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Secrecy jurisdictions

Author

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  • Guttorm Schjelderup

Abstract

This paper surveys tax haven legislation and links the literature on tax havens to the literature on asymmetric information. I argue that the core aim of tax haven legislation is to create private information (secrecy) for the users of tax havens. This leads to moral hazard and transaction costs in non-havens. The business model of tax havens is illustrated by using Mauritius and Jersey as case studies. I also provide several real-world examples of how secrecy jurisdictions lead to inefficient market outcomes and breach of regulations in non-haven countries. Both developed and developing countries are harmed, but the consequences seem most detrimental to developing countries. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Suggested Citation

  • Guttorm Schjelderup, 2016. "Secrecy jurisdictions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(1), pages 168-189, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:23:y:2016:i:1:p:168-189
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-015-9350-7
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Gavrilova, Evelina & Polakova, Aija, 2018. "Stairway to (Secrecy) Heaven: Market Attitudes towards Secrecy Shopping," Discussion Papers 2018/19, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    3. 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.
    4. Giulia Aliprandi & Thijs Busschots & Carlos Oliveira, 2023. "Mapping the global geography of shell companies," Post-Print hal-04563980, HAL.
    5. Alejandro Esteller-Moré & Shafik Hebous & Niels Johannesen & Katarzyna Anna Bilicka, 2018. "The Present and Future of Tax Havens / El presente y futuro de los paraísos fiscales / El present i futur dels paradisos fiscals," IEB Reports ieb_report_4_2018, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    6. Guttorm Schjelderup & Frank Stähler, 2024. "The economics of the global minimum tax," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 31(4), pages 935-952, August.
    7. Mongrain, Steeve & Wilson, John D., 2018. "Tax competition with heterogeneous capital mobility," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 177-189.
    8. Ivar Kolstad, 2017. "Protected tax havens: Cornering the market through international reform?," CMI Working Papers 7, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway.
    9. Nouf Binhadab & Robert Gillanders & Thomas McCluskey, 2023. "A clean and discreet service: The role of corruption and secrecy in profit shifting by multinational firms," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 1551-1573, October.
    10. Damgaard, Jannick & Elkjaer, Thomas & Johannesen, Niels, 2024. "What is real and what is not in the global FDI network?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    11. Valeria Secchini & Javier Garcia-Bernardo & Petr Jansk'y, 2025. "Avoiding Overfitting in Variable-Order Markov Models: a Cross-Validation Approach," Papers 2501.14476, arXiv.org.
    12. Nourat Al Hayat Guigma, 2025. "Tackling tax base erosion in developing countries: Does information exchange initiative make a difference?," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 401-437, September.
    13. De Vito, Antonio & Hillmann, Lisa & Jacob, Martin & Vossebürger, Robert, 2025. "Do personal income taxes affect corporate tax-motivated profit shifting?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2).
    14. Sheila Killian & Philip O'Regan & Ruth Lynch & Martin Laheen & Dionysios Karavidas, 2022. "Regulating havens: The role of hard and soft governance of tax experts in conditions of secrecy and low regulation," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 722-737, July.
    15. Casi, Elisa & Nenadic, Sara & Orlic, Mark Dinko & Spengel, Christoph, 2019. "A call to action: From evolution to revolution on the Common Reporting Standard," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-035, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, revised 2019.
    16. Dharmapala, Dhammika, 2016. "Cross-border tax evasion under a unilateral FATCA regime," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 29-37.
    17. Weichenrieder, Alfons J., 2016. "Panama & Co: Implikationen für die Steuerpolitik," SAFE Policy Letters 52, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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