The German Shadow Economy: Parted in a United Germany?

This paper analyzes differences between shadow economic activities in the western and eastern part of Germany. Due to new empirical results easterners' engagement in shadow economic activities seems to be lower than the engagement of their western neighbors. How can we explain this seemingly parted shadow economy in an otherwise united Germany? We show that current explanations of shadow economies are far from sufficient in explaining different shadow economic activities in Germany. Hence, additional arguments are presented recurring to an institutional perspective.

[1]  F. Schneider,et al.  Schattenwirtschaft und Schwarzarbeit: Umfang, Ursachen, Wirkungen und wirtschaftspolitische Empfehlungen , 2000 .

[2]  Gary H. McClelland,et al.  Why do people pay taxes , 1992 .

[3]  E. Posner,et al.  The Regulation of Groups: The Influence of Legal and Nonlegal Sanctions on Collective Action , 1996 .

[4]  J. Alm.  Explaining Tax Compliance , 1996 .

[5]  H. D. Soto.  The Other Path: The Invisible Revolution in the Third World , 1989 .

[6]  J. Knight.  Institutions and Social Conflict , 1992 .

[7]  Sally Sampson.  The limits of liberty , 1993 .

[8]  Lars Udéhn,et al.  Twenty-five Years with The Logic of Collective Action , 1993 .

[9]  James M. Buchanan,et al.  Rational Choice and Moral Order , 1988 .

[10]  W. Gaertner,et al.  Cheating the Government: The Economics of Evasion. , 1992 .

[11]  D. Giles,et al.  JEL Classification(s): , 1999 .

[12]  Robert Shishko,et al.  The Economics of Multiple Job Holding , 1976 .

[13]  V. Vanberg,et al.  Rules and choice in economics , 1995 .

[14]  R. Heinze,et al.  Schattenwirtschaft : wirtschafts- und sozialwissenschaftliche Aspekte, internationale Erfahrungen , 1984 .

[15]  D. Heckathorn.  Collective Action and the Second-Order Free-Rider Problem , 1989 .

[16]  E. Noelle-Neumann,et al.  Allensbacher Jahrbuch der Demoskopie , 1976 .

[17]  O. G. Schwenk.  Soziale Lagen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland , 1999 .

[18]  Susan Pozo.  Exploring the Underground Economy , 1996 .

[19]  Robert C. Ellickson.  Order without law : how neighbors settle disputes , 2009 .

[20]  F. Schneider,et al.  Shadow Economies: Size, Causes, and Consequences , 2000 .

[21]  F. Schauer.  Does simplicity bring liberty , 1997 .

[22]  H. D. Soto.  The Other Path , 2002 .

[23]  T. Tyler,et al.  Why People Obey the Law , 2021 .

[24]  B. Dallago.  The Irregular Economy: The 'Underground' Economy and the 'Black' Labour Market , 1990 .

[25]  Margaret Levi,et al.  Of Rule and Revenue , 1991 .

[26]  Enno Langfeldt.  Die Schattenwirtschaft in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland , 1984 .

[27]  Agnar Sandmo,et al.  Income tax evasion: a theoretical analysis , 1972 .

[28]  F. Schneider.  Arbeit im Schatten: Einige theoretische und empirische Überlegungen ?ber die Schattenwirtschaft , 2001 .

[29]  B. Fortin,et al.  The effect of taxes on labor supply in the underground economy , 1994 .

[30]  F. Schneider.  Arbeit im Schatten: Einige theoretische und empirische Überlegungen über die Schattenwirtschaft , 2001 .

[31]  James M. Buchanan,et al.  The limits of liberty: between anarchy and Leviathan , 1976 .

[32]  Robert C. Ellickson,et al.  Order Without Law: How Neighbors Settle Disputes , 1991 .

[33]  F. Schneider.  The shadow economies of Western Europe , 1997 .

[34]  David E. A. Giles.  Modelling the hidden economy and the tax-gap in New Zealand , 1999 .