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

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  • Asongu Simplice

    (Yaoundé/Cameroun)

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.

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  • Asongu Simplice, 2014. "Taxation, foreign aid and political governance: figures to the facts of a celebrated literature," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 14/022, African Governance and Development Institute..
    • Handle: RePEc:agd:wpaper:14/022
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    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

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