{"id":46447,"date":"2025-06-17T12:46:52","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T10:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/en\/?post_type=news&p=46447"},"modified":"2025-06-24T09:29:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T07:29:10","slug":"how-researchers-use-ai-to-reconstruct-history-of-offshore-shell-companies","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/en\/news\/how-researchers-use-ai-to-reconstruct-history-of-offshore-shell-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"How researchers use AI to reconstruct history of offshore shell companies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Beno\u00eet Majerus, a history professor at the University of Luxembourg, will soon be launching a groundbreaking research project on global tax networks, using advanced artificial intelligence tools to compile a comprehensive history of offshore shell companies worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Majerus a prestigious Advanced Grant for the new project DIGSHELL, representing a significant boost to Majerus for his research. Thanks to its large artificial intelligence (AI) component, the project will receive around 3.3 million euros.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nOffshore shell companies: from twilight to the spotlight<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shell companies are part of the infrastructure of global capitalism, as vehicles for tax engineering and maintaining secrecy. But their very nature \u2013 their secrecy, opacity and cross-border complexity \u2013 also make them hard to research. Historians have long struggled to find relevant sources for a subject rooted in secrecy and have tended to focus on national case studies for what is a cross-border phenomenon. And yet such national case studies can pave the way for something bigger. Building on the Letterbox<\/a> research initiative that focused exclusively on Luxembourg, the new project DIGSHELL<\/em> will adopt a more global perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n \u201f<\/span>\n Letterbox was like a pilot project for Luxembourg, but in reality it\u2019s part of a global story. In order to build a coherent narrative, I needed a global approach, taking into account other offshore centres.\u201d\n<\/blockquote>\n
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\n \n\"Prof\n <\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Prof Beno\u00eet MAJERUS<\/p>\n

Full professor\/Chief scientist 1 in European history, Social history, History from below 20th century<\/p>\n

\n \n \n View profile<\/span>\n <\/span>\n <\/use><\/svg> <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n
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DIGSHELL<\/em>, short for \u201cDigital archaeology of shell companies: infrastructures of global connections and local networks\u201d, will widen the lens, adding three new case studies: Panama, the British Virgin Islands and Singapore.\u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first ERC grant obtained in Luxembourg for a history research project, underlining the impact of its interdisciplinary nature and broad scope.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nNew opportunities and challenges in the digital humanities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the Letterbox project, Majerus wanted to better understand the workings of Luxembourg\u2019s financial centre, examining at the ecosystem of bankers, lawyers, accountants, notaries and others who contributed to its development. To achieve this, his team had to work through the country\u2019s business registry (Registre de commerces et des soci\u00e9t\u00e9s<\/em>), making AI tweaks to facilitate the process.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The only way that historians can access data about shell companies is by referring to company registers that encompass millions of pages of unstructured multilingual data, and this requires the use of digital history methods,\u201d Majerus explains.\u202f\u202f  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is aware of the new challenges that await his team, including new sets of rules, varying degrees of openness and wide variance in the digitisation of archives. \u201cWe\u2019ll also have to manage more languages this time,\u201d Majerus explains. \u201cThe data we\u2019ll have to structure is huge compared to what we did for Luxembourg.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His team will use large language models, data analysis methods and visualisation tools based on generative AI to help process this data. Although emerging technologies are still in their experimental phases, they have huge potential to fundamentally transform how historians engage with large-scale collections in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n \u201f<\/span>\n This research will shed light on a complex international network. The project will not only improve our understanding of how shell companies around the world function and are evolving; but it will also provide a solid foundation for further research in this area.\u201d\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Prof Beno\u00eet MAJERUS<\/p><\/div>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n

The project will begin in early 2026. The findings of this interdisciplinary research will be shared with academics, historians and the public, notably through workshops, peer-reviewed articles and PhD theses, as well as a monograph written by Majerus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nMore about the ERC grant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The ERC is led by an independent Scientific Council and offers four grant schemes for researchers to run projects based across Europe. Since the ERC was set up by the European Union in 2007, the University of Luxembourg has secured funding for 23 ERC grant projects, 15 of which are currently ongoing.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n

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\nFind out more about…<\/h2>\n\n
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  • \n \n \n \n Uni.lu\u2019s ERC grantees <\/span>\n <\/use><\/svg> <\/span>\n <\/a>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • \n \n \n \n Letterbox <\/span>\n <\/use><\/svg> <\/span>\n <\/a>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":341,"featured_media":46513,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"featured_image_focal_point":[],"show_featured_caption":false,"ulux_newsletter_groups":"","uluxPostTitle":"","uluxPrePostTitle":"","_trash_the_other_posts":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false},"news-category":[11],"news-topic":[24,30],"organisation":[228],"authorship":[341],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow researchers use AI to reconstruct history of offshore shell companies - University of Luxembourg<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n