Natural resource revenues and double taxation treaties in developing countries: insights from a network centrality approach

This paper investigates the impact of double taxation treaties (DTTs) on resource revenue mobilization in 91 resource-rich countries from 2000 to 2019. We calculate annual degree centrality indices to measure countries’ integration into the tax treaty network. The results of applying panel fixed effects and methods-of-moments approaches indicate a negative relationship between DTT centrality and resource revenue mobilization, which remains robust across government revenue aggregates. Additionally, we employ the betweenness centrality index to identify intermediate jurisdictions—countries classified as investment or tax hubs based on the above-median betweenness centrality. We argue that multinational companies leverage these hubs to minimize tax burdens by exploiting extensive treaty networks. Finally, using entropy balancing, we provide evidence that signing tax treaties with investment or tax hubs adversely affects resource revenue mobilization.