Informal payments are a frequently overlooked source of local public finance in developing countries. We use microdata from ten countries to establish stylized facts on the magnitude, form, and distributional implications of this "informal taxation." Informal taxation is widespread, particularly...

It is well known by now that government spending has typically been procyclical in developing economies but acyclical or countercyclical in industrial countries. Little, if any, is known, however, about the cyclical behavior of tax rates (as opposed to tax revenues, which are endogenous to the...

Introduction -- The problem and puzzle -- The democratic dilemma -- Empirically assessing the democratic dilemma -- Why democratic citizens resist -- Why firms resist -- The repercussions: who suffers? -- Democratic country example: India -- Conservative authoritarian country example: China --...