a r t i c l e i n f o This paper evaluates the impact of a program of bureaucracy simplification and tax reduction on formality among Brazilian microenterprises — the SIMPLES program. We document an increase of 13 percentage points in formal licensing among retail firms created after the program when compared to firms in ineligible sectors. The impact on retailers is robust to a series of tests...

With an increasing pervasiveness, prevalence and severity of cybercrimes, various metrics, measures and statistics have been developed and used to measure various aspects of this phenomenon. Cybercrime-related data, metrics, and information, however, pose important and difficult dilemmas regarding the issues of reliability, validity, comparability and practical utility. While many of the issues...

The involvement of Caribbean youth in drug distribution (marijuana from the mid-1960s to 1981; cocaine hydrochloride powder and crack from 1981 to 1987, the time of writing) throughout the Circum-Caribbean area and in North America is described. Social, economic, and cultural outcomes of these engagements are highlighted, and the relationship between the underground economy of drugs and the cor...

At the beginning of the 21 st Century, before the power of online social networking became apparent, several studies speculated about the likely structure of organised cybercrime (Mann and Sutton 1998; Brenner 2002). In the light of new data on cybercriminal organisations, this paper sets out to revisit their claims. In collaboration with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), this paper ex...

Various types of economic illegalities as well as underground economic activities occur in all countries. In Cuba, however, public policies and structural economic forces have promoted these phenomena significantly. Indeed, Cuba appears to be awash with economic illegalities. Some of these are quickly apparent to the average visitor. Many Cuban citizens insist that almost everyone is involved i...

We investigate some characteristics of the underground economy in New Zealand by testing for Granger causality between measured and "hidden" real GDP in that country. We find clear evidence of causality from measured to hidden economic activity, but only weak evidence of causality in the reverse direction. This poses a dilemma for policy-makers who wish to stimulate economic growth and also min...

Robotic systems exhibit remarkable capability for exploring and mapping subterranean voids. Information about subterranean spaces has immense value for civil, security, and commercial applications where problems, such as encroachment, collapse, flooding and subsidence can occur. Contemporary method for underground mapping, such as human surveys and geophysical techniques, can provide estimates ...

A recent emerging trend in the underground economy is malware dissemination as a service. Complex botnet infrastructures are developed to spread and install malware for third-party customers. In this research work, a botnet forensic investigation model is proposed to investigate and analyze large-scale botnets. The proposed investigation model is applied to a real-world law-enforcement investig...