
    10. James E. Payne & James W. Saunoris, 2020. "Corruption and Firm Tax Evasion in Transition Economies: Results from Censored Quantile Instrumental Variables Estimation," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 48(2), pages 195-206, June.
    11. Folorunsho Monsuru Ajide & James Temitope Dada & Johnson Kolawole Olowookere, 2022. "Shadow economy and foreign direct investment in Nigerian manufacturing industry," International Journal of Economics and Business Research, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 23(2), pages 156-180.
    12. Saunoris, James W., 2024. "Individualism, economic freedom, and the development of the shadow economy," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 48(1).
    13. Aziz N. Berdiev & James W. Saunoris, 2019. "Globalization and Informal Entrepreneurship: A Cross-Country Analysis," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 47(1), pages 65-80, March.
    14. Hailin Chen & Friedrich Schneider & Qunli Sun, 2020. "Measuring the size of the shadow economy in 30 provinces of China over 1995–2016: The MIMIC approach," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 427-453, August.

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