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Which countries become tax havens?

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Author Info
Dharmapala, Dhammika
Hines Jr., James R.

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the factors influencing whether countries become tax havens. Roughly 15% of countries are tax havens; as has been widely observed, these countries tend to be small and affluent. This paper documents another robust empirical regularity: better-governed countries are much more likely than others to become tax havens. Controlling for other relevant factors, governance quality has a statistically significant and quantitatively large association with the probability of being a tax haven. For a typical country with a population under one million, the likelihood of a becoming a tax haven rises from 26% to 61% as governance quality improves from the level of Brazil to that of Portugal. Evidence from US firms suggests that low tax rates offer much more powerful inducements to foreign investment in well-governed countries than do low tax rates elsewhere. This may explain why poorly-governed countries do not generally attempt to become tax havens, and suggests that the range of sensible tax policy options is constrained by the quality of governance.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Public Economics.

Volume (Year): 93 (2009)
Issue (Month): 9-10 (October)
Pages: 1058-1068
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Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:93:y:2009:i:9-10:p:1058-1068

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505578

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Related research
Keywords: Tax havens Foreign direct investment Governance quality;

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Mihir A. Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala, 2007. "Taxes, Institutions and Foreign Diversification Opportunities," NBER Working Papers 13132, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Dhammika Dharmapala, 2008. "What Problems and Opportunities are Created by Tax Havens?," Working Papers 0820, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Marcin Piatkowski & Mariusz Jarmuzek, 2008. "Zero Corporate Income Tax in Moldova: Tax Competition and Its Implications for Eastern Europe," IMF Working Papers 08/203, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  4. Mihir A. Desai & Dhammika Dharmapala, 2007. "Taxes and Portfolio Choice: Evidence from JGTRRA's Treatment of International Dividends," NBER Working Papers 13281, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Mario Mansour & Michael Keen, 2009. "Revenue Mobilization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges from Globalization," IMF Working Papers 09/157, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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