National intelligence and illicit trade: a cross-country study

Purpose Illicit trade is pervasive in many nations and may be influenced by the level of national IQ. The current interdisciplinary paper aims to study association between intelligence illicit across nations. Design/methodology/approach index scores for 84 countries, developed Economics Intelligence Unit, are used measure dependent variable. independent variable intelligence, while economic development, unemployment Hofstede’s cultural dimensions control variables. Two-level hierarchical linear models (HLMs) empirically test above-mentioned association. Findings empirical results suggest that higher degree lower In addition, culture play an important role explaining cross-country differences trade. Practical implications Regulatory authorities should find this cross-national research useful evaluating likelihood from a cognitive perspective, implementing reforms curb type crimes. Originality/value This makes novel contributions literature on financial First, first time best authors’ knowledge, examined. A second original contribution compared earlier related use two-level HLMs. Third, investigation takes new into consideration, i.e. unemployment, which found have significant effect has not been directly relationship with so far.