Offshore finance and corporate tax avoidance

Corporate tax avoidance deprives governments of tax revenues, privileges large MNCs over small and medium-sized enterprises, and contributes to rising inequality. This dissertation employs an antidisciplinary approach to open the black box of corporate tax avoidance. Using novel datasets and algorithms, it uncovers the emergence of coordination centers—developed jurisdictions that play a key and increasingly important role in the orchestration of global value chains and corporate tax avoidance. Amongst these, six jurisdictions stand out: the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Singapore. By uncovering the rise of coordination centers, I expose new potential avenues for regulation.