Informed by world-systems analysis, this book examines the shifting patterns of accommodation and resistance to the offshore world, with a particular focus on Mauritius as a critical but underappreciated offshore node mediating foreign investment into India and Africa. Drawing on a large pool of financial data and elite interviews, the authors present the first detailed comparative study of the Mauritius–India and Mauritius–Africa offshore relationships. These relationships serve as indicative test cases of the contemporary global tax reform agenda and its promise to rein in offshore finance. Whereas India’s economic power and multilateral track record have enabled it to actively shape this agenda and implement it in a robust manner, most African countries have found themselves either unable to meet its stringent criteria or unwilling to do so out of fear that it might discourage investment. Its impact on offshore financial centers has likewise been limited. A few of the least sophisticated ones appear to have fallen by the wayside, but the rest have either remained largely unaffected, or, like Mauritius, succeeded in consolidating their operations and surviving the current round of regulatory headwinds. The findings suggest that the contemporary global tax reform agenda has thus far not only failed to make good on its promise but also actually reinforced numerous existing power hierarchies. The Uneven Offshore World is written in an accessible style and aimed at readers without specialized knowledge of tax issues.
Robertson and Tyrala provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of emerging markets and the offshore economic system. An insightful study for scholars of international political economy.
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Boxes
List of Abbreviations
1 Introduction
Larger debates and research questions
Argument and significance
Case selection
Structure of the book
2 Analytical framework part one: World-systems analysis, global finance, and
regional specialization in the global offshore economy
World-systems analysis
The rise of global finance
Regional hubs in a global world
3 Analytical framework part two: Growing resistance, new global standards,
and the uneven nature of the offshore world
Accommodation and resistance at multiple levels
New global standards and the continuing role of national factors
The multiple hierarchies of the offshore world and consolidated survivor OFCs
4 A case study of the MauritiusIndia offshore relationship
The origins of Mauritius as an OFC for India
The Vodafone case
The historical importance of economic factors
The historical importance of political factors
Explaining the reversal of the IndiaMauritius policy
5 A case study of the MauritiusAfrica offshore relationship
Key historical points
The role of international factors
The role of domestic factors
The politics of contestation
Re-evaluating Indias offshore change
6 The significance of the case studies for the political economies of India,
Africa, and Mauritius
The significance of Indian developments
The significance of African developments
The significance of Mauritian developments
The potential of the African market
The potential of new financial industries
The potential of new entry points into the Indian market
Mauritiuss comparative advantages
Arrested development and OFCs
7 Conclusion
Developments that would put into question the findings of the book
Future research questions
References
Index
Justin Robertson is an associate professor in the Department of Asian and International Studies at the City University of Hong Kong. His most recent research explores the extent to which hedge funds, private equity funds, and offshore structures are materializing in emerging markets.
Michael Tyrala is a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Emerging Market Studies of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research focuses on the historical and contemporary trajectories of the global offshore economy and its evolving impact on the global capitalist system.
