Working Paper
Currency ratios and U.S. underground economic activity
Weinbach, Gretchen C.; Porter, Richard D. (1998)
Cagan's classic currency ratio suggests that underground economic activity in the U.S. surged starting in 1994. In contrast, we show that a ratio adjusted to take care of two distorting developments -- retail sweep programs and overseas demand for U.S. currency -- did not surge, and that movements in the adjusted ratio owe primarily to the differential effects of interest rates on currency and checkable deposits. As a result, we are skeptical of monetary-based claims that the underground economy has expanded significantly in recent years and believe that any claims that is has must rely on ...
Finance and Economics Discussion Series , Paper 1998-41

Journal Article
Small business: Cashless society: original style
Taper, Steven (1995-07)
The age-old tradition of bartering is alive and well.
Cross Sections , Volume 12 , Issue Sum , Pages 30

Working Paper
The policy implications of the underground economy
Houston, Joel F. (1987)
Working Papers , Paper 87-7

Working Paper
Estimating the size and implications of the underground economy
Houston, Joel F. (1987)
Working Papers , Paper 87-9

Journal Article
You can't tax what you can't see. Underground economy skews statistics and shortchanges the tax man, but is that all bad?
Fettig, David (1994-04)
Fedgazette , Issue Apr , Pages 1, 3-4

Working Paper
Participation in the underground economy: a theoretical analysis
Houston, Joel F. (1987)
Working Papers , Paper 87-10

Journal Article
A monetary perspective on underground economic activity in the United States
Porter, Richard D.; Bayer, Amanda S. (1984-03)
Federal Reserve Bulletin , Issue Mar

Working Paper
Quantifying the shadow economy: measurement with theory
Peralta-Alva, Adrian; Gomis-Porqueras, Pedro; Waller, Christopher J. (2011)
We construct a dynamic, general equilibrium model of tax evasion where agents choose to report some of their income. Unreported income requires using a payment method that avoids recordkeeping ? cash. Trade using cash to avoid taxes is the theoretical measure of the shadow economy from our model. We then calibrate our model using money, interest rate and GDP data to back out the size of the shadow economy for a sample of 30 countries and compare our estimates to traditional ad hoc estimates. Our results generate reasonably larger estimates for the size of the shadow economy than exist in ...
Working Papers , Paper 2011-015

Journal Article
The underground economy: a troubling issue for policymakers
Houston, Joel F. (1987-09)
Business Review , Issue Sep , Pages 3-12