ABSTRACT
This paper examines whether there is a difference in the hidden economy’s set of determinants across developed and developing countries. Applying extreme bounds analysis (EBA) to a cross-sectional dataset of 33 developed and 97 developing countries, we find a considerable variation in the determinants of the hidden economy across developed and developing countries. The results show that internet usage, inflation, financial development, poverty, and monetary freedom are robust determinants of the hidden economy exclusively in developing countries. Whereas the time required to start a business and GDP per capita growth play a crucial role exclusively in developed countries. Remarkably, the property rights index is the only determinant that is robust in both types of countries. These findings offer important insights for policymakers seeking to address the challenges posed by the hidden economy.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the editor and three anonymous referees for detailed comments on the original version of this paper.
Supplemental data
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2023.2208331.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Please see Khatatbeh (Citation2019), and Khatatbeh and Moosa (Citation2021) for a detailed illustration of EBA.
2 See Table A3 in the online appendix for variables definition, measurement, previous results, and sources.