IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-20-01094.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Taxation and Income Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Ambassa Messy

    (University of Maroua, Ecoresearch)

  • Itchoko Motande Mondjeli Mwa Ndjokou

    (University of Yaoundé II-Soa, CEREG)

Abstract

In this paper, we examine which tax indicator among the weight of tax revenue and the tax structure reduces income inequalities in SSA. We use a model estimated in panel data using fixed effect ordinary least squares over the period 1992-2017. The model is inspired by the work of Martinez-Vazquez et al. (2012) and Dao and Godbout (2014). Our results reveal that the weight of tax revenue is more important in reducing income inequality in SSA than the tax structure used to collect the revenue. The analysis also shows significant heterogeneous results conditioned by corruption. The results appear to be robust to an alternative estimation technique.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Ambassa Messy & Itchoko Motande Mondjeli Mwa Ndjokou, 2021. "Taxation and Income Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(3), pages 1153-1164.
  • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-20-01094
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2021/Volume41/EB-21-V41-I3-P97.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Albanesi, Stefania, 2007. "Inflation and inequality," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 1088-1114, May.
    2. Jorge Martínez-Vázquez & Violeta Vulovic & Blanca Moreno Dodson, 2012. "The Impact of Tax and Expenditure Policies on Income Distribution: Evidence from a Large Panel of Countries," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 200(1), pages 95-130, March.
    3. Saez, Emmanuel, 2004. "Direct or indirect tax instruments for redistribution: short-run versus long-run," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3-4), pages 503-518, March.
    4. Miles Corak, 2013. "Income Inequality, Equality of Opportunity, and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 79-102, Summer.
    5. Pierre Jacquemot & Marc Raffinot, 2018. "La mobilisation fiscale en Afrique," Revue d'économie financière, Association d'économie financière, vol. 0(3), pages 243-263.
    6. Oded Galor & Joseph Zeira, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52.
    7. Giorgio d'Agostino & Luca Pieroni & Margherita Scarlato, 2018. "Further evidence of the relationship between social transfers and income inequality in OECD countries," Working Papers 482, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    8. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-01207273 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Ciminelli, Gabriele & Ernst, Ekkehard & Merola, Rossana & Giuliodori, Massimo, 2019. "The composition effects of tax-based consolidation on income inequality," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 107-124.
    10. Thomas Piketty, 2015. "Putting Distribution Back at the Center of Economics: Reflections on Capital in the Twenty-First Century," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(1), pages 67-88, Winter.
    11. Emmanuel Saez, 2017. "Income And Wealth Inequality: Evidence And Policy Implications," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(1), pages 7-25, January.
    12. Bruno Martorano, 2018. "Taxation and Inequality in Developing Countries: Lessons from the Recent Experience of Latin America," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 256-273, March.
    13. J. A. Mirrlees, 1971. "An Exploration in the Theory of Optimum Income Taxation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 38(2), pages 175-208.
    14. Claessens, Stijn & Perotti, Enrico, 2007. "Finance and inequality: Channels and evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 748-773, December.
    15. Ángeles Sánchez & Antonio L. Pérez-Corral, 2018. "Government Social Expenditure and Income Inequalities in the European Union," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 227(4), pages 133-156, December.
    16. Erosa, Andres & Ventura, Gustavo, 2002. "On inflation as a regressive consumption tax," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 761-795, May.
    17. Fum, Ruikang Marcus & Hodler, Roland, 2010. "Natural resources and income inequality: The role of ethnic divisions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 360-363, June.
    18. Francesca Bastagli & David Coady & Sanjeev Gupta, 2012. "Income Inequality and Fiscal Policy (2nd Edition)," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 12/08R, International Monetary Fund.
    19. d’Agostino, Giorgio & Pieroni, Luca & Scarlato, Margherita, 2020. "Social transfers and income inequality in OECD countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 313-327.
    20. Ms. Francesca Bastagli & Mr. David Coady & Mr. Sanjeev Gupta, 2012. "Income Inequality and Fiscal Policy (2nd Edition)," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 2012/009, International Monetary Fund.
    21. Jaejoon Woo & Ms. Elva Bova & Mr. Tidiane Kinda & Ms. Yuanyan S Zhang, 2013. "Distributional Consequences of Fiscal Consolidation and the Role of Fiscal Policy: What Do the Data Say?," IMF Working Papers 2013/195, International Monetary Fund.
    22. Mr. David Coady & Mr. Sanjeev Gupta, 2012. "Income Inequality and Fiscal Policy," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 2012/008, International Monetary Fund.
    23. Emmanuel Saez, 2017. "Questions And Answers: Income And Wealth Inequality—Evidence And Policy Implications," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(1), pages 26-28, January.
    24. Malvika Mahesh, 2016. "The effects of trade openness on income inequality - evidence from BRIC countries," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(3), pages 1751-1761.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kim, Dong-Hyeon & Lin, Shu-Chin, 2023. "Income inequality, inflation and financial development," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 468-487.
    2. Simone Salotti & Carmine Trecroci, 2018. "Cross-country evidence on the distributional impact of fiscal policy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(51), pages 5521-5542, November.
    3. Djeneba Doumbia & Mr. Tidiane Kinda, 2019. "Reallocating Public Spending to Reduce Income Inequality: Can It Work?," IMF Working Papers 2019/188, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Gervasio SEMEDO & Bertrand LAPORTE & Asbath ALASSANI, 2022. "How does tax structure affect income inequality? Empirical evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 2960, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    5. Jean-Louis Combes & Alexandru Minea & Cezara Vinturis & Pegdéwendé Nestor Sawadogo, 2019. "Can fiscal rules curb income inequality? Evidence from developing countries," Working Papers halshs-02423126, HAL.
    6. Farhad Taghizadeh‐Hesary & Naoyuki Yoshino & Sayoko Shimizu, 2020. "The impact of monetary and tax policy on income inequality in Japan," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(10), pages 2600-2621, October.
    7. Lous, Bjorn, 2020. "On free markets, income inequality, happiness and trust," Other publications TiSEM e2480eed-722b-4e2a-8e29-4, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    8. Israel, Karl-Friedrich & Sepp, Tim Florian & Sonnenberg, Nils, 2023. "The effects of unconventional monetary policy on stock markets and household incomes in Japan," Working Papers 177, University of Leipzig, Faculty of Economics and Management Science.
    9. Johan Graafland & Bjorn Lous, 2018. "Economic Freedom, Income Inequality and Life Satisfaction in OECD Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(7), pages 2071-2093, October.
    10. Hu, Xiaowei & Li, Peng, 2022. "Relief and stimulus in a cross-sector multi-product scarce resource supply chain network," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    11. Zabsonre Zacharia & Boukary Ouedraogo, 2023. "Influence of tax structures on income inequality in WAEMU countries [Influences des structures fiscales sur l'inégalité de revenus dans les pays de l'UEMOA]," Post-Print hal-04188709, HAL.
    12. Jonathan D. Ostry & Andrew Berg & Siddharth Kothari, 2021. "Growth‐equity trade‐offs in structural reforms," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 68(2), pages 209-237, May.
    13. Stefano Bartolini & Francesco Sarracino, 2021. "Happier and Sustainable. Possibilities for a post-growth society," Department of Economics University of Siena 855, Department of Economics, University of Siena.
    14. Cong Minh Huynh & Nam Hoai Tran, 2023. "Financial development, income inequality, and institutional quality: A multi-dimensional analysis," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 2242128-224, June.
    15. Can Sever & Emekcan Yucel, 2021. "Electoral Cycles in Inequality Abstract:," Working Papers 2021/01, Bogazici University, Department of Economics.
    16. Rémi Bazillier & Jérôme Hericourt, 2017. "The Circular Relationship Between Inequality, Leverage, And Financial Crises," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 463-496, April.
    17. Dirk Bezemer & Anna Samarina, 2019. "Debt shift, financial development and income inequality," DNB Working Papers 646, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    18. Manoel BITTENCOURT, 2009. "Macroeconomic Performance And Inequality: Brazil, 1983–94," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 47(1), pages 30-52, March.
    19. Eric Fosu Oteng-Abayie & Kofi Amanor & Anthony Kofi Osei-Fosu, 2023. "Spatial analysis of the effect of microfinance on poverty and inequality in Ghana," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 25(1), pages 196-231, June.
    20. N'Yilimon Nantob, 2015. "Income Inequality and Inflation in Developing Countries: An Empirical Investigation," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2888-2902.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Taxation; Income Inequality; Tax structure; Tax revenue; Fixed Effect;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-20-01094. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.