Death and Taxes: How Russian Tax Officials are Hurting SME Growth

Undergraduate Research ScholarshipI test the hypothesis that Russian regions with relatively higher reported levels of taxes collected would be experiencing more vibrant SME activity. Higher levels of reported taxes collected suggest lower levels of ‘under the table’ pressure and stronger rule of law. The hypothesis is motivated by field work completed in Russia, and is tested with data from several state and private organizations. The paper’s conclusions are that, despite some progress in this direction, the Russian federal government has failed to reign in the predatory (illegal) activities of tax authorities and therefore has not established a healthy environment for SME development during Russia’s rocky transition to a market economy.OSU College of Arts and SciencesNo embarg