"Robertson and Tyrala provide a theoretical and empirical analysis of emerging markets and the offshore economic system. Few analysts are aware that corporate structures formed in Mauritius hold over $700 billion in assets in the global economy. In the last decade, taxation has become a central part of the international political agenda. Spurred on by vigorous contestation from the local level to the global level, serious efforts have been made to regulate the offshore economy. As a result, emerging markets are placed in a bind, with tensions between the continuing incentives to accommodate offshore capital and the global, regional and national pressures to curtail offshore activities. India has convincingly exhibited its commitment to the new tax agendahaving taken strong steps and implemented strict rules on how investors can utilize Mauritius for business transactions. Going forward, the African continent represents one of the most notable cases of whether India's actions will be replicated elsewhere. Mauritius-India and Mauritius-Africa are indicative test cases in considering the depth of taxation reform in the post-2008 global financial crisis world. An insightful study for scholars of international political economy"--
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.
