Seminario di Jacco Wielhouwer

ore 12.30 Aula della Scuola di Dottorato, Palazzo Cà Borin, Via del Santo 22

28.09.2017

The effect of aid for trade facilitation on smuggling in Sub-Saharan Africa

Seminario di  Jacco Wielhouwerm, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

 Smuggling – the illegal act of bringing goods into a country without declaring them or paying tariffs – is pervasive in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In this paper, we examine the potential effect of aid for trade facilitation on smuggling. We posit that this aid improves efficiency in customs procedures, which in turn reduces the incentives to smuggle. An analysis of product-level trade data per country supports our expectation. The results indicate that aid for trade facilitation can indirectly contribute to fighting non-compliance with customs laws.