IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ces/ceswps/_10151.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tariff Evasion, the Trade Gap, and Structural Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Ronald B. Davies
  • Zuzanna Studnicka

Abstract

While it is well-recognized that there are differences in the trade values reported by exporters and importers, a literature has emerged linking this trade gap to tariff evasion. These efforts, however, lack a structural theoretic underpinning and limit their product-level investigations to a small number of countries. Our first contribution is to provide a structural model of endogenous tariff evasion, one which then highlights the importance of both tariffs and border enforcement. Our second contribution is to use a global, product-level dataset from 2002-2019, the analysis of which is consistent with our model’s predictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronald B. Davies & Zuzanna Studnicka, 2022. "Tariff Evasion, the Trade Gap, and Structural Trade," CESifo Working Paper Series 10151, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cesifo.org/DocDL/cesifo1_wp10151.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Levin, Jörgen & Widell, Lars M., 2014. "Tax evasion in Kenya and Tanzania: Evidence from missing imports," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 151-162.
    2. Nitsch, Volker & Schumacher, Dieter, 2004. "Terrorism and international trade: an empirical investigation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 423-433, June.
    3. Mattos, Enlinson & Bressan, Rafael, 2022. "Nontariff barriers, trading companies and customs duties evasion," Textos para discussão 560, FGV EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).
    4. Javorcik, Beata S. & Narciso, Gaia, 2008. "Differentiated products and evasion of import tariffs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 208-222, December.
    5. Egger, Peter & Larch, Mario, 2008. "Interdependent preferential trade agreement memberships: An empirical analysis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 384-399, December.
    6. Derek Kellenberg & Arik Levinson, 2019. "Misreporting trade: Tariff evasion, corruption, and auditing standards," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 106-129, February.
    7. Andualem T Mengistu & Kiflu G Molla & Giulia Mascagni, 2022. "Trade Tax Evasion and the Tax Rate: Evidence from Transaction-level Trade Data," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 31(1), pages 94-122.
    8. Kowsar Yousefi & Mohammad Vesal, 2023. "The Double Dividend of a Joint Tariff and VAT Reform: Evidence from Iran," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 37(2), pages 331-349.
    9. Allingham, Michael G. & Sandmo, Agnar, 1972. "Income tax evasion: a theoretical analysis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 1(3-4), pages 323-338, November.
    10. Peter Egger & Martin Gassebner, 2015. "International terrorism as a trade impediment?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(1), pages 42-62.
    11. Lorenzo Rotunno & Pierre-Louis Vézina, 2012. "Chinese Networks and Tariff Evasion," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(12), pages 1772-1794, December.
    12. Raymond Fisman & Shang-Jin Wei, 2004. "Tax Rates and Tax Evasion: Evidence from "Missing Imports" in China," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 471-500, April.
    13. Maddalena Conte & Pierre Cotterlaz & Thierry Mayer, 2022. "The CEPII Gravity Database," Working Papers 2022-05, CEPII research center.
    14. Michele Fratianni & Heejoon Kang, 2006. "International Terrorism, International Trade, and Borders," Working Papers 2006-13, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    15. Javorcik, Beata S. & Narciso, Gaia, 2017. "WTO accession and tariff evasion," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 59-71.
    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. Andualem T Mengistu & Kiflu G Molla & Giulia Mascagni, 2022. "Trade Tax Evasion and the Tax Rate: Evidence from Transaction-level Trade Data," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 31(1), pages 94-122.
    2. Lin, Chin-Ho, 2018. "Tariff evasion in machinery production networks: Evidence from East Asia," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 115-126.
    3. repec:idq:ictduk:16548 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Beverelli, Cosimo & Ticku, Rohit, 2022. "Reducing tariff evasion: The role of trade facilitation," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 534-554.
    5. Cyril Chalendard, 2015. "Use of internal information, external information acquisition and customs underreporting," CERDI Working papers halshs-01179445, HAL.
    6. Cyril Chalendard, 2015. "Use of internal information, external information acquisition and customs underreporting," Working Papers halshs-01179445, HAL.
    7. Olalere Isaac Opeyemi, 2022. "Predicting Trade Mispricing: A Gaussian Multivariate Anomaly Detection Model ," GATR Journals jber221, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.
    8. Bilal M. Khan & Karrar Hussain & Zara Liaqat, 2024. "Trade misreporting: Evidence from Pakistani importers," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 390-414, February.
    9. Tasew Tadesse, 2023. "Explaining Customs Tax Evasion in Ethiopia: The Effect of Trade Tax, Law Enforcement, and Product Characteristics," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 15(3), pages 330-353, September.
    10. Jon Bakija & Ivan Badinski, 2014. "Evidence on the Responsiveness of Export-Related VAT Evasion to VAT Rates in the EU," Department of Economics Working Papers 2014-06, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    11. Mohammad Farhad & Michael Jetter & Abu Siddique & Andrew Williams, 2018. "Misreported Trade," CESifo Working Paper Series 7150, CESifo.
    12. Harini Weerasekera, 2018. "Tax Rates and Tax Evasion," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 19(2), pages 229-250, September.
    13. Bussy, Adrien, 2023. "Corporate tax evasion: Evidence from international trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    14. Mohammad Farhad & Jakob B. Madsen & Michael Jetter & Andrew Williams, 2024. "The mystery of misreported trade: A novel method to identify distorted trade figures," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 748-778, February.
    15. Bussy, Adrien, 2021. "Tariff evasion with endogenous enforcement," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    16. Sébastien Jean & Cristina Mitaritonna & Antoine Vatan, 2018. "Institutions and Customs Duty Evasion," Working Papers 2018-24, CEPII research center.
    17. Temesgen Worku & Juan P. Mendoza & Jacco L. Wielhouwer, 2016. "Tariff evasion in sub-Saharan Africa: the influence of corruption in importing and exporting countries," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(4), pages 741-761, August.
    18. Sami Bensassi & Arisyi F. Raz, 2025. "Combating trade‐related fraud: do the Financial Action Task Force recommendations bite?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 92(365), pages 322-347, January.
    19. Mirco Tonin, 2014. "Reporting import tariffs (and other taxes)," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(1), pages 153-173, February.
    20. Antoine Bouët & Devesh Roy, 2012. "Trade protection and tax evasion: Evidence from Kenya, Mauritius, and Nigeria," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 287-320, April.
    21. Joel CARIOLLE & Cyril CHALENDARD & Anne-Marie GEOURJON & Bertrand LAPORTE, 2017. "Going beyond analysis of internal data to support customs modernization: A case study in Gabon," Working Papers 201723, CERDI.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    tariff evasion; structural gravity; trade gap; border controls;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:ces:ceswps:_10151. 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: Klaus Wohlrabe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cesifde.html .

    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.