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Offshore tax evasion in developing countries: Evidence and policy discussion

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  • Niels Johannesen

Abstract

Offshore tax havens cause large losses of government revenue by facilitating tax evasion by wealthy individuals. This paper focuses on offshore tax evasion in developing countries and documents two empirical regularities. First, there is no clear development gradient in the exposure to offshore tax havens: a range of indicators suggests that wealth held in offshore tax havens, measured relative to the size of the economy, correlates only weakly with economic development.

Suggested Citation

  • Niels Johannesen, 2024. "Offshore tax evasion in developing countries: Evidence and policy discussion," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2024-15, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2024-15
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    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2024-15-offshore-tax-evasion-developing-countries.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alstadsæter, Annette & Johannesen, Niels & Zucman, Gabriel, 2018. "Who owns the wealth in tax havens? Macro evidence and implications for global inequality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 89-100.
    2. Bayer, Ralph-C. & Hodler, Roland & Raschky, Paul A. & Strittmatter, Anthony, 2020. "Expropriations, property confiscations and new offshore entities: Evidence from the Panama Papers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 132-152.
    3. Leenders, Wouter & Lejour, Arjan & Rabaté, Simon & van ’t Riet, Maarten, 2023. "Offshore tax evasion and wealth inequality: Evidence from a tax amnesty in the Netherlands," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax evasion; Tax havens; Offshore financial centres;
    All these keywords.

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