Illegal Transactions in International Trade

Studies in International Economics, Volume 1: Illegal Transactions in International Trade: Theory and Measurement embraces the theoretical, empirical, and econometric aspects of international economic analysis.

The selection first elaborates on a theoretical analysis of smuggling, an alternative proof of the Bhagwati-Hansen results on smuggling and welfare, and smuggling and trade policy. Discussions focus on optimal tariff and revenue questions, legal trade eliminated by smuggling, legal trade co-existing with smuggling, overinvoicing and underinvoicing of transactions, and smuggling and welfare. The text then examines overinvoicing, underutilization, and distorted industrial growth, fiscal policies, faking of foreign trade declarations, and the balance of payments, and accuracy of economic observations. Topics include statistics of foreign commodity trade, trade tariffs and subsidies, effect on capital complexity, industrial employment and output growth, implications for industrial development, effective exchange rate for capital imports, and foreign-exchange profits of overinvoicing.

The manuscript ponders on tariffs and smuggling in Indonesia and the problems of assessing unrecorded trade, including complications in comparing partners' trade accounts, measuring recorded values of all products, market impact of smuggling, and methods for detecting smuggling.

The selection is a valuable source of data for researchers interested in international trade.

Introduction to the Series

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part I - The Pure Theory of International Trade

Chapter 1 A Theoretical Analysis of Smuggling

Chapter 2 An Alternative Proof of the Bhagwati-Hansen Results on Smuggling and Welfare

Chapter 3 Smuggling and Trade Policy

Chapter 4 Notes on the Economic Theory of Smuggling

Part II - Balance of Payments and Developmental Effects

Chapter 5 Overinvoicing, Underutilization, and Distorted Industrial Growth

Chapter 6 Fiscal Policies, the Faking of Foreign Trade Declarations, and the Balance of Payments

Part III - Partner-Country Data Comparisons and Faked Invoicing

Chapter 7 On the Accuracy of Economic Observations: Foreign Trade Statistics

Chapter 8 The Accuracy of International Trade Data: The Case of Southeast Asian Countries

Chapter 9 On the Underinvoicing of Imports

Chapter 10 Capital Flight from LDCs: A Statistical Analysis

Part IV - Detecting Smuggling

Chapter 11 Indonesia’s Unrecorded Trade

Chapter 12 Problems of Assessing Unrecorded Trade

Chapter 13 Tariffs and Smuggling in Indonesia

Part V - Miscellany

Chapter 14 Unit Values of U.S. Machinery Exports

Index