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Robbery, larceny, blackmail, fraud, and other crimes with economic motives are likely to be as old as mankind, and the evasion of taxes and economic regulations can be assumed to begin with the introduction of taxes and economic regulations. Thus the shadow economy is certain ly not a new phenomenon. However, economists did not pay much attention to it until quite recently. P. GUTMANN in his pioneering article "The Subterranean Economy" (Financial Analysts Journal, Nov/Dec 1977, p. 24- 27) was first to point out that unreported economic activity cannot (or, at least, can no longer) be considered as a "quantite negligeable". Challenged by GUTMANN's hypothesis many economists have then tried to assess the quantitative and qualitative importance of the shadow economy (commonly also known as the underground, or subterranean, or black, or unreported economy, and by other names). There seems to be wide agreement nowadays that the shadow economy has not only reached a substantial portion of total economic activity in both Eastern and Western countries but that it is also growing at rates which can no longer be experienced in the official sector. The existence of a considerable volume of unreported economic activities implies that important macroeconomic variables are biased in the official statistics. The rate of unemployment, for example, may be over-estimated while production figures, on the other hand, tend to be underrated. The government could thus be mislead and choose inadequate policies.
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Studies in Contemporary Economics Vol. 1: W. Gebauer, Realzins, Inflation und Kapitalzins. XVI, 261 Seiten. 1982. Vol. 2: Philosophy of Economics. Proceedings, 1981. Edited by W. StegmLiller, W. Balzer and W. Spohn. VIII, 306 pages. 1982. Vol. 3: W. Gaab, Devisenmarkte und Wechselkurse. VII, 305 Seiten. 1983. Vol. 4: B. Hamminga, Neoclassical Theory Structure and Theory Development. IX, 174 pages. 1983. Vol. 5: J. Dermine, Pricing Policies of Financial Intermediaries. VII, 174 pages. 1984. Vol. 6: I. Babel, Wettbewerb und Industriestruktur. XIV, 336 Seiten. 1984. Vol. 7: Beitrage zur neueren Steuertheorie. Herausgegeben von D. Bas, M. Rose und Ch. Seidl. V, 267 Seiten. 1984. Vol. 8: Economic Consequences of Population Change in Industrialized Countries. Proceedings, 1983. Edited by G. Steinmann. X, 415 pages. 1984. Vol. 9: R. Holzmann, Lebenseinkommen und Verteilungsanalyse. IX, 175 Seiten. 1984. Vol. 10: Problems of Advanced Economies. Proceedings, 1982. Edited by N. Miyawaki. VI, 319 pages. 1984. Vol. 11: Studies in Labor Market Dynamics. Proceedings, 1982. Edited by G. R. Neumann and N. C. Westergard-Nielsen. X, 285 pages. 1984. Vol. 12: Schumpeter oder Keynes? Herausgegeben von D. Bas und H.-D. Stolper. IX, 176 Seiten. 1984. Vol. 13: G. Illing, Geld und asymmetrische Information. VI, 148 Seiten. 1984. Vol. 14: B. Genser, Steuerlastindizes. X, 225 Seiten. 1985. Vol. 15: The Economics of the Shadow Economy. Proceedings, 1983. Edited by W. Gaertner and A. Wenig. XIV, 401 pages. 1985. Studies in Contemporary Economics The Economics of the Shadow Economy Proceedings of the International Conference on the Economics of the Shadow Economy Held at the University of Bielefeld, West Germany October 10-14,1983 Edited by Wulf Gaertner and Alois Wenig Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York Tokyo 1985 Editorial Board D. Bos G. Bombach B. Gahlen K.w. Rothschild Editors Prof. Dr. Wulf Gaertner Department of Economics, University of OsnabrOck Postfach 4469, 0-4500 OsnabrOck, FRG Prof. Dr. Alois Wenig Department of Economics, Fernuniversitat Hagen Feithstr. 188, 0-5800 Hagen, FRG ISBN 978-3-540-15095-4 DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-88408-5 ISBN 978-3-642-88408-5 (eBook) This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved. whether the whol