Publication

This paper examines the evidence for systematic mispricing in Switzerland’s commodity trading. By looking across 244 countries and 2,596 commodity categories, the authors find that: 1) the average prices for commodity exports to Switzerland are lower than those to other countries; and that 2) Switzerland declares higher (re-)export prices for those commodities than other countries. This pattern implies a substantial potential capital loss for commodity-exporting developing countries and that the issue merits greater research and policy attention. The authors conclude that an important first step would be a Swiss commitment to meet international norms of trade transparency.