The network structure of global tax evasion Evidence from the Panama Papers

Garcia Alvarado Fernando and Antoine Mandel

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: This paper builds on recent insights from network theory and on the rich dataset made available by the Panama Papers in order to investigate the micro-economic dynamics of tax-evasion. We model offshore financial entities documented in the Panama Papers as links between jurisdictions in the global network of tax evasion. A quantitative analysis shows that the resulting network, far from being a random collection of bilateral links, has key features of complex networks such as a core-periphery structure and a fat-tail degree distribution. We argue that these structural features imply that policy must adopt a systemic perspective to mitigate tax evasion. We offer three sets of insights from this perspective. First, we identify through centrality measures tax havens that ought to be priority policy targets. Second, we show that efficient tax treaties must contain exchange information clauses and link tax-havens to non-haven jurisdictions. Third, we show that the optimal deterrence strategies for a social-planner facing a strategic tax-evader in a Stackelberg competition can be characterized using the notion of Bonacich centrality.

Keywords: H26 H87 D85 C54 Tax Evasion Socio-economic Networks Game Theory; H26; H87; D85; C54 Tax Evasion; Socio-economic Networks; Game Theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gth, nep-iue and nep-net
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-03881348v1
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Published in Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2022, 197, pp.660-684. ⟨10.1016/j.jebo.2022.03.024⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-03881348v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The network structure of global tax evasion evidence from the Panama papers (2022)
Working Paper: The network structure of global tax evasion Evidence from the Panama Papers (2022)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03881348

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.03.024

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().