Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the corruption-tax evasion nexus and to establish the strength of relationships among corrupting activities. Design/methodology/approach The research applied structural equation modelling on selected data from the World Economic Forum Executive Opinion Survey on corruption activities and data on tax evasion triggering factors from the World Development Indicators and the Bank of Ghana to test two hypotheses. Findings The test of the first hypothesis suggests that corrupting activities significantly cause tax-evading activities in Ghana; hence, there is at least one corrupting activity triggering tax evasion. Testing the second hypothesis revealed that corruption in Ghana exhibits all of the five dimensions of corruption that were examined. Hence, there is correlation among the corrupting activities. Research limitations/implications The research is limited by the availability of data; hence, only data for selected variables for the period were examined. Practical implications The results are indicative that most emerging economies tend to have more than one type of dominating corruption dimension, which are tax-evading triggers. Originality/value The study extends the literature by examining the various dimensions of corruption, analysing the strength of their relationships and how they impact tax evasion in an emerging economy. By identifying and employing specific corrupting activities, there is a better understanding and appreciation of the corruption-tax evasion nexus in the revenue generation process. This may aid emerging economies in the drafting of tax evasion and corruption reduction policies/programmes to ensure the achievement of sustainable development goals.

PurposeThis paper aims to use an econometric model to estimate tax evasion from the size of the underground economy and examined the factors that trigger it.Design/methodology/approachThe study used time series data sourced from world development indicators and Bank of Ghana covering the period 1990-2015 to estimate tax evasion from the underground economy using an autoregressive distributed lag model drawing on the currency demand approach.FindingsThe results confirmed the existence of a large underground economy and a high incidence of tax evasion in Ghana. The Ghanaian situation has been aggravated by an underground economy-triggering factor of mobile money activities, which increased by 83.1 per cent in 2015. Tax evasion averaged 20.78 per cent of GDP over the period. The study, thus, concludes that the increased number of mobile money activities, high tax burden and unemployment contribute to the worsening of the tax evasion problem in Ghana.Originality/valueThe study is one of the premier attempts to introduce electricity power consumption variables in the currency demand model to estimate tax evasion from the size of the underground economy. The authors hypothesize that the emergence of mobile money activities in its current form triggers underground and tax-evading activities. The study, thus, calls for the formalization and regulation of the operations of mobile money activities in emerging economies as a way of managing the underground economy, which incubates tax evasion.

While several existing panel studies have focused on the linear effect of foreign direct investment on carbon emissions, nonlinear panel studies on this subject remain thin on the ground. This paper examines the asymmetric effect of foreign direct investment on carbon emissions in 41 selected sub-Saharan African countries spanning from 1996 to 2018. In order to decompose foreign direct investment into positive and negative partial sum and examine possible asymmetric effects of the variables on carbon emissions, we used the nonlinear panel ARDL approach. This method accounts for cross-sectional variances that cause inherent heterogeneity in the slope coefficients. Our results show that carbon emissions respond asymmetrically to changes in foreign direct investment. The results further show that in the long run, a positive shock in foreign direct investment increases carbon emissions while a negative shock lowers them. It is recommended that comprehensive investment policies aimed at encouraging aimed clean technology and environmentally-friendly investments be implemented to ensure environmental sustainability.

This paper estimates taxable capacity, tax effort and tax burden with a view to examining the tax fairness perceptions and tax system efficiency. The study employed ordinary least squares regression and vector autoregressive model for historical time series data sourced from the World Development Indicators and Bank of Ghana. We found that Ghana's overall tax burden and average post-tax reform efforts are low suggesting tax fairness and tax system inefficiency respectively. We conclude that post-tax reform dispensation has not generated the much-needed tax revenues because of low tax efforts. Thus, tax revenue could be significantly maximized to aid the achievement of the sustainable development goals to move Ghana Beyond Aid. This paper extends literature by relying on estimates of taxable capacity, tax effort and tax burden to assess the tax fairness perceptions and tax administrative efficiency of an emerging economy. We posit that these triad terminologies move pari passu in assessing the efficiency and fairness of a country's tax system. We recommend that embarking on jurisdictional tax reforms should not only be about appropriate and a plethora of tax laws and multiplicity of taxes but also on the efficiency and integrity of tax administration. The judicious use and prompt accountability of tax revenues could help address tax unfairness perceptions in emerging economies.

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While many factors influence tax compliance behaviour, this study aims to examine the effect of the quality of tax services on the compliance behaviour of small and medium-sized enterprises. The study used the survey to test five hypotheses with the aid of frequency tables, regression and correlation analyses. The study found statistically significant positive effects of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy on the tax compliance behaviour of SMEs. Secondly, there are varying positive correlations amongst key tax service quality measures. The research has several implications for taxing authorities and policy makers due to its effect on tax revenue generation for economic growth and development. The novelty of this paper lies in its premier attempt to enrich the literature on the tax service quality-tax compliance behaviour nexus with the adoption of Parasuraman et al. (1988)'s service quality indicators. In employing these tax service quality indicators, a better understanding is gained into tax non-compliance behaviour, which emanates from poor service quality. The findings provide some insights to taxing authorities and policy makers in drafting policies to enhance tax compliance by improving, digitising and modernising tax administration for maximum revenue mobilisation to drive economic growth.

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