ESTIMATING THE DESTINATION OF MEXICAN-BASED LAUNDERED FUNDS: AN APPLICATION OF THE MODIFIED WALKER-UNGER MODEL

Money laundering poses long-term dangers on economic and political institutions worldwide (Masciandaro, 2004).  The quantification of illicit finance practices along with the generated revenue from transnational criminal activity and their presence within the global financial system is still a new phenomenon (Walker & Unger, 2009).  Careful examination of the effects of money laundering is needed in order to develop strategies to combat the problem.  The literature suggests attempts to quantify the presence of laundered funds in the global economy are inaccurate (Unger, 2007).  This research applied the modified Walker-Unger model to show the degree of attractiveness of a country for Mexican-based money launderers to send their illicit funds for the 2000-2015 time period.  The theoretical justification for this investigation is that once the scale of unlawful financial flows are known, the likely impact on society can be analyzed.