Informal Economy and Financial Development: The Role of Institutions

Abstract

This paper assesses the interactive impact of financial development and institutional quality indicators on the informal economy using data from 67 developing countries from 2002-2017. We employ the fixed-effect model with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors that are heteroscedasticity consistent and robust to the general form of cross-sectional and temporal dependence. Findings reveal that financial development and institutions are substitutes for reducing the informal economy. Financial development decreases the size of the informal economy only in the absence of efficient institutions and vice versa. Finally, the study provides several essential policy suggestions for combatting the informal economy.