Professor Schneider's Shadow Economy:What do we really know? A Rejoinder

Feige, Edgar L. (2016): Professor Schneider's Shadow Economy:What do we really know? A Rejoinder. Forthcoming in: Journal of Tax Administration , Vol. 2, No. 2 (June 2016)

Abstract

Abstract: Professor Schneider’s “Comment” on my “Reflections” paper does not adequately address the key issues concerning the veracity of his findings, namely issues of documentation, normalization, calibration and replication. Further findings of inadequate documentation, suspicious normalization procedures, unexplained calibration errors and the inability to replicate the results; reinforces the conclusions of my original “Reflections” paper. Schneider’s Shadow Economy results suffer from conceptual flaws, arbitrary data manipulations and insufficient documentation for replication, questioning their place in the academic, policy and popular literature.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Shadow Economy, tax evasion, non-observed economy, unobserved economy, Friedrich Schneider, MIMIC models
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C5 - Econometric Modeling > C51 - Model Construction and Estimation; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C8 - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology ; Computer Programs > C82 - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data ; Data Access; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E4 - Money and Interest Rates > E41 - Demand for Money; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E6 - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook; H - Public Economics > H2 - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue > H26 - Tax Evasion and Avoidance; K - Law and Economics > K4 - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior > K42 - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O17 - Formal and Informal Sectors ; Shadow Economy ; Institutional Arrangements

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