Tax Havens and Capital Flight from Developing Countries: The Social and Political Implications

Abstract

There is an emerging consensus among scholars and practitioners of development policy that capital flight in the form of illicit financial flows (IFF) has “devastating effects on developing countries” (OECD 2013: 1). As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) puts it, IFF “strip resources from developing countries that could be used to finance much-needed public services, from security and justice to basic social services such as health and education, weakening their financial systems and economic potential” (ibid.: 15; see also AfDB/OECD-DC 2010: Part II).