Informal Taxation
Informal payments are a frequently overlooked source of local public fi nance in developing countries. We use microdata from ten countries to establish stylized facts on the magnitude, form, and distributional implications of this "informal taxation." Informal taxation is wide- spread,...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Economic Association
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61741 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1918-4631 |
| _version_ | 1811074999407083520 |
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| author | Olken, Benjamin A. Singhal, Monica |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics Olken, Benjamin A. Singhal, Monica |
| author_sort | Olken, Benjamin A. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Informal payments are a frequently overlooked source of local public fi nance in developing
countries. We use microdata from ten countries to establish stylized facts on the magnitude,
form, and distributional implications of this "informal taxation." Informal taxation is wide-
spread, particularly in rural areas, with substantial in-kind labor payments. The wealthy pay
more, but pay less in percentage terms, and informal taxes are more regressive than formal
taxes. Failing to include informal taxation underestimates household tax burdens and revenue
decentralization in developing countries. We discuss various explanations for and implications
of these observed stylized facts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:58:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/61741 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T09:58:46Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | American Economic Association |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/617412022-09-26T14:58:37Z Informal Taxation Olken, Benjamin A. Singhal, Monica Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics Olken, Benjamin A. Olken, Benjamin A. Informal payments are a frequently overlooked source of local public fi nance in developing countries. We use microdata from ten countries to establish stylized facts on the magnitude, form, and distributional implications of this "informal taxation." Informal taxation is wide- spread, particularly in rural areas, with substantial in-kind labor payments. The wealthy pay more, but pay less in percentage terms, and informal taxes are more regressive than formal taxes. Failing to include informal taxation underestimates household tax burdens and revenue decentralization in developing countries. We discuss various explanations for and implications of these observed stylized facts. Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.) (R03HD051957) Weatherhead Center for International Affairs Taubman Center for State and Local Government Harvard University. Asia Center 2011-03-18T20:34:46Z 2011-03-18T20:34:46Z 2011-01 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1945-7782 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61741 Olken, Benjamin A. and Monica Singhal. "Informal Taxation." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. Oct 2011, Vol. 3, No. 4: Pages 1-28. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1918-4631 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/app.3.4.1 American Economic Journal: Applied Economics Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ application/pdf American Economic Association MIT web domain |
| spellingShingle | Olken, Benjamin A. Singhal, Monica Informal Taxation |
| title | Informal Taxation |
| title_full | Informal Taxation |
| title_fullStr | Informal Taxation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Informal Taxation |
| title_short | Informal Taxation |
| title_sort | informal taxation |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61741 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1918-4631 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT olkenbenjamina informaltaxation AT singhalmonica informaltaxation |