ABSTRACT
Shadow economy activity with a focus on tax evasion has attracted the attention of economist for a long time, starting with Cagan who studied the correlation between currency demand and tax pressure on United States (US) data. However, to be able to provide the tax authorities with more information than what theoretical studies can achieve, empirical evidence is needed. In 2003 as many as 73 percent of the people asked filled out the questionnaire, implying that 62 percent of the persons initially contacted ended up participating in the survey. Final response rates fluctuating around 60 percent in the period 1980 to 2003, with the exception of 2001, is very good compared to response rates in other surveys, for instance in the consumer expenditure surveys of Statistics Norway. Thus the final sample is rather representative for the whole population, with a minor exception for 2001.
