Call for papers: The Political Economy of Offshore Jurisdictions

The 2012 Winter Session of the German Association for Political Economy (Arbeitskreis Politische Ökonomie), in cooperation with the Austrian Institute Of Comprehensive Analysis of Economy (Institut Für die Gesamtanalyse der Wirtschaft) has issued a Call for Papers for a conference on the topic of The Political Economy of Offshore Jurisdictions (Die Politische Ökonomie von Steuer-und Regulierungsoasen).

The conference will take place in Linz, Austria, from 29th November to 1st December 2012, and will be held in German and English.

Understanding actual capitalism needs an understanding of the domain of the offshore economy, especially of tax havens and regulation-free zones. They are based at offshore jurisdictions which provide mandatory secrecy. An extensive part of the global economy is therefore able to operate in the shadows.

The conference will aim to highlight aspects of how offshore jurisdictions function and their impact on the global economy, for example:Business models and instruments of offshore activities;

• The significance of the offshore economy for the current crises;
• The role of economic theories and economists in justifying the offshore economy;
• The role and structure of user groups and intermediaries and their strategies and tactics;
• The history of offshore states;
• The political systems of offshore states;
• Current regulation discourses with respect to the offshore economy;
• Consequences of the offshore economy for non-financial companies and different citizens of offshore jurisdictions.

The aim of this conference is to bring together researchers from different fields (such as economists, sociologists, historians and political scientists) to explore neglected aspects of the global offshore economy.

Submission

Please submit an abstract of at least one page in German or English as soon as possible, before 1st September 2012 at the latest, to walter.oetsch(at)jku.at or/and groezing(at)uni-flensburg.de

Any submissions will be actively considered by the organising committee which comprises:

• Gerd Groezinger (University of Flensburg)
• Walter Otto Ötsch (ICAE)
• Michaela Schmidt (Chamber of Labour Upper Austria)
• Silke Ötsch (ATTAC Germany and Department of Sociology, University of Innsbruck)