Money laundering activities in Australia-an examination of the push and pull factors driving money flows

© 2017 Christopher Bajada Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. In this chapter we examine various scenarios where legislative and regulatory reforms impact on the key drivers affecting both the level and the deterrence of crime - the net effects of which influence the extent of money laundering activities. The drivers and the deterrents are described in this chapter as "push factors" (acting as deterrents to money laundering activities) and "pull factors" (acting as draw cards for money launderers). The literature however has not examined how these push and pull factors collectively affect the extent of money laundering activities when there are changes to the legislative and regulatory environment. Using data on 144 countries we examine various scenarios highlighting the influence of push and pull on the risks associated with money laundering flows into and out of Australia.