Revealing the Offshore World: How Researchers Investigate Shell Companies, International Wealth Managers & Transnational Informal Economies

According to the Tax Justice Network, between $21 and $32 trillion in hidden assets are held in offshore tax havens. The increasing outflow of money into the offshore world starves developing countries of government revenues, enables kleptocrats to hide their illicitly-acquired wealth, and allows global multinational companies to lawfully avoid paying hundreds of billions in taxes. Until recently, we lacked comprehensive and detailed academic studies for understanding the scope and inner workings of the offshore system. This panel brings together four leading scholars to discuss their path-breaking research on important aspects of the offshore world and financial system. Beyond sharing their latest research findings on global tax havens, the global citizenship market, wealth asset management, and the informal economy, our panelists will discuss the research and investigative techniques that they have pioneered to reveal important dimensions of the offshore world.

Participants

• Kimberly Hoang, University of Chicago, author of Dealing in Desire: Asian Ascendancy, Western Decline, and the Hidden Currencies of Global Sex Work

• Brooke Harrington, Dartmouth College, author of Capital without Borders: Wealth Managers and the One Percent

• Jason Sharman, Cambridge University, author of The Despot’s Guide to Wealth management: On the International Campaign against Grand Corruption

• Kristin Surak, SOAS University of London, author of Citizenship and Residence Sales: Rethinking the Boundaries of Belonging (forthcoming)

Moderated by Alexander Cooley, Director of the Harriman Institute, Columbia University and author of Dictators without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia