Estimating Illicit Flows of Capital via Trade Mispricing: A Forensic Analysis of Data on Switzerland - Working Paper 350

Alex Cobham, Petr Janský and Alex Prats ()

No 350, Working Papers from Center for Global Development

Abstract: This paper assesses the role of Switzerland as the leading hub for global commodities trading, in terms of the patterns of prices received by original exporting countries and subsequently by Switzerland and other jurisdictions. We find support for the hypotheses that (i) the average prices for commodity exports from developing countries to Switzerland are lower than those to other jurisdictions; and that (ii) Switzerland declares higher (re-)export prices for those commodities than do other jurisdictions. This pattern implies a potential capital loss for commodity exporting developing countries and we provide a range of estimates of that loss – each of which suggests the scale is substantial (the most conservative is around $8 billion a year) and that the issue merits greater research and policy attention. An important first step would be a Swiss commitment to meet international norms of trade transparency.

Keywords: illicit financial flows; trade mispricing; transparency; commodities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 F23 F39 F62 F63 O24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2014-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int and nep-sog
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cgd:wpaper:350

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