References

3. In India, a cess is a tax especially on a commodity or for a special purpose, such as a tea cess, a road cess, or an education cess. 4. See Gordon and Li (2009) for a discussion of industry characteristics and formality. 5. The fear of paying taxes and of interacting with tax officials is cited as a barrier to firm formalization. See Bruhn and McKenzie (2013) for a review of the determinants of formalization. The firms observed in the analysis are thus a selected sample of firms that have chosen or been obliged to register. 6. Harmonized System Database, World Customs Organization, Brussels, http://www.wcoomd .org/en/topics/nomenclature/instrument-and-tools/tools-to-assist-with-the-classification -in-the-hs/hs-online.aspx. 7. ClearTax (dashboard), Clear, Defmacro Software Private Ltd., Bangalore, India, https:// cleartax.in/. 8. “GST Suvidha Provider (GSP): An Overview,” Clear, Defmacro Software Private Ltd.,

Bangalore, India, https://cleartax.in/s/gsp-gst-suvidha-provider. 9. ClearGST (dashboard), Clear, Defmacro Software Private Ltd., Bangalore, India, https:// cleartax.in/gst. 10. CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs) (website), Department of Revenue,

Ministry of Finance, New Delhi, https://www.cbic.gov.in/. 11. The data have been shared by partners at the Development Data Lab. See DDL (Development

Data Lab) (dashboard), DDL, Washington, DC, https://www.devdatalab.org/. 12. Given the economic importance of multiproduct firms, future work plans to incorporate them. 13. Formally, it includes (1) manufacturing units, excluding those registered under the Factories

Act, 1948, Sections 2m(i) and 2m(ii) and manufacturing enterprises registered under the

Factories Act, 1948, Section 85; (2) enterprises engaged in cotton ginning, cleaning, and baling that are not covered by the ASI; and (3) units engaged in trading, noncaptive electricity generation and transmission, and other service activities. 14. This corresponds to firms registered under the Factories Act, 1948, Sections 2m(i) and 2m(ii). The Factories Act was superseded by the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working

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