From the introduction:

The publication of so far unmasked details of 130.000 offshore accounts (commonly known as "Offshore-Leaks") in spring 2013 attracted extensive international media attention and got politicians to tackle tax and regulatory havens. For a moment, offshore jurisdictions were at the heart of the public and political debate. In December 2012, when the institute for Comprehensive Analysis of Economy (ICAE) together with the German Association for Political Economy launched the conference: "The Political Economy of Offshore Jurisdictions", this development was not yet in sight. Although tax and regulatory havens are not an exception in but a central component of the world economy, researchers, politicians and the media have ignored the existence and consequences of offshore jurisdictions for global economy far too long. Only a few experts have addressed this topic in the past. However, a new comprehensive analysis of the modern, capitalistic economy needs an understanding of the domain of offshore economies. In the introduction we first give a short overview about relevant aspects of offshore jurisdictions, which can be subdivided into tax and regulatory havens.