IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/recgxx/v91y2015i3p281-303.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Financial Secrecy Index: Shedding New Light on the Geography of Secrecy

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Cobham
  • Petr Janský
  • Markus Meinzer

Abstract

Both academic research and public policy debate around tax havens and offshore finance typically suffer from a lack of definitional consistency. Unsurprisingly then, there is little agreement about which jurisdictions ought to be considered as tax havens—or which policy measures would result in their not being so considered. In this article we explore and make operational an alternative concept, that of a secrecy jurisdiction and present the findings of the resulting Financial Secrecy Index (FSI). The FSI ranks countries and jurisdictions according to their contribution to opacity in global financial flows, revealing a quite different geography of financial secrecy from the image of small island tax havens that may still dominate popular perceptions and some of the literature on offshore finance. Some major (secrecy-supplying) economies now come into focus. Instead of a binary division between tax havens and others, the results show a secrecy spectrum, on which all jurisdictions can be situated, and that adjustment for the scale of business is necessary in order to compare impact propensity. This approach has the potential to support more precise and granular research findings and policy recommendations.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Cobham & Petr Janský & Markus Meinzer, 2015. "The Financial Secrecy Index: Shedding New Light on the Geography of Secrecy," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 91(3), pages 281-303, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:91:y:2015:i:3:p:281-303
    DOI: 10.1111/ecge.12094
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecge.12094
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ecge.12094?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maarten Loopmans, 2008. "Relevance, Gentrification and the Development of a New Hegemony on Urban Policies in Antwerp, Belgium," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(12), pages 2499-2519, November.
    2. Karkinsky, Tom & Riedel, Nadine, 2012. "Corporate taxation and the choice of patent location within multinational firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 176-185.
    3. Palan, Ronen, 2002. "Tax Havens and the Commercialization of State Sovereignty," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(1), pages 151-176, January.
    4. Niels Johannesen & Gabriel Zucman, 2014. "The End of Bank Secrecy? An Evaluation of the G20 Tax Haven Crackdown," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 65-91, February.
    5. Gabriel Zucman, 2014. "Taxing across Borders: Tracking Personal Wealth and Corporate Profits," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 121-148, Fall.
    6. Dixon, Adam D., 2014. "The New Geography of Capitalism: Firms, Finance, and Society," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199668243.
    7. Mark Hampton, 1996. "The Offshore Interface," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-25131-5, March.
    8. Gene M. Grossman & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2008. "Trading Tasks: A Simple Theory of Offshoring," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1978-1997, December.
    9. Transparency International TI, 2012. "Corruption Perceptions Index 2012," Working Papers id:5186, eSocialSciences.
    10. Gordon L. Clark & Ashby H. B. Monk, 2013. "The scope of financial institutions: in-sourcing, outsourcing and off-shoring," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 279-298, March.
    11. Abbott, Kenneth W. & Snidal, Duncan, 2000. "Hard and Soft Law in International Governance," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(3), pages 421-456, July.
    12. James R. Hines & Eric M. Rice, 1994. "Fiscal Paradise: Foreign Tax Havens and American Business," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(1), pages 149-182.
    13. Andrew van Hulten, 2012. "Remapping the Fiscal State After the Global Financial Crisis," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 88(3), pages 231-253, July.
    14. repec:idq:ictduk:11176 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Andrew van Hulten, 2012. "Remapping the Fiscal State After the Global Financial Crisis," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 88(3), pages 231-253, July.
    16. Jon Swords, 2013. "Michael Porter’s cluster theory as a local and regional development tool: The rise and fall of cluster policy in the UK," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 28(4), pages 369-383, June.
    17. Neil M. Coe & Karen P. Y. Lai & Dariusz W�jcik, 2014. "Integrating Finance into Global Production Networks," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(5), pages 761-777, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kemme, David M. & Parikh, Bhavik & Steigner, Tanja, 2020. "Tax Morale and International Tax Evasion," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(3).
    2. Hebous, Shafik & Johannesen, Niels, 2021. "At your service! The role of tax havens in international trade with services," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    3. Menkhoff, Lukas & Miethe, Jakob, 2019. "Tax evasion in new disguise? Examining tax havens' international bank deposits," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 176, pages 53-78.
    4. Niels Johannesen & Thomas Tørsløv & Ludvig Wier, 2016. "Are less developed countries more exposed to multinational tax avoidance? Method and evidence from micro-data," WIDER Working Paper Series 010, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Vincent Bouvatier & Gunther Capelle-Blancard & Anne-Laure Delatte, 2017. "Banks Defy Gravity in Tax Havens," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-03101505, HAL.
    6. Svetlana Ledyaeva & Päivi Karhunen & Riitta Kosonen & John Whalley, 2015. "Offshore Foreign Direct Investment, Capital Round-Tripping, and Corruption: Empirical Analysis of Russian Regions," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 91(3), pages 305-341, July.
    7. Petr Janský & Miroslav Palanský, 2019. "Estimating the scale of profit shifting and tax revenue losses related to foreign direct investment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(5), pages 1048-1103, October.
    8. Sebastián Bustos & Dina Pomeranz & Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & José Vila-Belda & Gabriel Zucman, 2022. "The Race Between Tax Enforcement and Tax Planning: Evidence From a Natural Experiment in Chile," NBER Working Papers 30114, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Niels Johannesen & Thomas Tørsløv & Ludvig Wier, 0. "Are Less Developed Countries More Exposed to Multinational Tax Avoidance? Method and Evidence from Micro-Data," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 34(3), pages 790-809.
    10. Damgaard, Jannick & Elkjaer, Thomas & Johannesen, Niels, 2024. "What is real and what is not in the global FDI network?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    11. Sebastian Beer & Ruud de Mooij & Li Liu, 2020. "International Corporate Tax Avoidance: A Review Of The Channels, Magnitudes, And Blind Spots," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 660-688, July.
    12. Niels Johannesen & Thomas Tørsløv & Ludvig Wier, 2016. "Are less developed countries more exposed to multinational tax avoidance? Method and evidence from micro-data," WIDER Working Paper Series 010a, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Otusanya, Olatunde Julius, 2011. "The role of multinational companies in tax evasion and tax avoidance: The case of Nigeria," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 316-332.
    14. Ronen Palan & Hannah Petersen & Richard Phillips, 2023. "Arbitrage spaces in the offshore world: Layering, ‘fuses’ and partitioning of the legal structure of modern firms," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(4), pages 1041-1061, June.
    15. Fernando, Garcia Alvarado & Antoine, Mandel, 2022. "The network structure of global tax evasion evidence from the Panama papers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 660-684.
    16. Fatica, Serena & Gregori, Wildmer, 2018. "Profit shifting by EU banks: evidence from country-by-country reporting," Working Papers 2018-04, Joint Research Centre, European Commission.
    17. Roberto Crotti, 2021. "Does Intangible Asset Intensity Increase Profit-Shifting Opportunities of Multinationals?," IHEID Working Papers 02-2021, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    18. Niels Johannesen & Thomas Tørsløv & Ludvig Wier, 2016. "Are less developed countries more exposed to multinational tax avoidance? Method and evidence from micro-data," WIDER Working Paper Series 010b (Revised version May, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Javier Garcia-Bernardo & Petr Janský & Thomas Tørsløv, 2022. "Decomposing Multinational Corporations’ Declining Effective Tax Rates," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 70(2), pages 338-381, June.
    20. Petr Janský & Miroslav Palanský, 2019. "Estimating the scale of profit shifting and tax revenue losses related to foreign direct investment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(5), pages 1048-1103, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:91:y:2015:i:3:p:281-303. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/recg .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.