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Societal Institutions and Tax Effort in Developing Countries

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Author Info
Richard M. Bird (Director of the International Tax Program, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto)
Jorge Martinez-Vazquez () (International Studies Program. Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University)
Benno Torgler

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Abstract

“Will underdeveloped countries learn to tax?” asked Nicholas Kaldor (1963), forty years ago. Underlying this question is the assumption that if a country wishes to become ‘developed’ it needs to collect in taxes an amount greater than the 10-15 percent found in many developing countries. Kaldor’s answer to his question was essentially that since even the poorest country had sufficient ‘capacity’ in both economic and administrative terms to tax more, whether or not a particular country did so depended primarily on its political institutions. Would developing countries be fortunate enough to have those with political power voluntarily give up at least some of their power to block fiscal reform in exchange for social stability? Or would the ruling groups rather wait (in the spirit of après moi le deluge) for the revolutionary upheaval that he considered the only alternative?

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Paper provided by International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University in its series International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU with number paper0406.

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Length: 53 pages
Date of creation: 01 Sep 2004
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Handle: RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper0406

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Keywords: Societal Institutions; Tax Effort; Developing Countries;

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This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  4. F. Javier Arze del Granado & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Robert McNab, 2005. "Fiscal Decentralization and The Functional Composition of Public Expenditures," International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0501, International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University. [Downloadable!]
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Richard Bird, 2008. "Tax Challenges Facing Developing Countries," International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0802, International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Benno Torgler & Friedrich Schneider, 2007. "The Impact of Tax Morale and Institutional Quality on the Shadow Economy," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. David A. Grigorian & Hamid Reza Davoodi, 2007. "Tax Potential vs. Tax Effort: A Cross-Country Analysis of Armenia's Stubbornly Low Tax Collection," IMF Working Papers 07/106, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  4. Benno Torgler, 2003. "Tax Morale in Transition Countries," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 357-381, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Bird, Richard M. & Martinez-Vazquez, Jorge & Torgler, Benno, 2008. "Tax Effort in Developing Countries and High Income Countries: The Impact of Corruption, Voice and Accountability," Economic Analysis and Policy (EAP), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Economics and Finance, vol. 38(1), pages 55-71, March. [Downloadable!]
  6. Richard Bird & Jorge Martinez-Vazquezb & Benno Torgler, 2007. "Tax Effort: The Impact of corruption, Voice and Accountability," International Tax Program Papers 0702 Classification - JEL, International Tax Program, Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Raghbendra Jha & T. Palanivel, 2007. "Resource Augmentation for Meeting the Millennium Development Goals in the Asia Pacific Region," Departmental Working Papers 2007-02, Australian National University, Economics RSPAS. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Richard M. Bird, 2003. "Administrative Dimensions of Tax Reform," International Tax Program Papers 0302, International Tax Program, Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, revised May 2003. [Downloadable!]
  9. Benno Torgler & Friedrich Schneider, 2007. "Shadow Economy, Tax Morale, Governance and Institutional Quality: A Panel Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Richard Bird & Eric Zolt, 2007. "Tax Policy in Emerging Countries," International Tax Program Papers 0707, International Tax Program, Institute for International Business, Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Bin Dong & Uwe Dulleck & Benno Torgler, 2009. "Conditional Corruption," School of Economics and Finance Discussion Papers and Working Papers Series 241, School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Chiumya, Chiza, 2007. "The Parallel Economy in Malawi: Size, Effect on Tax Revenue and Policy Options," MPRA Paper 9860, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  13. Chiumya, Chiza, 2006. "Counteracting Tax Evasion In Malawi: An Analysis Of The Methods And A Quest For Improvement," MPRA Paper 9892, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  14. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2006. "Pakistan: A Preliminary Assessment of the Federal Tax System," International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0624, International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University. [Downloadable!]
  15. Odd-Helge Fjeldstad & Mick Moore, 2007. "Taxation and State Building: Poor Countries in a Globalised World," CMI Working Papers 11, CMI (Chr. Michelsen Institute), Bergen, Norway. [Downloadable!]
  16. Abhijit Sen Gupta, 2007. "Determinants of Tax Revenue Efforts in Developing Countries," IMF Working Papers 07/184, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  17. Benno Torgler & Christoph A. Schaltegger & Markus Schaffner, 2003. "Is Forgiveness Divine? A Cross-Culture Comparison of Tax Amnesties," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 139(III), pages 375-396, September. [Downloadable!]
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