Estimations of the shadow economies for 145 countries, including developing, transition and highly developed OECD economies over 1999 to 2005 are presented. The average size of the shadow economy (as a percent of "official" GDP) in 2004/05 in 96 developing countries is 36.7%, in 25 transition...

The paper attempts to explain how tax rates, the extent of corruption and various institutional aspects of the labour market influence the relative size of different segments (unemployment, employment, self-employment and activity in the hidden economy) of the labour market as well as the tax...

Knowing whether corruption leads to higher emigration rates - and among which groups - is important because most labor emigration is from developing to developed countries. If corruption leads highly-skilled and highlyeducated workers to leave developing countries, it can result in a shortage of...

We study the extent to which ML techniques can be used to improve tax auditing efficiency using administrative data, without the need of randomized audits. Using Italy's population data on sole proprietorship tax returns, audits and their outcome, we develop a new approach to address the so...

Tax collection problems date back to the earliest recorded history of mankind. This paper begins with a simple theoretical construct of paying (rather than declaring) taxes, which we argue has been an overlooked aspect of tax compliance. This construct is then tested in two large natural field...

We discuss recent policy debate in Russia on moving from the present value added tax to a sales tax structure covering households, government and exports. What is distinctive in this debate is the range and nature of problems identified with the VAT, most of which stem from its multistage...

A sub-set of the costs and benefits of sub-national fiscal autonomy in federations is examined with the major focus being on road check-posts. The examination is done with reference to Indian states and using a partial equilibrium, diagrammatic analysis. Empirical analyses of the revenue impact...

A recent controversial move by the Indian income tax authorities was the introduction of a fringe benefits tax (FBT) in 2005. Its introduction has been justified on the grounds that it taxes fringe benefits which are collectively enjoyed by employees and are in the form of facilities and...

Estimations of the shadow economies for 120 countries, including developing, Eastern Europe and Central Asian and high income OECD countries over 1999 to 2006 are presented. The average size of the shadow economy (as a percent of "official" GDP) in 2004/05 in 76 developing countries is 35.5%, in...