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An evolutionary approach to international political economy: the case of corporate tax avoidance

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  • Ronen Peter Palan

    (University of London)

Abstract

Corporate tax avoidance is both widespread and diverse in its practical mechanics. The scope of the phenomenon often leads economists to conclude that in the jungle of economic competition, tax planning (or optimisation) is among the necessary tools to ensure the survival of the fittest. This theory is increasingly associated with a Darwinian theory of economic evolution. In this paper, I develop a contrasting framework of the evolutionary political economy of corporate tax avoidance. Analysing core concepts of Old Institutionalist Economics (OIE), I examine the core drivers of corporate tax avoidance in a globalised system of states. The major contrast, I find, is between that of the corporate and legal personality and the institutional environment in which it operates. Historically, each corporate entity has been considered a separate legal person, yet a series of ‘mutations’ of incorporations laws created a widening gap between theory and reality, and these, in turn, give rise to tax arbitrage. Narrowing this gap, however, impinges on another venerable historical institution, the institution of sovereignty and sovereign inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronen Peter Palan, 2020. "An evolutionary approach to international political economy: the case of corporate tax avoidance," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 161-182, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:revepe:v:1:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s43253-020-00017-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s43253-020-00017-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Pier Luigi Sacco & Alex Arenas & Manlio De Domenico, 2022. "The resilience of the multirelational structure of geopolitical treaties is critically linked to past colonial world order and offshore fiscal havens," Papers 2203.00618, arXiv.org.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Old institutional economics; Tax avoidance; Multionational enterprise; Evolutionary theory; Sovereignty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B15 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary
    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • F5 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy
    • F55 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Institutional Arrangements
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

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