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Offshore Foreign Direct Investment, Capital Round-Tripping, and Corruption: Empirical Analysis of Russian Regions

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  • Svetlana Ledyaeva
  • Päivi Karhunen
  • Riitta Kosonen
  • John Whalley

Abstract

Recent economic geography research has identified the round-tripping of capital from emerging economies to offshore financial centers (OFCs) and back as foreign direct investment (FDI) as a central element of the global offshore FDI network. However, the factors behind this phenomenon are not yet fully understood. Our study develops a general framework that conceptualizes the phenomenon of round-trip investment. In particular, we argue that secrecy arbitrage, defined as interplay of onshore corruption and offshore secrecy, largely explains round-trip investment between onshore jurisdictions and OFCs. First, we argue that part of the round-trip FDI consists of proceeds from corruption, which is laundered in OFCs and reinvested back to the location of origin. Second, we maintain that the secrecy dimension of the OFC also motivates the round-tripping of licit capital, as businesses use the secrecy provided by OFCs to hide their true identities from corrupt authorities in the home location. To test the validity of our argument about onshore corruption as a driver for round-trip investment, we empirically analyze firm-level data on the distribution of offshore FDI (which, we argue, is largely round-trip) across Russian regions. Our empirical findings confirm that FDI from OFCs is positively associated with host region corruption, and this relationship is stronger for OFCs with a higher secrecy score. Hence, we conclude that round-trip FDI is strongly motivated by the interplay between onshore corruption and offshore secrecy.

Suggested Citation

  • 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, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 91(3), pages 305-341, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:91:y:2015:i:3:p:305-341
    DOI: 10.1111/ecge.12093
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    Cited by:

    1. Armando Rungi & Gregory Morrison & Fabio Pammolli, 2017. "Global ownership and corporate control networks," Working Papers 07/2017, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, revised Sep 2017.
    2. Petr Janský & Jan Láznička & Miroslav Palanský, 2021. "Tax treaties worldwide: Estimating elasticities and revenue foregone," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 359-401, May.
    3. Riccardo Crescenzi & Alexander Jaax, 2017. "Innovation in Russia: The Territorial Dimension," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(1), pages 66-88, January.
    4. Gurshev Oleg, 2023. "Foreign direct investment and international trade across the former Soviet economies: What do we know after 30 years of research?," Journal of Economics and Management, Sciendo, vol. 45(1), pages 290-318, January.
    5. Alfons J. Weichenrieder & Fangying Xu, 2019. "Are tax havens good? Implications of the crackdown on secrecy," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 127(2), pages 147-160, July.
    6. Simola, Heli, 2021. "Long-term challenges to Russian economic policy," BOFIT Policy Briefs 11/2021, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    7. Sharafutdinova,Gulnaz & Lokshin,Michael M., 2020. "Hide and Protect : A Role of Global Financial Secrecy in Shaping Domestic Institutions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9348, The World Bank.
    8. I. P. Gurova, 2020. "Offshore Investment in the Russian Economy," Studies on Russian Economic Development, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 449-456, July.
    9. Eman Moustafa, . "The relationship between perceived corruption and FDI: a longitudinal study in the context of Egypt," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    10. Stavros Poupakis, 2022. "Does FDI in Upstream and Downstream Sectors Facilitate Quality Upgrading? Evidence from Russian Exporters," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(2), pages 451-471, April.
    11. Victor Gorshkov, 2017. "Structural Changes in the Russian Outward Banking Foreign Direct Investment," KIER Working Papers 977, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    12. Bruno Casella, . "Looking through conduit FDI in search of ultimate investors – a probabilistic approach," UNCTAD Transnational Corporations Journal, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    13. Deseatnicov, Ivan & Klochko, Olga, 2023. "Currency risk and the dynamics of German investors entry and exit in Russia," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    14. Xie, En & Reddy, K.S. & Liang, Jie, 2017. "Country-specific determinants of cross-border mergers and acquisitions: A comprehensive review and future research directions," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 127-183.
    15. Casella, Bruno, 2019. "Looking through conduit FDI in search of ultimate investors – a probabilistic approach," MPRA Paper 95188, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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