Corruption, Shadow Economy and Economic Growth: An Empirical Survey Across the European Union Countries

This study was carried out to empirically investigate the relationships between corruption and shadow economy among the European Union countries, over the period 2005-2014. Moreover, since one would expect corruption and shadow economy to be more common in poorer countries, this study was therefore carried out to determine how corruption and shadow economy affect economic development. The empirical findings of this study confirm a high and positive relationship between corruption and shadow economy, therefore a higher level of corruption involves a higher level of shadow economy. Regarding the influence of corruption and shadow economy on economic growth, a high and negative relationship was found. This means that increasing corruption and shadow economy negatively affects economic growth.