- University of Linz
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- I am a retired professor of economics at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz. My main research areas are:(1) Publi... moreI am a retired professor of economics at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz. My main research areas are:(1) Public Finance, Public Choice and Enviromental Economics.(2) I am specialised in areas like the shadow economy, tax evasion, organised crime and money laundering.edit
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ABSTRACT
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Landlaufig versteht man unter „Schwarzarbeit“ all jene Tatigkeiten, die in den bestehenden (das heist offiziellen) Statistiken nicht ausgewiesen werden und die im Sinne der Konvention der volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung eine... more
Landlaufig versteht man unter „Schwarzarbeit“ all jene Tatigkeiten, die in den bestehenden (das heist offiziellen) Statistiken nicht ausgewiesen werden und die im Sinne der Konvention der volkswirtschaftlichen Gesamtrechnung eine Wertschopfung darstellen. Diese Arbeitsdefinition schliest die gesamte im privaten Haushalt geleistete Produktion und die freiwillige Arbeit fur wohltatige Zwecke aus. Rein finanzielle Transaktionen, die keine Wertschopfung darstellen, werden ebenfalls nicht zur Schwarzarbeit gezahlt. In der Tabelle 5 ist eine Taxanomie der verschiedenen Arten von Untergrund- oder Schattenwirtschaftsaktivitaten legaler und illegaler Art aufgefuhrt.
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Schattenwirtschaft oder Schwarzarbeit gilt im Freundes- und Bekanntenkreis haufig als Kavaliersdelikt. Wie die Bevolkerung uber Schattenwirtschaft denkt, ist das Thema dieses Kapitels.
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In this article the main focus lies on the shadow economy labor force in OECD, developing, and transition countries. Besides informal employment in the rural and nonrural sector also other measures of informal employment like the share of... more
In this article the main focus lies on the shadow economy labor force in OECD, developing, and transition countries. Besides informal employment in the rural and nonrural sector also other measures of informal employment like the share of women and men are shown. The most influential factors on the shadow economy labor force are tax policies and state regulation, which, if they rise, increase both. Furthermore, the discussion of the recent microstudies underlines that economic opportunities, the overall burden of the state (taxes and regulations), the general situation on the labor market, and unemployment are especially crucial for an understanding of the dynamics the shadow labor force.
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In this paper, the main focus is on the definition, measurement methods, and causal factors of the shadow economy in OECD countries. The greatest influence on the shadow economy is tax policies and state regulation. Furthermore, an... more
In this paper, the main focus is on the definition, measurement methods, and causal factors of the shadow economy in OECD countries. The greatest influence on the shadow economy is tax policies and state regulation. Furthermore, an appreciation of the overall burden of the state (taxes and regula- tions) and the general situation in the labor market, including levels of self- employment and unemployment, is crucial for an understanding of the dy- namics of the shadow economy.
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We are currently observing the end of the process of forming the European Monetary Union — a step which takes well beyond an mere economic union. In order to enable a long-term functioning of such a dual union, some (minimal) European... more
We are currently observing the end of the process of forming the European Monetary Union — a step which takes well beyond an mere economic union. In order to enable a long-term functioning of such a dual union, some (minimal) European federal union will be necessary. In this paper six basic elements of a federal European constitution, like a two chamber system, direct democratic institutions and an European federal tax are suggested. In section 2 six elements, which should be key propositions of an European constitution, are introduced and in sections 3 to 5 an attempt is made to scientifically justify these propositions, e.g. the design of the European legislation (section 3), the subsidiarity and federalism principle (section 4), and direct democratic institutions (section 5). Finally, section 6 provides a summary and gives some conclusions.
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This paper is a literature review of empirical findings related to: a) the proceeds from transnational organized crime (TOC) worldwide with special focus on several OECD countries, and b) a breakdown of the different types of crime... more
This paper is a literature review of empirical findings related to: a) the proceeds from transnational organized crime (TOC) worldwide with special focus on several OECD countries, and b) a breakdown of the different types of crime proceeds, including those from financial and tax fraud, and drug-, human-, and arms-trafficking. The paper demonstrates that illegal cross-border flows of global "dirty money" (including tax fraud figures) make up the largest share (66 percent) of all illegal transactions. Moreover, the paper describes the infiltration of TOC proceeds into the "official" economic system and the role of the Hawala banking in this regard. The paper concludes that a detailed analysis of financial proceeds and their sources is needed in order to reduce the basis for TOC operations.
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Umfang und Entwicklung der Schattenwirtschaft in Deutschland sowie in anderen Landern zeigen eindeutig, dass dieses Phanomen eine nicht zu unterschatzende Grosenordnung erreicht hat, selbst unter dem Vorbehalt, dass bislang noch keine... more
Umfang und Entwicklung der Schattenwirtschaft in Deutschland sowie in anderen Landern zeigen eindeutig, dass dieses Phanomen eine nicht zu unterschatzende Grosenordnung erreicht hat, selbst unter dem Vorbehalt, dass bislang noch keine exakten Schatzungen zum Umfang der Schattenwirtschaft erzielt werden konnten. Die Bedeutung der Schattenwirtschaft ist aber nicht nur eine Frage ihrer Grose. Schattenwirtschaft nimmt Einfluss auf die offizielle Wirtschaft. Was dies im Einzelnen bedeutet, ist Thema dieses Kapitels.
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For much of the last century, a popular and recurrent belief was that the shadow economy was disappearing and becoming a minor residue existing only in a few marginal enclaves of the modern economy (Geertz, 1963; Lewis, 1959). This... more
For much of the last century, a popular and recurrent belief was that the shadow economy was disappearing and becoming a minor residue existing only in a few marginal enclaves of the modern economy (Geertz, 1963; Lewis, 1959). This modernisation thesis, however, has been increasingly refuted. It is now recognised that the shadow economy is relatively widespread and growing relative to the legitimate declared economy in many global regions (Schneider and Enste, 2000, 2002; ILO, 2002a, b; OECD, 2002; Feige and Urban, 2008; ...
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In this major book an internationally acclaimed group of scholars examines theoretical and applied topics of particular relevance to public choice analysis.
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Recent findings in Economic Psychology on the thinking and judgment of economic laymen can help to improve economic policy advice. First, based on psychological theories and empirical findings, the notion of the Homo oeconomicus is... more
Recent findings in Economic Psychology on the thinking and judgment of economic laymen can help to improve economic policy advice. First, based on psychological theories and empirical findings, the notion of the Homo oeconomicus is challenged. The economic situation is judged by laymen using implicit theories and biases, which are not in line with neoclassical economics. Then, the relevance of these theories and heuristics is shown empirically by the systematically different opinions of economists and non-economists on economic policy measures like minimum wages and maximum salaries. Conclusions for policy advisors complement the analysis.
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Bevor wir näher auf die umfangreichen Privatisierungen in Großbri tannien eingehen, machen wir einige kurze Bemerkungen über die "Geschichte der Verstaatlichung und Entstaatlichung" in Großbritan nien. Zwar wird meist die... more
Bevor wir näher auf die umfangreichen Privatisierungen in Großbri tannien eingehen, machen wir einige kurze Bemerkungen über die "Geschichte der Verstaatlichung und Entstaatlichung" in Großbritan nien. Zwar wird meist die Politik der "Labour Party" mit der verstaat lichten Industrie in Großbritannien in Verbindung gebracht, es war jedoch die "Conservative Party", die im Jahr 1926 den "Central Electri city Board" verstaatlichte. Obwohl die Konservativen programmatisch auf Privatwirtschaft und Entstaatlichung festgelegt waren, leisteten sie während der Zeit der größten Verstaatlichungsprogramme von 1945 bis 1951 kaum Widerstand. Die einzige Industrie, die sie nach ihrer Regie rungsübernahme 1951 reprivatisierten, war 1953 die Stahlindustrie. Die "Spaltung" der englischen Wirtschaft in einen öffentlichen und privaten Sektor war von beiden (abwechselnd die Regierung stellenden) Par teien im großen und ganzen akzeptiert. Somit war b...
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The authors Monica Violeta Achim and Sorin Nicolae Borlea structured their book entitled “Economic and Financial Crime: Corruption, shadow economy, and money laundering” in four major parts [...]
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We explore the interaction of the informal sector with the formal economy for a developing economy, that is, Pakistan. Estimation results are obtained via autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, which show a... more
We explore the interaction of the informal sector with the formal economy for a developing economy, that is, Pakistan. Estimation results are obtained via autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, which show a significantly positive effect of the informal sector in the long run whereas a negative impact of informal sector is found in the short run. We also present dynamic simulations to show the effect/contribution in terms of revised GDP per capita if the informal sector is accounted for in official statistics. The novelty of results is the varying effects of the informal sector across two time horizons that can have serious policy implications for developing and transition economies with large informal sectors. Although, the findings of this article enrich our understanding on the behaviour of the informal sector, they further fuel the debate associated with eradication of the informal sector. Efforts to curb informal activities may burden the low-skilled work...
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In this study a simple economic model is developed for analyzing the market of works of contemporary fine arts(l). So far only a few authors(2) have tried to analyze supply of and the demand for works of fine arts in the literature.... more
In this study a simple economic model is developed for analyzing the market of works of contemporary fine arts(l). So far only a few authors(2) have tried to analyze supply of and the demand for works of fine arts in the literature. Moreover, in most of these studies only particular aspects are investigated, and the interaction between both sides of
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After overcoming the Coronavirus Pandemic with massive spending programs and the possibility of running a deficit at the EU level, a minimal Federal European Constitution is proposed, to provide a legal and democratic base for the... more
After overcoming the Coronavirus Pandemic with massive spending programs and the possibility of running a deficit at the EU level, a minimal Federal European Constitution is proposed, to provide a legal and democratic base for the European Union. Six basic elements of a future European federal constitution are developed: the European Commission should be turned into a European government and the European legislation should consist of a two-chamber system with full responsibility over all federal matters. Three further key elements are the subsidiarity principle, federalism and direct democracy, which would provide the possibility for European voters to participate actively in political decision making, to break political and interest group cartels, and to prevent unwanted shifting of responsibilities from EU member states to the European federal level.
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REFORM PROPOSALS FOR HEALTH-CARE SYSTEMS SWEDEN: ABSENTEEISM RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION FIXED BOOK PRICES DISABILITY BENEFITS PUBLICATION DATES OF DATA WORKING TIME DEMOGRAPHIC DEPENDENCY TEENAGE BIRTHRATES NEW AT DICE DATABASE, PROJECTS, CONFERENCES, PUBLICATIONS Solving the Premium Risk Problem, ...more
How much does the state of the economy influence the popularity and the election outcome of Austrian parties? An empirical investigation* by
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Abstract. In order to guarantee a further successful functioning of the enlarged European Union a Federal European Constitution is proposed. Six basic elements of a future European federal constitution are developed: the European... more
Abstract. In order to guarantee a further successful functioning of the enlarged European Union a Federal European Constitution is proposed. Six basic elements of a future European federal constitution are developed: the European commission should be turned into an European government and the European legislation should consist of a two chamber system with full responsibility over all federal items. Three further key elements are the subsidiarity principle, federalism and the secession right, which are best suited to limiting the domain of the central European authority to which certain tasks are given, such as defense, foreign and environmental policy. Another important feature is direct democracy, which provides the possibility for European voters to participate actively in the political decision making, to break political and interest group cartels, and to prevent an unwanted shifting of responsibilities from EU member states to the European federal level.
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By using official time series of the Italian evaded VAT base (Ministry of Finance) for the period 1980-2004 we investigate empirically the long-run characteristics of tax evasion and the relationship with the tax burden. We focus on three... more
By using official time series of the Italian evaded VAT base (Ministry of Finance) for the period 1980-2004 we investigate empirically the long-run characteristics of tax evasion and the relationship with the tax burden. We focus on three important issues not analyzed so far. First, using different measures of aggregate economic activity as reference variables in estimating the average tax burden, we investigate the size and dynamics of the over-burden traceable back to tax evasion. Second, exploiting cointegration techniques, we quantify the elasticity between tax evasion and the average tax rate in Italy. We then comment on the complex dynamic interaction between tax burden and tax evasion, to ascertain whether in the Italian experience there is evidence for any “vicious circle ” between them.
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In this paper we apply the unit root and cointegration methodology of modern econometric time series analysis to estimated popularity functions for the Austrian parties in government since the mid-1970s. We find no evidence for and rather... more
In this paper we apply the unit root and cointegration methodology of modern econometric time series analysis to estimated popularity functions for the Austrian parties in government since the mid-1970s. We find no evidence for and rather strong evidence against influences of unemployment or inflation on the popularity of the political parties in the federal government, thereby challenging previous studies that claimed to have established such influences. The usefulness of the applied methodology to clarify such questions is demonstrated by this example.
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In this note, three major areas of Buchanan’s research are briefly described: (1) The ideas of Knut Wicksell on Buchanan’s work, (2) constitutional economics and the veil of ignorance, and (3) the role of government and/or the power to... more
In this note, three major areas of Buchanan’s research are briefly described: (1) The ideas of Knut Wicksell on Buchanan’s work, (2) constitutional economics and the veil of ignorance, and (3) the role of government and/or the power to tax. It is shown that these three areas had a major influence on the European public choice movement, for example, at the European constitutional group.
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This paper presents a model for assessing economic losses caused by electricity cuts and the willingness to pay to avoid these outages as an approximation of the value of energy supply security (ESS). Economic losses occurring as a result... more
This paper presents a model for assessing economic losses caused by electricity cuts and the willingness to pay to avoid these outages as an approximation of the value of energy supply security (ESS). Economic losses occurring as a result of prolonged outages are calculated for simulated power cuts lasting from 1 to 48 hours, taking the respective season, day of the week and time of day into consideration. The simulated power cuts can be defined for the nine Austrian provinces and the costs due to power cuts are computed separately for all sectors of the economy and for households.
This paper analyzes the joint effect of tax evasion and the legal system’s inefficiency on firms’ financial constraints. We find that each factor has a statistically significant effect on the difficulties encountered by firms that seek... more
This paper analyzes the joint effect of tax evasion and the legal system’s inefficiency on firms’ financial constraints. We find that each factor has a statistically significant effect on the difficulties encountered by firms that seek financing. Moreover, tax evasion and legal system inefficiency are substitutes: they mitigate each other’s negative effect on credit constraints. Thus, the extent to which financial constraints are increasing in tax evasion is reduced by a less efficient legal system. Our findings suggest that legal system efficiency is a prerequisite for the development of effective financial institutions—especially in a context of widespread informality.
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The purpose of this article is to define the concept of digital shadow economy and identify its determinants and channels from consumers’ position. In order to fulfil the defined purpose, the method of snowball sampling was employed. The... more
The purpose of this article is to define the concept of digital shadow economy and identify its determinants and channels from consumers’ position. In order to fulfil the defined purpose, the method of snowball sampling was employed. The results of the research revealed that consumers interpret digital shadow economy as an illegal operation in the Internet space, which generates illegal money flows for commodity/service providers or purchasers, and deprives legal traders/service providers from the revenue that could be officially accounted, calculated and declared. E-shops, social networks and websites are the channels, most commonly engaged for acquisition of goods/services in digital space; the categories of goods/services acquired by these channels include clothing and footwear, trips and entertainment, cosmetics and perfume. Purification of the concept of digital shadow economy from consumers’ position allowed to define the concept of digital shadow economy, which is a significa...
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Dieser Forschungsbericht im Auftrag der Bundesregierung diskutiert und entwickelt zentrale konzeptionelle Grundlagen der offiziellen deutschen Armuts- und Reichtumsberichterstattung. Auf diesem Bericht aufbauend, hat die deutsche... more
Dieser Forschungsbericht im Auftrag der Bundesregierung diskutiert und entwickelt zentrale konzeptionelle Grundlagen der offiziellen deutschen Armuts- und Reichtumsberichterstattung. Auf diesem Bericht aufbauend, hat die deutsche Bundesregierung Amartya Sens Ansatz der Verwirklichungschancen (Capability Approach) als eine Grundlage ihres zweiten und dritten Armuts- und Reichtumsberichtes übernommen, In dem Bericht wird unter anderem in einem Kapitel begründet, warum Amartya Sens Konzept der Verwirklichungschancen eine besonders geeigente Grundlage der deutschen Armuts- und Reichtumsberichterstattung darstellt. Weitere Kapitel widmen sich Fragen der Armut als Mangel an Verwirklichungschancen, Reichtum als besonders hohem Maß an Verwirklichungschancen. In einem speziellen Kapitel zu Messkonzepten von Armut und Reichtum aus der Perspektive der Verwirklichungschancen wird ein Einkommensarmutsmaß vorgeschlagen, das mit einer adäquaten Methodik Schwächen der derzeitigen Einkommenarmutsmessung überwindet und konsistent mit einem erweiterten Konzept einer Armut als Mangel an Verwirklichungschancen ist. Ebenso werden Reichtumsmaße kritisch analysiert und Vorschläge zu deren Weiterentwicklung erarbeitet.