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Small States and the Challenge of Sovereignty View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OpenGrey Repository Small States and the Challenge of Sovereignty: Commonwealth Caribbean Offshore Financial Centers and Tax Competition William B. Vlcek Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations The London School of Economics and Political Science University of London 2006 ABSTRACT The dynamics of inter-state relations and state sovereignty have been disturbed by late-20th century globalisation. Yet the literature on the international system, globalisation and international political economy gives scant attention to the most vulnerable sovereign entities, the small and micro states. One significant exception has been the Commonwealth, with its many small state members. Another is the area of financial crime, and the role of the offshore financial centre (OFC) within global finance. This thesis analyses the efforts of several small Commonwealth states from the Caribbean to maintain their OFCs in the face of an OECD-directed campaign against tax competition. It demonstrates both the contribution made to economic development by an OFC and the successful assertion of sovereignty achieved by these small states. The case study focuses on Caribbean OFCs and the OECD campaign against harmful tax competition during 1998 - 2003. First, the argument that tax competition is a global problem is deconstructed. Three main points from the small states’ response to the OECD position are explored, along with the OECD’s rebuttal. Because the small states are individually at a disadvantage, the thesis provides an exposition of the collective response facilitated by the Commonwealth. The OFC is justified by its material contribution to the small state economy. Specific contributions made to the economies of the Bahamas, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Cayman Islands are demonstrated. The pivotal impact of U.S. policy on the OECD project and on Caribbean OFCs is explored. Yet while one effect was a decline in the number of registered offshore firms, the quantity of capital transiting the Caribbean increased. This study of small states and offshore finance re-affirms the continued relevance of the sovereign state as an actor in international society, but also illustrates the importance of issue-area and geographical context. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. – John Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, no. 17 (1624) This is the point when the author demonstrates the universal truth to those lines. At the start of a project of this size one doesn’t think much about the time and effort that is contributed to it by one’s family, friends, acquaintances and even strangers. By the time that you reach the end, and are staring at a bound copy of all your efforts, you realise just how valuable the encouragement, support, and spine-stiffing ‘you can’t quit now’ words have been to help you reach the finish line. Along the way many folks provided assistance, in all manners great and small. Amongst my fellow students, a number have read and commented upon parts of this research work, and I’m grateful for the feedback I’ve received from Miriam Allam, Amnon Aran, Elisabetta Brighi, and Alexander Buhk. There is a larger number of fellow researchers that I have bored with commentaries about offshore finance, taxation and money laundering, and so I acknowledge the indulgence of Andreas Antoniades, Felix Berenskoetter, Annika Bolten, Antoine Bousquet, Douglas Bullock, Stephanie Carvin, Nicola Casarini, Paul Chamberlain, Patrick Cullen, Robert Kissack, Timothy Oliver, Adam Quinn, Sinikukka Saari, Rashmi Singh, Michael Thomas, Padideh Tosti, Michael J. Williams, and Reuben Wong. (And I appreciate the fact that most anything is bearable if a pint of ale is close at hand.) Thanks are also due to my family and friends for the encouragement and accommodations provided during my nomadic travels between the UK and the US over the past few years. My thanks for providing shelter and a link to normal everyday life go to Kevin Blake and his family, Rosemary Bern and her family, Don Nutter and his family, 3 Mark Stettler, and Barrie Eshman. They have also been bored by tales of my research endeavours, along with my parents, brothers and sisters, Jim Miller, John Parsons, Danna Strech, and anyone else foolish enough to ask what I’m doing these days. The Department of International Relations has an excellent staff that covers the breadth and depth of the discipline. During my time as a research student, a number of members of staff have been most generous in answering my questions and offering suggestions, even on topics that extend beyond simple PhD research. Once again my thanks for any and all assistance to Chris Alden, Daphné Josselin, John Kent, Peter Lyon, Karen Smith, and Andrew Walter. Finally, it goes without saying that I have a great deal of respect and appreciation for the guidance provided by Professor Christopher J. Hill. As my supervisor he provided generous comments, offered critical observations, and helped to keep the entire project in perspective, as well as focused on the goal. A large measure of any success in this research endeavour is a result of his continuing encouragement and support. In the end, however, I alone remain responsible for the contents of this thesis and for any errors or mis-statements than may remain buried within. 4 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 3 Table of Contents.................................................................................................................................5 List of Tables.........................................................................................................................................9 List of Figures .....................................................................................................................................10 Acronyms ..................................................................................................................... 11 1. Sovereignty, Size and Money ..................................................................................12 What does size have to do with it?...........................................................................................15 Fundamentals of taxation (and tax competition)...................................................................21 Offshore – The financial rather than nautical dimension ....................................................26 Financial Services in an Offshore Landscape .............................................................................29 A Common Legal Tradition.....................................................................................................31 Structure of the thesis.................................................................................................................36 2. A Small, Sovereign, State ........................................................................................42 Historical perspective .................................................................................................................44 Small States prior to World War II..........................................................................................44 The Path to Independence..........................................................................................................47 Independence and self-determination...........................................................................................48 Concepts of sovereignty.............................................................................................................52 Defining the Sovereign State ......................................................................................................52 Sovereignty for Small States.......................................................................................................57 Variety in Definition – What is ‘small’?...................................................................................60 Remnants of Empire ..................................................................................................................66 5 3. Offshore Financial Centres and Taxation..............................................................74 Small State Development within the Terrain of Global Finance........................................75 Suggestions for a history of the offshore financial system ..............................................................75 Offshore Financial Centres as Development...............................................................................80 Accommodating the Offshore Financial Centre ..........................................................................82 Taxation in the Modern State....................................................................................................86 Leviathan State or Benevolent State?.........................................................................................93 A Sovereign Right to Tax?.......................................................................................................96 4. The OECD Case for Harmful Tax Competition ................................................
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