Share:


Does technology matter for combating economic and financial crime? A panel data study

    Monica Violeta Achim Affiliation
    ; Sorin Nicolae Borlea   Affiliation
    ; Viorela Ligia Văidean   Affiliation

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the influence of technology on the level of the economic and financial crime, using data for 185 countries over the 2012–2015 time period and controlling for many important variables. First, we find that on average, the size of the economic and financial crime in low income countries is about double compared to that of high income countries, while their Research and development expenditure (as % of GDP) are about four times lower than in high income countries. We find clear evidence that increased technology reduces the size of the economic and financial crime. In addition, we find that Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) matter more in reducing the economic and financial crime in low income countries than they do in high income countries. Our main findings are generally stable after conducting some robustness checks. From a policy perspective, our study may prove to be of great use to decision makers of the states, to government and non-governmental enterprises and to potential investors within different markets.


First published online 6 January 2021

Keyword : technology, economic and financial crime index, corruption, shadow economy, money laundering

How to Cite
Achim, M. V., Borlea, S. N., & Văidean, V. L. (2021). Does technology matter for combating economic and financial crime? A panel data study. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 27(1), 223-261. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2021.13977
Published in Issue
Jan 18, 2021
Abstract Views
2840
PDF Downloads
1865
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Achim, M. V., & Borlea, N. S. (2020). Economic and financial crime. Corruption, shadow economy, and money laundering. Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51780-9

Achim, M. V., Borlea, N. S., Găban, L., & Cuceu, I. C. (2018). Rethinking the shadow economy in terms of happiness: Evidence for the European Union member states. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 24(1), 199–228. https://doi.org/10.3846/20294913.2016.1209250

Adam, I., & Fazekas, M. (2019). Are emerging technologies helping win the fight against corruption in developing countries? (Pathways for Prosperity Commission Background Paper Series No. 21). Oxford, United Kingdom.

Adema, W. (2006). Social assistance policy development and the provision of a decent level of income in selected OECD countries. (OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 38). OECD Publishing.

Ali, M. A., Azad, M. A., Centeno, M. P., Hao, F., & van Moorsel, A. (2019). Consumer-facing technology fraud: Economics, attack methods and potential solutions, Future Generation Computer Systems, 100, 408–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.future.2019.03.041

Amoore, L., & de Goede, M. (2005). Governance, risk, and data veillance in the war on terror. Crime, Law, and Social Change, 43, 149–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-005-1717-8

Aniţei, N. C., & Lazăr, R. E. (2016). Evaziunea fiscală între legalitate și infracţiune [The tax evasion between legality and crime]. Universul Juridic Publishing House.

Ardizzi, G., Petraglia, C., Piacenza, M., Schneider, F., & Turati, G. (2014). money laundering as a crime in the financial sector: A new approach to quantitative assessment, with an application to Italy. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, 46(8), 1555–1590. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmcb.12159

Bajada, C., & Schneider, F. (2009). Unemployment and the Shadow Economy in the OECD. Revue économique, 5(60), 1033–1067. https://doi.org/10.3917/reco.605.1033

Basel Institute on Governance. (2020). Basel AML Index. Retreived September 20, 2019, from https://index.baselgovernance.org/start_index

Bilgin, M. H., Marco Lau, C. K., & Karabulut, G. (2011). Technology transfer and enterprise performance: a firm-level analysis in China. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 13(3), 489–498. https://doi.org/10.3846/16111699.2011.620144

Bird, R. M., & Zolt, E. M. (2008). Technology and taxation in developing countries: From hand to mouse. National Tax Journal, 61(4), 791–821. https://doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2008.4S.02

Bouzid, B. N. (2016). Dynamic relationship between corruption and youth unemployment: empirical evidences from a system GMM approach (English) (Policy Research working paper No. WPS 7842). World Bank Group, Washington, D.C. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-7842

Brunetti, A., & Weder, B. (2003). A free press is bad news for corruption. Journal of Public Economics, 87(7), 1801–1824. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0047-2727(01)00186-4

Caselli, F., & Michaels, G. (2013). Do oil windfalls improve living standards? Evidence from Brazil. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(1), 208–238. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.5.1.208

Chong, A., & López-de-Silanes, F. (2007). Money laundering and its regulations (Working paper). Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department, No. 590. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1820066

Crowe, M. T. (1944). The moral obligation of paying just taxes [Doctoral Dissertation]. Catholic University of America Studies in Sacred Theology No. 84.

deGoede, M. (2008). Risk, preemption, and exception in the war on terrorism financing. In L. Amoore & M. de Goede (Eds.), Risk and the war on terror (pp. 97–111). Routledge.

Dejong, M. (2018). Tax crimes: The fight goes Digital. OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. Retrieved November 19, 2019, from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/ef01f5e4-en.pdf?expires=1575928848&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=575E7C142F6351EEBAC6FD93598E78B7

Dell’Anno, R., & Solomon, O. H. (2008). Shadow economy and unemployment rate in USA: is there a structural relationship? An empirical analysis. Applied Economics, 40(19), 2537–2555. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036840600970195

Dobre, I., Alexandru, A. A., & Lepas, O. (2010). The USA shadow economy and the unemployment rate: Granger causality results. Journal of Applied Quantitative Methods, 5(1), 98–104.

Dreher, A., & Schneider, F. (2010). Corruption and the Shadow economy. An empirical analysis. Public Choice, 144(1), 215–238. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-009-9513-0

Dreher, A., Kotsogiannis, C., & McCorriston, S. (2009). How do institutions affect corruption and the shadow economy?. International Tax and Public Finance, 16(6), 773–796. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10797-008-9089-5

Drezewski, R., Sepielak, J., & Filipksowski, W. (2012). System supporting money laundering detection. Digital Investigation, 9(1), 8–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2012.04.003

Elgin, C., & Oyvat, C. (2013). Lurking in the cities: Urbanization and the informal economy. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 27, 36–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.strueco.2013.06.003

Engelschalk, M. (2005). Creating a favorable tax environment for small business. In J. Alm, J. MartinezVazquez, & S. Wallace (Eds.), Taxing the hard-to-tax: Lessons from theory and practice (pp. 275–311). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0573-8555(04)68814-6

Europol. (2019). Economic crime. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://www.europol.europa.eu/crime-areas-and-trends/crime-areas/economic-crime

Florescu, D. R., & Cuceu, C. I. (2019). Press freedom and development indicators – A panel data study. International Journal Academic Research Business and Social Sciences, 9(3), 1281–1290. https://doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v9-i3/5795

Freedom House. (2020). Freedom House index.

Global Financial Integrity. (2020, March 3). Trade-related illicit financial flows in 135 developing countries: 2008–2017. Retrieved May 19, 2020, from https://gfintegrity.org/report/trade-related-illicitfinancial-flows-in-135-developing-countries-2008-2017/

Gnangnon, S. K. (2020). Internet and tax reform in developing countries. Information Economics and Policy (in press). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2020.100850

Gnimassoun, B., & Massil, J. K. (2016). Determinants of corruption: Can we put all countries in the same basket? (Document de Travail Working Paper 2016-12). Retrieved January 13, 2020, from https://economix.fr/pdf/dt/2016/WP_EcoX_2016-12.pdf?1.0

Goel, R. K., Nelson, M. A., & Naretta, M. A. (2012). The internet as an indicator of corruption awareness. European Journal of Political Economy, 28, 64–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2011.08.003

Gogolin, G. (2010). The digital crime tsunami. Digital Investigation, 3, 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diin.2010.07.001

Gronbacher, G. (1998). Taxation: Catholic social thought and classical liberalism. Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy, (Winter), 91–100.

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis (7 ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.

Hamilton, R., & Stekelberg, J. (2017). The effect of high-quality information technology on corporate tax avoidance and tax risk. Journal of Information Systems, 31(2), 83–106. https://doi.org/10.2308/isys-51482

Heinemann, F., & Schneider, F. (2011). Religion and the shadow economy (Discussion paper No. 11-038). Centre for European Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1865258

Heritage Foundation. (2020). Index of economic freedom. Washington DC.

Heshmati, H. (2016). Economic integration, currency union, and sustainable and inclusive growth in East Africa. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30432-8

Husted, B. W. (1999). Wealth, culture, and corruption. Journal of International Business Studies, 30, 339–359. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490073

Immordino, G., & Russo, F. F. (2018). Cashless payments and tax evasion. European Journal of Political Economy, 55, 36–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2017.11.001

Kalenborn, C., & Lessmann, C. (2013), The impact of democracy and press freedom on corruption: Conditionality matters. Journal Policy Model, 35(6), 857–886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2013.02.009

Ko, K., & Moon, S.-G. (2014). The relationship between religion and corruption: Are the proposed causal links empirically valid?. International Review of Public Administration, 19(1), 44–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/12294659.2014.887353

KPMG. (2017). Technology in Tax. Embracing the now & thinking the future. Retrieved 11 January, 2020, from https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/au/pdf/2017/tax-technology-now-and-the-future.pdf

La Porta, R., Lopez, F., & Shleifer, A. (2008). The economic consequences of legal origins. Journal of Economic Literature, 4(2), 285–332. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.46.2.285

La Porta, R., Lopez, F., Shleifer, A., & Vishny, R. W. (1997). Legal determinants of external finance. Journal of Finance, 52(3), 1131–1150. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1997.tb02727.x

Lagarde, C. (2016). Addressing corruption–openly. Retrieved September10, 2019, from http://www.giuliotortello.it/clil/lagarde.pdf

Le-Khac, N. A., Markos, S., & Kechadi, M. T. (2009, Septemer 30 – October 2). Towards a new Data Mining-based approach for Anti Money laundering in an international investment bank. In Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime – First International ICST Conference, ICDF2C 2009, Albany, NY, USA. Retrieved December 9, 2019, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221511114_Towards_a_New_Data_Mining-Based_Approach_for_Anti-Money_Laundering_in_an_International_Investment_Bank

Leţia, A. A. (2014). Investigarea criminalităţii de afaceri [Investigating business crime]. Universul Juridic Publishing House.

Levi, M., & Wall, D. (2004). Technologies, security, and privacy in the post 9/11 European information society. Journal of Law and Society, 31(2), 194–220. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2004.00287.x

Lv, Z. (2017). Intelligence and corruption: An empirical investigation in a non-linear framework. Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 69, 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socec.2017.06.003

Máté, D., Sadaf, R., Oláh, J., Popp, J., & Szűcs, E. (2019). The effects of accountability, governance capital, and legal origin on reported frauds. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 25(6), 1213–1231. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2019.10717

McAfee. (2018). The economic impact of cybercrime – no slowing down. Retrieved January 28, 2020, from https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/assets/executive-summaries/es-economic-impact-cybercrime.pdf

McGee, R. W. (2012). The ethics of tax evasion: Perspectives in theory and practice. Springer, USA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-1287-8

McGee R. W., Benk, S., & Yüzbaşı, B. (2015). Religion and ethical attitudes toward accepting a bribe: A comparative study. Religions, 6, 1168–1181. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel6041168

Medina, L., & Schneider, F. (2018). Shadow economies around the world: What did we learn over the last 20 years? (Working Paper WP/18/17). International Monetary Fund. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484338636.001

Murtuza, A., & Ghazanfar, S. M. (1998). Taxation as a form of worship: Exploring the Nature of Zakat. Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy, (Spring), 134–161.

Mutașcu, M. (2012). Tax revenues under world religions: a panel analysis (MPRA Paper 40337). University Library of Munich, Germany.

Nikoloska, S., & Simonovski, I. (2012). Role of banks as entity in the system for prevention of money laundering in the Macedonia. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 44, 453–459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.05.050

Okunogbe, O. M., & Pouliquen, V. M. J. (2018). Technology, taxation, and corruption: evidence from the introduction of electronic tax filing (Policy Research working paper No. WPS 8452; Impact Evaluation series). World Bank, Washington, D.C. https://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-8452

Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries. (2020). Oxford University Press.

PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2018). Pulling fraud out of the shadows Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2019, from https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/forensics/global-economic-crime-and-fraud-survey-2018.pdf

PricewaterhouseCoopers. (2016). Global Economic Crime Survey 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2019, from https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/corruption/experience-sharing-programme/docs/o.iskit-global-economic-crime-survey_en.pdf

Putniņš, T. J., & Sauka, A. (2015). Measuring the shadow economy using company managers. Journal of Comparative Economics, 43, 471–490. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2014.04.001

Remeikiene, R., Gaspareniene, L., & Schneider, F. G. (2018). The definition of digital shadow economy. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 24(2), 696–717. https://doi.org/10.3846/20294913.2016.1266530

Richardson, G. (2008). The relationship between culture and tax evasion across countries: Additional evidence and extensions. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, 17, 67–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2008.07.002

Rider, B. (2015). Research handbook on international financial crime. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, UK. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783475797

Robertson, D. (2016). The Nilson report. Retrieved October 10, 2019, from https://www.nilsonreport.com/upload/content_promo/The_Nilson_Report_10-17-2016.pdf

Ryman-Tubb, N. F., Krause, P., & Garn, W. (2018). How Artificial Intelligence and machine learning research impacts payment, card fraud detection: A survey and industry benchmark. Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence, 76, 130–157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2018.07.008

Sadaf, R., Oláh, J., Popp, J., & Máté, D. (2018). An investigation of the influence of the worldwide governance and competitiveness on accounting fraud cases: A cross-country perspective. Sustainability, 10, 588. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10030588

Sadgali, I., Sael, N., & Benabbou, F. (2019). Performance of machine learning techniques in the detection of financial frauds. Procedia Computer Science, 148, 45–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.01.007

Sahnoun, M., & Abdennadher, C. (2019). The nexus between unemployment rate and shadow economy: a comparative analysis of developed and developing countries using a simultaneous-equation model. Economics (Discussion Paper No 2019-30). Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Retrieved July 25, 2020, from http://www.economics-ejournal.org/economics/discussionpapers/2019-30

Schansberg, D. E. (1998). The ethics of tax evasion within Biblical Christianity: Are there limits to “Rendering Unto Caesar”?. Journal of Accounting, Ethics & Public Policy, (Winter), 77–90.

Schneider, F. H., & Klinglmair, R. (2004). Shadow economies around the world: What do we know? (Working Paper No. 0403). Universität Linz.

Schneider, F., & Willams, C. C. (2013). The shadow economy. IEA, London. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139542289

Schwarz, P. (2011). Money launderers and tax havens: Two sides of the same coin?. International Review of Law and Economics, 31, 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irle.2010.12.001

Serrat, O. (2017). Fighting corruption with ICT: Strengthening civil society’s role. In Knowledge solutions. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0983-9_86

Slemrod, J. (1990). Optimal taxation and optimal tax systems. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4, 157–178. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.4.1.157

Stankevičius, E., & Vasiliauskaitė, A. (2014). Tax burden level leverage on size of the shadow economy, cases of EU Countries 2003–2013. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 156(26), 548–552. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.11.238

Suh, J. B., Shimb, H. S., & Buttonc, M. (2018). Exploring the impact of organizational investment on occupational fraud: Mediating effects of ethical culture and monitoring control. International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice, 53, 46–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlcj.2018.02.003

Tandean, V. A., & Winnie, W. (2016). The effect of good corporate governance on tax avoidance: An empirical study on manufacturing companies listed in IDX period 2010–2013. Asian Journal of Accounting Research, 1, 28–38. https://doi.org/10.1108/AJAR-2016-01-01-B004

Tanzi, V. (2002). The shadow economy, its causes and its consequences. Brazilian Institute of Ethics in Competition.

Tedds, L., & Giles, D. (2002). Taxes and the Canadian underground economy. Canadian Tax Foundation.

Torgler, B., & Schneider, F. (2007). The impact of tax morale and institutional quality on the shadow economy (IZA Discussion Paper).

Transparency International. (2020). Corruption perception index.

Tsakumis, G. T., Curatola, A. P., & Porcano, T. M. (2007). The relation between national cultural dimensions and tax evasion. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, 16, 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intaccaudtax.2007.06.004

US Legal. (2019). Economic crime law and legal definition. Retrieved September 15, 2019, from https://definitions.uslegal.com/e/economic-crime/

Vaithilingam, S., & Nair, M. (2009). Mapping global money laundering trends: Lessons from the pace setters. Research in International Business and Finance, 23, 18–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2008.03.003

Vicente, P. C. (2010). Does oil corrupt? Evidence from a natural experiment in West Africa. Journal of Development Economics, 92(1), 28–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2009.01.005

Wickberg, S. (2013). Technological innovations to identify and reduce corruption (U4 Expert answer No. 376).

Wijayati, N., Hermes, N., & Holzhacker, R. (2016). Corporate governance and corruption: A comparative study of Southeast Asia. In Decentralization and governance in Indonesia. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22434-3_1

Williams, C., & Schneider, F. (2016). Measuring the global shadow economy: the prevalence of informal work and labor. Edward Elgar.

Williams, J. W. (2013). Regulatory technologies, risky subjects, and financial boundaries: Governing ‘fraud’ in the financial markets. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 38, 544–558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2012.08.001

World Bank. (2015). Country and lending groups. World Bank, Washington.

World Bank. (2020). World development indicators. World Bank, Washington.

World Economic Forum. (2020). Global competitiveness report.

Wu, D. F., & Schneider, F. (2019). Nonlinearity between the shadow economy and level of development (IMF Working Papers 19/48). International Monetary Fund. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781484399613.001

Zoldi, S. (2015). Using anti-fraud technology to improve the customer experience. Computer Fraud & Security, 7, 18–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1361-3723(15)30067-1