An influential theoretical literature has observed that economic diversification can reduce risk and increase financial development. But causality operates in both directions, as a well functioning financial system can enable a society to invest in more productive but risky projects, thereby...

Among economists it is widely believed that high tax rates and ineffective tax collection by the government are the main causes contributing to the rise of the informal economy. Economists have already established two relationships, at least empirically demonstrated, between tax rates and tax...