IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imf/imfwpa/2007-087.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Concept of Offshore Financial Centers: In Search of an Operational Definition

Author

Listed:
  • Ahmed Zoromé

Abstract

This paper proposes a new definition of Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs) and develops a statistical method to differentiate between OFCs and non-OFCs using data from the Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS), the International Investment Position (IIP), and the balance of payments. The suggested methodology identifies more than 80 percent of the OFCs in the study sample that also appear in the a priori list used by the IMF to conduct its OFC assessment program. The methodology distinguishes OFCs based strictly on their macroeconomic features and avoids subjective presumptions on their activities or regulatory frameworks. The study also identifies three new countries meeting OFC criteria.

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmed Zoromé, 2007. "Concept of Offshore Financial Centers: In Search of an Operational Definition," IMF Working Papers 2007/087, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2007/087
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=20583
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ms. Esther C Suss & Mr. Oral Williams & Mr. Chandima Mendis, 2002. "Caribbean offshore Financial Centers: Past, Present, and Possibilities for the Future," IMF Working Papers 2002/088, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Mr. Luca Errico & Mr. Alberto Musalem Borrero, 1999. "Offshore Banking: An Analysis of Micro- and Macro-Prudential Issues," IMF Working Papers 1999/005, International Monetary Fund.
    3. Ballance, Robert H & Forstner, Helmut & Murray, Tracy, 1987. "Consistency Tests of Alternative Measures of Comparative Advantage," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 157-161, February.
    4. Philip R. Lane & Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2008. "International Investment Patterns," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 538-549, August.
    5. Mark Hampton, 1996. "The Offshore Interface," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-25131-5.
    6. Marcel Cassard, 1994. "The Role of offshore Centers in International Financial Intermediation," IMF Working Papers 1994/107, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Carol C. Bertaut & Linda S. Kole, 2004. "What makes investors over or underweight? explaining international appetites for foreign equities," International Finance Discussion Papers 819, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Léon, Florian, 2019. "Long-term finance and entrepreneurship," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 1-1.
    2. Cetorelli, Nicola & Goldberg, Linda S., 2012. "Liquidity management of U.S. global banks: Internal capital markets in the great recession," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 299-311.
    3. Satoshi Mizobata, 2014. "Emerging Multinationals in Russia," KIER Working Papers 899, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    4. Danilov Yuri, 2016. "The experience of financial markets reforms in the countries – competitors of Russia in the global capital market," Research Paper Series, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, issue 171P, pages 156-156.
    5. Mihai Bogdan Afrasinei, 2013. "The Problem Of Tax Havens And The Romanian Tax Authorities’ Reaction," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 5(2), pages 149-159.
    6. Daniel Haberly & Dariusz Wójcik, 2015. "Regional Blocks and Imperial Legacies: Mapping the Global Offshore FDI Network," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 91(3), pages 251-280, July.
    7. Javier Garcia-Bernardo & Jan Fichtner & Eelke M. Heemskerk & Frank W. Takes, 2017. "Uncovering Offshore Financial Centers: Conduits and Sinks in the Global Corporate Ownership Network," Papers 1703.03016, arXiv.org, revised May 2017.
    8. Marchiori, Luca & Pierrard, Olivier, 2018. "Unlocking the gates of paradise: General equilibrium effects of information exchange," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 152-172.
    9. Foad, Hisham & Lundberg, Clark, 2017. "The determinants of portfolio investment in offshore financial centers," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 76-86.
    10. Butkiewicz, James L. & Gordon, Leo-Rey C., 2013. "The Economic Growth Effect of Offshore Banking in Host Territories: Evidence from the Caribbean," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 165-179.
    11. Sasidaran Gopalan & Ramkishen S. Rajan, 2016. "Revisiting Bilateral Foreign Direct Investment Inflows into BRIC Economies," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 7(4), pages 510-520, November.
    12. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz & Sharon C. Cobb, 2016. "Evolutionary Economic Geography for OFCs: Do Political Ties to the Onshore Reduce Capital Inflow Volatility?," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 535-555, December.
    13. Alexandra Peter, 2012. "Bilateral Trade, Openness, and Asset Holdings," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 713-740, September.
    14. Masanaga Kumakura, 2007. "What's So Special about China's Exports? A Comment," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 15(5), pages 18-37, September.
    15. Ms. Concha Verdugo Yepes, 2011. "Compliance with the AM+L4776L/CFT International Standard: Lessons from a Cross-Country Analysis," IMF Working Papers 2011/177, International Monetary Fund.

    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. Sharon C. Cobb, 2009. "Redefining “Offshore” in Latin America," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 332-356, June.
    2. AndrewK. Rose & MarkM. Spiegel, 2007. "Offshore Financial Centres: Parasites or Symbionts?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1310-1335, October.
    3. Philip Lane & Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2005. "The International Equity Holdings of Euro Area Investors," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp104, IIIS.
    4. Fidora, Michael & Fratzscher, Marcel & Thimann, Christian, 2007. "Home bias in global bond and equity markets: The role of real exchange rate volatility," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 631-655, June.
    5. Forbes, Kristin J., 2010. "Why do foreigners invest in the United States?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 3-21, January.
    6. Okawa, Yohei & van Wincoop, Eric, 2012. "Gravity in International Finance," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 205-215.
    7. 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.
    8. Anne Marie Gleeson & Frances Ruane, 2006. "Export dynamics in Small Open Economies: Indigenous Irish Manufacturing Exports, 1985-2003," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp140, IIIS.
    9. Forbes, Kristin J. & Warnock, Francis E., 2012. "Capital flow waves: Surges, stops, flight, and retrenchment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 235-251.
    10. Roque, Vanda & Cortez, Maria Céu, 2014. "The determinants of international equity investment: Do they differ between institutional and noninstitutional investors?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 469-482.
    11. Gabriel Zucman, 2013. "The Missing Wealth of Nations: Are Europe and the U.S. net Debtors or net Creditors?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(3), pages 1321-1364.
    12. Raffestin, Louis, 2014. "Diversification and systemic risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 85-106.
    13. Seamus Grimes, 2006. "Ireland's Emergence as a Centre for Internationally Traded Services," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(9), pages 1041-1054.
    14. Kleimeier - Ros, Stefanie & Qi, Shusen & Sander, H., 2016. "Deposit Insurance in Times of Crises: Safe Haven or Regulatory Arbitrage? (RM/15/026-revised-)," Research Memorandum 026, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    15. Ana Kristel Lapid & Rogelio Mercado & Peter Rosenkranz, 2023. "Concentration in Asia's cross‐border banking: Determinants and impacts," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 267-292, May.
    16. Jinjarak, Yothin, 2014. "Equity prices and financial globalization," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 49-57.
    17. Mishra, Anil V., 2016. "Foreign bias in Australian-domiciled mutual fund holdings," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 101-123.
    18. Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem & Papaioannou, Elias & Peydró, José-Luis, 2010. "What lies beneath the euro's effect on financial integration? Currency risk, legal harmonization, or trade?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 75-88, May.
    19. Ping HUA & YUE, 2001. "Does Comparative Advantage Explain Export Patterns in China?," Working Papers 200108, CERDI.
    20. Kalemli-Özcan, Sebnem & Nikolsko–Rzhevskyy, Alex & Kwak, Jun Hee, 2020. "Does trade cause capital to flow? Evidence from historical rainfall," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).

    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:imf:imfwpa:2007/087. 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: Akshay Modi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imfffus.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.