This paper investigates the impact of government size on economic growth in selected economies of the MENA countries by using a non-linear panel data approach over the period 1990-2011. The estimation results of Panel Smooth Threshold Regression model show that when the level of government consumption is very large, the positive impact of labor force on growth is intensified. On the other hand,...

The paper studies the popular hypothesis that ”hiding” taxes from taxpayers, such as by nominally dividing the payroll tax between employees and employers, leads to higher taxes. To test the hypothesis, I analyze payroll taxes and pension spending in a sample of 89 countries and find that countries where employers nominally pay a higher share of the payroll tax tend to have lower taxes and smal...