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Envelope wages, hidden production and labor productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Di Nola Alessandro

    (University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany)

  • Kocharkov Georgi

    (Goethe University Frankfurt and Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

  • Vasilev Aleksandar

    (University of Licoln, Lincoln, UK)

Abstract
We evaluate the relative importance of aggregate labor productivity versus income taxes and social contributions for tax compliance in an economy with a large degree of informality. Empirical evidence points out that tax evasion in Europe happens through partially concealing wages and profits in formally registered enterprises. To this end, we build a model in which employer-employee pairs of heterogeneous productive capacities make joint decisions on the degree of tax evasion. The quantitative model is used to analyze the case of Bulgaria which has the largest informal economy in Europe and underwent a number of important tax reforms over the period 2000–2014, including the introduction of a flat income tax in 2008. The estimation strategy relies on matching the empirical series for the size of the informal economy and other aggregate outcomes for 2000–2014. Our counterfactual experiments show that the most important factor for the changing size of the informal economy is labor productivity, which accounts for more than 75% of the change. The variation in corporate income tax accounts for the rest. We find that the 2008 flat tax reform did not play any visible role in coping with informality.

Suggested Citation

  • Di Nola Alessandro & Kocharkov Georgi & Vasilev Aleksandar, 2019. "Envelope wages, hidden production and labor productivity," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 1-30, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejmac:v:19:y:2019:i:2:p:30:n:10
    DOI: 10.1515/bejm-2018-0252
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    Cited by:

    1. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2021. "How quantitatively important are shocks to consumption and income tax rates for business cycle fluctuations? Lessons from Bulgaria (1999-2020)," EconStor Preprints 243316, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Ann-Sofie Kolm & Birthe Larsen, 2019. "Underground activities and labour market performance," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(1), pages 41-70, February.
    3. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2021. "How quantitatively important is public investment for both business cycle fluctuations and output growth in Bulgaria (1999–2018)?," Macroeconomics and Finance in Emerging Market Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 126-141, May.
    4. Yangyang Liang & Zhaoyang Long, 2023. "Collection Efficiency of Public Pension Funds: Based on Dynamic Panel Threshold Model," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(3), pages 21582440231, August.
    5. Aleksandar Vasilev, 2022. "How important are shocks to the elasticity of aggregate labor supply for business cycle fluctuations?," Journal of Economics and Econometrics, Economics and Econometrics Society, vol. 65(2), pages 48-67.
    6. D.E. Lapov & I.A. Mayburov, 2020. "Possibilities of Accounting for the Real Tax Burden When Modeling the Scale of Income Taxation," Journal of Applied Economic Research, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 19(2), pages 129-148.
    7. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2020. "Does the form of the Aggregate Production Function Matter for Modelling Business Cycle Fluctuations? Lessons for Bulgaria (1999-2018)," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 18, pages 81-86.
    8. Mangirdas Morkunas, 2022. "Measuring the Level of the Youth Informal Economy in Lithuania in 2004–2020," Economies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-13, November.
    9. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2020. "Can shocks to the discount factor explain business cycle fluctuations in Bulgaria (1999-2018)?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, issue Forthcomi.
    10. Andrea Lopez-Luzuriaga & Monica Calijuri & Carola Pessino & Simeon Schächtele & Ubaldo Gonzalez & Carla Chamorro, 2024. "Detecting envelope wages with e-billing information," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(1), pages 26-65, February.
    11. Dmitry E. Lapov & Igor A. Mayburov, 2021. "Modelling of a relative income tax bracket-based progression with the effect of a slower tax burden growth," Journal of Tax Reform, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, vol. 7(2), pages 160-172.
    12. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2022. "Decomposing the Grey Economy in Bulgaria: A General-Equilibrium Analysis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 8(2), pages 7-23.
    13. Vasilev, Aleksandar, 2022. "How important are shocks to the elasticity of aggregate labor supply for business cycle fluctuations? Lessons from Bulgaria," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 65(2), pages 48-67.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    envelope wages; flat tax reform; hidden production; informal economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • C63 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computational Techniques
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E65 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Studies of Particular Policy Episodes

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