Informal economy (IE) is second only to the US economy in size; however, the role of ICT in IE remains largely unexplored. In this study, we conduct an empirical analysis of the role of ICT in IE growth. With PLS analysis involving more than 100 nations, we show that ICT products and software piracy may play important roles in IE growth, that impact of ICT and other determinants on IE growth re...

With minimal sleight of hand, it is possible to transform the recent growth experience of the People’s Republic of China from the extraordinary into the mundane. Systematic understatement of inflation by enterprises accounts for 2.5 percent growth per year in the nonagricultural economy during the first two decades of the reform period (1978–98). The usual suspects (i.e., rising participation r...

The sharing economy will blur the distinctions between renting and owning a wide variety of durable products. The first great entrepreneurial (Neolithic) revolution transformed hunter-gatherers into fixed agriculturalists. The second (Industrial) revolution dramatically reduced the costs of owning products. The third (Transactions Costs) revolution will reduce the costs of exchange, fostering a...

F rom the viewpoint of economic theories, total factor productivity (TFP) is the most important component that leads to economic growth and development. The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of knowledge-based economy on total factor productivity in the member countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. For this purpose, the panel data regression analysis ha...

This paper is a reply to Barry Ickes' critique of my paper “Trust versus Illusion: What is Driving Demonetization in Russia?” in which I show that the data reject Barry Ickes' Virtual Economy explanation of barter in Russia in favor of an institutional explanation based on the lack of trust. JEL Classification: D20, G30, O10, P30