Synonyms
Definition
A shell company is supposedly an independent, legal business entity that is used to separate and hide the identity of its real owner. The use of shell companies can be legal when they serve as technical vehicles facilitating complicated business transactions, but they are often used for illegal purposes.
Introduction
As the Panama Papers leak exposed in 2016, the secret world of shell companies is not a small-scale marginal phenomenon, as previously believed, but a widespread and complex network of offshore companies in remote tax havens with the special function to cover the shady business of the global elite, including numerous senior politicians, heads of states, and dictators (Obermayer and Obermaier 2016). Yet, autocrats and their cronies extensively use shell companies, not just in tax havens but in the Western world so that they can hold their illegally accumulated wealth in the...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Cooley A, Heathershaw J (2017) Dictators without borders: power and money in Central Asia. Yale University Press, London
Cooley A, Heathershaw J, Sharman JC (2018) The rise of kleptocracy: laundering cash, whitewashing reputations. J Democr 29(1):39–53
Findley MG, Nielson DL, Sharman JC (2014) Global shell games. Cambridge University Press, New York
Jancsics D (2017) Offshoring at home? Domestic use of shell companies for corruption. Public Integrity 19(1):4–21
Jancsics D, Javor I (2012) Corrupt governmental networks. Int Public Manage J 15(1):62–99
Obermayer B, Obermaier F (2016) The Panama papers: breaking the story of how the rich and powerful hide their money. Oneworld Publication, London
Sharman JC (2017) The despot’s guide to wealth management. Cornell University Press, New York
Story L, Saul S (2015) Stream of foreign wealth flows to elite New York real estate. The New York Times, February 7, 2015
Van der Does de Willebois E, Halter EM, Harrison RA, Park JW, Sharman JC (2011) The puppet masters: how the corrupt use legal structures to hide stolen assets and what to do about it. The World Bank, Washington
Walby K, Lippert RK, Luscombe A (2017) The police foundation’s rise: Implications of public policing’s dark money. Brit J Criminol 58(4):824–844 Published online in September 2017
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
Jancsics, D. (2018). Shell Companies and Government Corruption. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3566-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3566-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences