Estimating Informal Trade across Tunisia's Land Borders
This paper uses mirror statistics and research in the field to estimate the magnitude of Tunisia's informal trade with Libya and Algeria. The aim is to assess the scale of this trade and to evaluate the amount lost in taxes and duties as a res...
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/12/18702424/estimating-informal-trade-across-tunisias-land-borders http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16947 |
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okr-10986-169472021-04-23T14:03:33Z Estimating Informal Trade across Tunisia's Land Borders Ayadi, Lotfi Benjamin, Nancy Bensassi, Sami Raballand, Gaël AGRICULTURE AIR AIR CONDITIONERS AIR CONDITIONING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BILATERAL TRADE BORDER CROSSING BORDER CROSSINGS BORDER TRAFFIC CARS CASH FLOWS COMMERCIAL VEHICLES COMMODITY COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMERS CONTRABAND CROSS-BORDER TRADE CROSSING CURRENCY CUSTOMS CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS CUSTOMS DUTIES CUSTOMS OFFICIALS CUSTOMS PROCEDURES DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DISTRIBUTION NETWORK DOMESTIC SUBSIDIES DRIVERS ELECTRICAL POWER EXCHANGE RATES EXPORT TRADE EXPORT VALUE EXPORTING COUNTRIES EXPORTS FISCAL POLICIES FLAT RATE FOREIGN TRADE FRAUD FREE TRADE FREE TRADE AREA FREIGHT FUEL FUEL CONSUMPTION FUEL DISTRIBUTION FUEL OIL FUEL PRICES FUEL SUBSIDIES GASOLINE HARMONIZATION HIGHWAY IMPORT LICENCES IMPORT PROCEDURES IMPORT PRODUCT IMPORT PROHIBITION IMPORT TAX IMPORT VALUE IMPORTS INCOME INCOME TAX INCOMES INSURANCE INTERNAL CONTROLS INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL MARKET INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOB CREATION JOURNEY informal trade This paper uses mirror statistics and research in the field to estimate the magnitude of Tunisia's informal trade with Libya and Algeria. The aim is to assess the scale of this trade and to evaluate the amount lost in taxes and duties as a result as well as to assess the local impact in terms of income generation. The main findings show that within Tunisian trade as a whole, informal trade accounts for only a small share (5 percent of total imports). However, informal trade represents an important part of the Tunisia's bilateral trade with Libya and Algeria, accounting for more than half the official trade with Libya and more than total official trade with Algeria. The main reasons behind this large-scale informal trade are differences in the levels of subsidies on either side of the border as well as the varying tax regimes. Tackling informal trade is not simply a question of stepping up the number of controls and sanctions, because differences in prices lead to informal trade (and to an increase in corruption levels among border officials) even in cases where the sanctions are severe. As local populations depend on cross-border trade for income generation, they worry about local authorities taking action against cross-border trade. At the same time, customs officials are concerned about the risk of local protests if they strictly enforce the tariff regimes in place. This issue will become even more significant if fuel prices in Tunisia rise again as a result of a reduction in the levels of domestic subsidies. 2014-02-05T20:35:36Z 2014-02-05T20:35:36Z 2013-12 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/12/18702424/estimating-informal-trade-across-tunisias-land-borders http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16947 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6731 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Middle East and North Africa North Africa Algeria Libya Tunisia |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
AGRICULTURE AIR AIR CONDITIONERS AIR CONDITIONING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BILATERAL TRADE BORDER CROSSING BORDER CROSSINGS BORDER TRAFFIC CARS CASH FLOWS COMMERCIAL VEHICLES COMMODITY COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMERS CONTRABAND CROSS-BORDER TRADE CROSSING CURRENCY CUSTOMS CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS CUSTOMS DUTIES CUSTOMS OFFICIALS CUSTOMS PROCEDURES DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DISTRIBUTION NETWORK DOMESTIC SUBSIDIES DRIVERS ELECTRICAL POWER EXCHANGE RATES EXPORT TRADE EXPORT VALUE EXPORTING COUNTRIES EXPORTS FISCAL POLICIES FLAT RATE FOREIGN TRADE FRAUD FREE TRADE FREE TRADE AREA FREIGHT FUEL FUEL CONSUMPTION FUEL DISTRIBUTION FUEL OIL FUEL PRICES FUEL SUBSIDIES GASOLINE HARMONIZATION HIGHWAY IMPORT LICENCES IMPORT PROCEDURES IMPORT PRODUCT IMPORT PROHIBITION IMPORT TAX IMPORT VALUE IMPORTS INCOME INCOME TAX INCOMES INSURANCE INTERNAL CONTROLS INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL MARKET INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOB CREATION JOURNEY informal trade |
| spellingShingle |
AGRICULTURE AIR AIR CONDITIONERS AIR CONDITIONING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES BALANCE OF PAYMENTS BILATERAL TRADE BORDER CROSSING BORDER CROSSINGS BORDER TRAFFIC CARS CASH FLOWS COMMERCIAL VEHICLES COMMODITY COMPETITIVENESS CONSUMERS CONTRABAND CROSS-BORDER TRADE CROSSING CURRENCY CUSTOMS CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES CUSTOMS DECLARATIONS CUSTOMS DUTIES CUSTOMS OFFICIALS CUSTOMS PROCEDURES DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPMENT POLICY DISTRIBUTION NETWORK DOMESTIC SUBSIDIES DRIVERS ELECTRICAL POWER EXCHANGE RATES EXPORT TRADE EXPORT VALUE EXPORTING COUNTRIES EXPORTS FISCAL POLICIES FLAT RATE FOREIGN TRADE FRAUD FREE TRADE FREE TRADE AREA FREIGHT FUEL FUEL CONSUMPTION FUEL DISTRIBUTION FUEL OIL FUEL PRICES FUEL SUBSIDIES GASOLINE HARMONIZATION HIGHWAY IMPORT LICENCES IMPORT PROCEDURES IMPORT PRODUCT IMPORT PROHIBITION IMPORT TAX IMPORT VALUE IMPORTS INCOME INCOME TAX INCOMES INSURANCE INTERNAL CONTROLS INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL MARKET INTERNATIONAL TRADE JOB CREATION JOURNEY informal trade Ayadi, Lotfi Benjamin, Nancy Bensassi, Sami Raballand, Gaël Estimating Informal Trade across Tunisia's Land Borders |
| geographic_facet |
Middle East and North Africa North Africa Algeria Libya Tunisia |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 6731 |
| description |
This paper uses mirror statistics and
research in the field to estimate the magnitude of
Tunisia's informal trade with Libya and Algeria. The
aim is to assess the scale of this trade and to evaluate the
amount lost in taxes and duties as a result as well as to
assess the local impact in terms of income generation. The
main findings show that within Tunisian trade as a whole,
informal trade accounts for only a small share (5 percent of
total imports). However, informal trade represents an
important part of the Tunisia's bilateral trade with
Libya and Algeria, accounting for more than half the
official trade with Libya and more than total official trade
with Algeria. The main reasons behind this large-scale
informal trade are differences in the levels of subsidies on
either side of the border as well as the varying tax
regimes. Tackling informal trade is not simply a question of
stepping up the number of controls and sanctions, because
differences in prices lead to informal trade (and to an
increase in corruption levels among border officials) even
in cases where the sanctions are severe. As local
populations depend on cross-border trade for income
generation, they worry about local authorities taking action
against cross-border trade. At the same time, customs
officials are concerned about the risk of local protests if
they strictly enforce the tariff regimes in place. This
issue will become even more significant if fuel prices in
Tunisia rise again as a result of a reduction in the levels
of domestic subsidies. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper |
| author |
Ayadi, Lotfi Benjamin, Nancy Bensassi, Sami Raballand, Gaël |
| author_facet |
Ayadi, Lotfi Benjamin, Nancy Bensassi, Sami Raballand, Gaël |
| author_sort |
Ayadi, Lotfi |
| title |
Estimating Informal Trade across Tunisia's Land Borders |
| title_short |
Estimating Informal Trade across Tunisia's Land Borders |
| title_full |
Estimating Informal Trade across Tunisia's Land Borders |
| title_fullStr |
Estimating Informal Trade across Tunisia's Land Borders |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating Informal Trade across Tunisia's Land Borders |
| title_sort |
estimating informal trade across tunisia's land borders |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2014 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/12/18702424/estimating-informal-trade-across-tunisias-land-borders http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16947 |
| _version_ |
1764435019405721600 |