Counterfeit Smuggling: Rethinking Paradigms of Diaspora Investment and Trade Facilitation

In this paper we explore the phenomenon of Chinese counterfeits smuggled into Mexico, the world's fourth largest counterfeit market, particularly highlighting the role played by Chinese transnational crime in the production and financing of these illegal exports and the role of the Korean diaspora in the distribution of Chinese counterfeits within Mexico. Based on this case study and the extant literature, we suggest propositions concerning diaspora criminal enterprises and diaspora participants in informal markets that amend current theory concerning two streams of literature — diaspora homeland investment and trade facilitation by diasporas.