IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/abh/wpaper/14-022.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Taxation, foreign aid and political governance: figures to the facts of a celebrated literature

Author

Listed:
  • Simplice A. Asongu

    (Yaoundé/Cameroon)

Abstract

This paper puts figures to the facts of Eubank (2012), a recently celebrated paper in the Journal of Development Studies. We investigate the underpinning Somaliland-based hypothesis that foreign aid dilutes the positive role of taxation on political governance. The assessment is based on 53 African countries for the period 1996-2010. For more policy options, the dataset is disaggregated into fundamental characteristics of African development based on income-levels, legal origins, natural resources and landlockeness. While the Eubank hypothesis is invalid in baseline Africa, low-income and English common law countries of the continent, we cannot conclude on its validity for other fundamental characteristics of development. Policy implications, caveats and future directions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Taxation, foreign aid and political governance: figures to the facts of a celebrated literature," Research Africa Network Working Papers 14/022, Research Africa Network (RAN).
  • Handle: RePEc:abh:wpaper:14/022
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://publications.resanet.org/RePEc/abh/abh-wpaper/Taxation-foreign-aid-and-political-governance-in-Africa2.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2014
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paul Mosley & John Hudson & Sara Horrell, 1992. "Aid, the public sector and the market in less developed countries: A return to the scene of the crime," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 4(2), pages 139-150, March.
    2. Asongu, Simplice A., 2013. "On the effectiveness of foreign aid in institutional quality," European Economic Letters, European Economics Letters Group, vol. 2(1), pages 12-19.
    3. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    4. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    5. Antonio Andrés & Simplice Asongu & Voxi Amavilah, 2015. "The Impact of Formal Institutions on Knowledge Economy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 1034-1062, December.
    6. Dora Benedek & Ernesto Crivelli & Sanjeev Gupta & Priscilla Muthoora, 2014. "Foreign Aid and Revenue: Still a Crowding-Out Effect?," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 70(1), pages 67-96, March.
    7. Alesina, Alberto & Dollar, David, 2000. "Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 33-63, March.
    8. Felipe Larraín & José Tavares, 2004. "Does Foreign Direct Investment Decrease Corruption?," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 41(123), pages 217-230.
    9. Hans-Bernd Schäfer, 2012. "The Sovereign Debt Crisis in Europe, Save Banks Not States," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 9(2), pages 179-195, August.
    10. Bruno Contini, 2012. "Youth employment in Europe: do institutions and social capital explain better than mainstream economics?," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 9(2), pages 247-277, August.
    11. Simplice A Asongu, 2013. "How has politico-economic liberalization affected financial allocation efficiency? Fresh African evidence," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(1), pages 663-676.
    12. Roberto Tamborini, 2013. "The new fiscal rules for the EMU. Threats from heterogeneity and interdependence," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 10(3), pages 415-436, December.
    13. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "On Taxation, Political Accountability and Foreign Aid: Empirics to a Celebrated Literature," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 83(2), pages 180-198, June.
    14. Christine Lagoutte & Anne Reimat, 2012. "Pension Systems after the Storm: France and the United Kingdom in a Comparative Analysis," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 9(2), pages 305-330, August.
    15. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    16. Salvatore Monni & Alessandro Spaventa, 2013. "Beyond GDP and HDI: Shifting the focus from paradigms to politics," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 56(2), pages 227-231, June.
    17. Jellal, Mohamed & Bouzahzah, Mohamed, 2012. "Corruption and tax evasion an optimal policy," MPRA Paper 38813, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Antonio Andrés & Simplice Asongu, 2013. "Fighting Software Piracy: Which Governance Tools Matter in Africa?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(3), pages 667-682, December.
    19. Simplice A. Asongu, 2014. "Fighting African Capital Flight: Empirics on Benchmarking Policy Harmonization," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 11(1), pages 93-122, June.
    20. Léonce Ndikumana & Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2008. "Corruption and Growth: Exploring the Investment Channel," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2008-08, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    21. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "The Questionable Economics of Development Assistance in Africa: Hot-Fresh Evidence, 1996–2010," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 41(4), pages 455-480, December.
    22. Nicholas Eubank, 2012. "Taxation, Political Accountability and Foreign Aid: Lessons from Somaliland," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(4), pages 465-480, March.
    23. Simplice A Asongu & Jellal Mohamed, 2013. "On the channels of foreign aid to corruption," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(3), pages 2191-2201.
    24. Simplice Asongu, 2013. "Harmonizing IPRs on Software Piracy: Empirics of Trajectories in Africa," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 45-60, November.
    25. Simeon Djankov & Jose Montalvo & Marta Reynal-Querol, 2008. "The curse of aid," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 169-194, September.
    26. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir & Mustafa Kamal, 2013. "Growing Together Sustainably: A zero-poverty post-2015 development framework," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 56(2), pages 172-184, June.
    27. Brambor, Thomas & Clark, William Roberts & Golder, Matt, 2006. "Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 63-82, January.
    28. Tony Addison & George Mavrotas & Mark McGillivray, 2005. "Development assistance and development finance: evidence and global policy agendas," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(6), pages 819-836.
    29. Ulrike Krause, 2013. "Innovation: The new Big Push or the Post-Development alternative?," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 56(2), pages 223-226, June.
    30. John Weeks, 2012. "Macroeconomic Impact of Capital Flows in Sub-Saharan Countries, 1980-2008," Working Papers wp290, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    31. Stephen Knack, 2001. "Aid Dependence and the Quality of Governance: Cross-Country Empirical Tests," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 68(2), pages 310-329, October.
    32. Brautigam,Deborah & Fjeldstad,Odd-Helge & Moore,Mick (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521888158.
    33. Brautigam, Deborah A & Knack, Stephen, 2004. "Foreign Aid, Institutions, and Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(2), pages 255-285, January.
    34. Sheila A. Chapman, 2013. "Specialization and Agglomeration Patterns in Eastern Europe," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 10(1), pages 49-79, April.
    35. Okada, Keisuke & Samreth, Sovannroeun, 2012. "The effect of foreign aid on corruption: A quantile regression approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 240-243.
    36. Simplice A Asongu, 2012. "On the effect of foreign aid on corruption," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(3), pages 2174-2180.
    37. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    38. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    39. Morrissey, Oliver, 2012. "Aid and Government Fiscal Behaviour: What Does the Evidence Say?," WIDER Working Paper Series 001, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    40. Asongu Simplice, 2011. "Government Quality Determinants of Stock Market Performance in African Countries," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 11/019, African Governance and Development Institute..
    41. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2007. "Unintended Consequences: Does Aid Promote Arms Races?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 69(1), pages 1-27, February.
    42. Evelyn Wamboye & Abel Adekola & Bruno S Sergi, 2013. "Economic Growth and the Role of Foreign Aid in Selected African Countries," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 56(2), pages 155-171, June.
    43. Jean-François Arvis & Gaël Raballand & Jean-François Marteau, 2010. "The Cost of Being Landlocked : Logistics Costs and Supply Chain Reliability," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2489.
    44. Goetz Zeddies, 2013. "Skill Content of Intra-European Trade Flows," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 10(1), pages 81-107, April.
    45. Boone, Peter, 1996. "Politics and the effectiveness of foreign aid," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 289-329, February.
    46. Henry Kaiser, 1974. "An index of factorial simplicity," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 39(1), pages 31-36, March.
    47. Brautigam,Deborah & Fjeldstad,Odd-Helge & Moore,Mick (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521716192.
    48. Richard M. Bird & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Benno Torgler, 2007. "Tax Effort: The Impact of Corruption, Voice and Accountability," CREMA Working Paper Series 2007-13, Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA).
    49. Tariq Banuri, 2013. "Sustainable Development is the New Economic Paradigm," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 56(2), pages 208-217, June.
    50. repec:unu:wpaper:wp2012-01 is not listed on IDEAS
    51. Stephen A Marglin, 2013. "Premises for a New Economy*," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 56(2), pages 149-154, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Simplice Asongu & John Ssozi, 2017. "When is Foreign Aid Effective in Fighting Terrorism? Threshold Evidence," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 370-389, July.
    2. Ibukun Beecroft & Evans S. Osabuohien & Uchenna R. Efobi & Isaiah Olurinola & Romanus A. Osabohien, 2019. "Manufacturing Export and ICT Infrastructure in West Africa: Investigating the Roles of Economic and Political Institutions," Research Africa Network Working Papers 19/098, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    3. Ismahene Yahyaoui & Najeh Bouchoucha, 2021. "The long‐run relationship between ODA, growth and governance: An application of FMOLS and DOLS approaches," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 38-54, March.

    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. Simplice A. Asongu, Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2021. "Taxation, foreign aid and political governance in Africa," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 18(2), pages 217-249, December.
    2. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "On Taxation, Political Accountability and Foreign Aid: Empirics to a Celebrated Literature," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 83(2), pages 180-198, June.
    3. Asongu , Simplice A., 2015. "On the dynamic effects of foreign aid on corruption," European Economic Letters, European Economics Letters Group, vol. 4(1), pages 5-10.
    4. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Foreign aid and governance in Africa," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 69-88, January.
    5. Simplice A. Asongu & Mohamed Jellal, 2014. "Foreign aid, investment and fiscal policy behavior: theory and empirical evidence," Research Africa Network Working Papers 14/030, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    6. Simplice Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Is the Threat of Foreign Aid Withdrawal an Effective Deterrent to Political Oppression? Evidence from 53 African Countries," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 16/020, African Governance and Development Institute..
    7. Asongu Simplice, 2014. "The Evolving Debate on the Effect of Foreign Aid on Corruption and Institutions in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/009, African Governance and Development Institute..
    8. Asongu Simplice & Jellal Mohamed, 2014. "International aid, corruption and fiscal policy behavior," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/007, African Governance and Development Institute..
    9. Asongu, Simplice & Jellal, Mohamed, 2014. "International aid corruption and fiscal behavior policy," MPRA Paper 57192, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "The Questionable Economics of Development Assistance in Africa: Hot-Fresh Evidence, 1996–2010," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 41(4), pages 455-480, December.
    11. Simplice Asongu & Mohamed Jellal, 2016. "Foreign Aid Fiscal Policy: Theory and Evidence," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 58(2), pages 279-314, June.
    12. Asongu Simplice & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2015. "Foreign aid instability and bundled governance dynamics in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 15/058, African Governance and Development Institute..
    13. Simplice A. Asongu & Joseph Nnanna, 2019. "Foreign aid, instability and governance in Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 19/022, African Governance and Development Institute..
    14. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2017. "Foreign Aid and Inclusive Development: Updated Evidence from Africa, 2005–2012," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 98(1), pages 282-298, March.
    15. Asongu, Simplice, 2014. "A brief clarification to the questionable economics of foreign aid for inclusive human development," MPRA Paper 64458, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "Knowledge Economy Gaps, Policy Syndromes, and Catch-Up Strategies: Fresh South Korean Lessons to Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(1), pages 211-253, March.
    17. Simplice A. Asongu & Vanessa S. Tchamyou, 2019. "Foreign Aid, Education and Lifelong Learning in Africa," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(1), pages 126-146, March.
    18. Simplice A Asongu & Jellal Mohamed, 2013. "On the channels of foreign aid to corruption," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(3), pages 2191-2201.
    19. Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "The Comparative Economics of Knowledge Economy in Africa: Policy Benchmarks, Syndromes, and Implications," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(2), pages 596-637, June.
    20. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2015. "Foreign aid volatility and lifelong learning: demand-side empirics to a textual literature," Research Africa Network Working Papers 15/016, Research Africa Network (RAN).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foreign Aid; Political Economy; Development; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B20 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - General
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • F50 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - General
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

    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:abh:wpaper:14/022. 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: Anutechia Asongu Simplice (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.resanet.org .

    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.