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The objective of this work is to examine the influence of formal institutions on the level of informal entrepreneurial activity in Latin American countries. We use a panel dataset for 18 countries during the 2004–2017 periods. This dataset has not been widely used for longitudinal research by academics in the field of entrepreneurship in developing countries. Using the percentage of the adult population identified as self-employed as a proxy for informal entrepreneurial activity, our results suggest that informal entrepreneurial activity is lower in Latin American countries that have stronger property rights and lighter business regulation. However, countries with more flexible labor regulation show higher informal entrepreneurial activity. Therefore, we believe there is margin for policy intervention to reduce informal entrepreneurial activities in Latin America.

This paper investigates the long-term and causal relationship between tourism activity and the informal economy in 76 countries from 1995 to 2015. We explore this relationship at the global level and by country group, using panel, co-integration techniques that indicate the existence of a long-run co-integration relationship between tourism and informal economy for the whole sample and at the level of country groups. Additionally, the paper analyzes the long-run coefficients of the model by using fully modified ordinary least square regressions (FMOLS). The results from FMOLS evidence a negative and significant impact of tourism on the informal economy at the global level and in high, upper-middle, and lower-middle income countries, but a positive link in low-income countries. However, the results reveal a heterogeneous long-run relationship within country groups. Also, the result of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin Granger causality test indicates bidirectional causality in the global sample, but the direction of causality varies by country group. The main policy implication derived from our findings suggests that in order to reduce the size of informal economy, policy-makers should foster tourism activities. JEL Classification : J01, L83, C23, O57, C00, C01

A b s t r a c tWe investigate the relationship between new business formation and the level of competitive pressure perceived by manufacturing incumbent establishments. The perceived pressure of competition is stronger the higher the level of entries in the respective industry. This relationship holds not only for start-ups located in the same region of the incumbent, but also for start-ups across all regions of Germany. The productivity level of an incumbent moderates the extent of the perceived competitive pressure from start-ups. Highly productive incumbents are less threatened by new business formation. Such a moderating effect cannot be found for incumbent size and regional population density. JEL classification: L26, L60, D20, O12, R11