摘要如下Abstract
This paper presents estimations of the shadow economies for 162 countries, including
developing Eastern European, Central Asian, and high income OECD countries over the
period 1999 to 2006/2007. According to our estimations, the average size of the shadow
economy (as a percent of "official" GDP) in 2006 in 98 developing countries is 38.7%, in
21 Eastern European and Central Asian (mostly transition) countries it is 38.1%, and in 25
high income OECD countries it is 18.7%. We find that the driving forces of the shadow
economy are an increased burden of taxation (both direct and indirect), combined with
labor market regulations and the quality of public goods and services, as well as the state
of the “official” economy.