An Attempt to 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. The main findings show that informal trade represents an important part of the Tunisia’s bilateral trade with Libya...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Journal of Urban Research
2014-10-01
|
| Series: | Articulo: Journal of Urban Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journals.openedition.org/articulo/2549 |
| _version_ | 1818441182848483328 |
|---|---|
| author | Lotfi Ayadi Nancy Benjamin Sami Bensassi Gaël Raballand |
| author_facet | Lotfi Ayadi Nancy Benjamin Sami Bensassi Gaël Raballand |
| author_sort | Lotfi Ayadi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| 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. The main findings show that 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 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. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T18:24:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-04cded936192442e8d4a86a012597aba |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-4941 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T18:24:11Z |
| publishDate | 2014-10-01 |
| publisher | Journal of Urban Research |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Articulo: Journal of Urban Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-04cded936192442e8d4a86a012597aba2022-12-21T22:51:58ZengJournal of Urban ResearchArticulo: Journal of Urban Research1661-49412014-10-011010.4000/articulo.2549An Attempt to Estimating Informal Trade Across Tunisia’s Land BordersLotfi AyadiNancy BenjaminSami BensassiGaël RaballandThis 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. The main findings show that 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 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.http://journals.openedition.org/articulo/2549informal tradecross-border tradeTunisiaAlgeriaLibyafuel |
| spellingShingle | Lotfi Ayadi Nancy Benjamin Sami Bensassi Gaël Raballand An Attempt to Estimating Informal Trade Across Tunisia’s Land Borders Articulo: Journal of Urban Research informal trade cross-border trade Tunisia Algeria Libya fuel |
| title | An Attempt to Estimating Informal Trade Across Tunisia’s Land Borders |
| title_full | An Attempt to Estimating Informal Trade Across Tunisia’s Land Borders |
| title_fullStr | An Attempt to Estimating Informal Trade Across Tunisia’s Land Borders |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Attempt to Estimating Informal Trade Across Tunisia’s Land Borders |
| title_short | An Attempt to Estimating Informal Trade Across Tunisia’s Land Borders |
| title_sort | attempt to estimating informal trade across tunisia s land borders |
| topic | informal trade cross-border trade Tunisia Algeria Libya fuel |
| url | http://journals.openedition.org/articulo/2549 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lotfiayadi anattempttoestimatinginformaltradeacrosstunisiaslandborders AT nancybenjamin anattempttoestimatinginformaltradeacrosstunisiaslandborders AT samibensassi anattempttoestimatinginformaltradeacrosstunisiaslandborders AT gaelraballand anattempttoestimatinginformaltradeacrosstunisiaslandborders AT lotfiayadi attempttoestimatinginformaltradeacrosstunisiaslandborders AT nancybenjamin attempttoestimatinginformaltradeacrosstunisiaslandborders AT samibensassi attempttoestimatinginformaltradeacrosstunisiaslandborders AT gaelraballand attempttoestimatinginformaltradeacrosstunisiaslandborders |