IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imf/imfwpa/2016-233.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Political Institutions, State Building, and Tax Capacity: Crossing the Tipping Point

Author

Listed:
  • Vitor Gaspar
  • Laura Jaramillo
  • Mr. Philippe Wingender

Abstract

An empirical finding by Gaspar, Jaramillo and Wingender (2016) shows that once countries cross a tax-to-GDP threshold of around 12¾ percent, real GDP per capita increases sharply and in a sustained manner over the following decade. In this paper, we attempt via four case studies—Spain, China, Colombia, and Nigeria—to illustrate that the improvements in tax capacity have been part of a deeper process of state capacity building. We discuss the political conditions that supported tax capacity building, highlighting three important political ingredients: constitutive institutions, inclusive politics and credible leadership.

Suggested Citation

  • Vitor Gaspar & Laura Jaramillo & Mr. Philippe Wingender, 2016. "Political Institutions, State Building, and Tax Capacity: Crossing the Tipping Point," IMF Working Papers 2016/233, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2016/233
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=44435
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2011. "Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9624.
    2. Era Dabla-Norris & Jim Brumby & Annette Kyobe & Zac Mills & Chris Papageorgiou, 2012. "Investing in public investment: an index of public investment efficiency," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 235-266, September.
    3. Anders Jensen, 2011. "State-Building in Resource-Rich Economies," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 39(2), pages 171-193, June.
    4. Ahmad, Ehtisham, 2011. "Should China revisit the 1994 fiscal reforms?," Discussion Papers 115922, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    5. Commission on Growth and Development, 2008. "The Growth Report : Strategies for Sustained Growth and Inclusive Development," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6507, December.
    6. Persson, Torsten & Besley, Tim, 2013. "Taxation and Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 9307, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Acemoglu, Daron, 2005. "Politics and economics in weak and strong states," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(7), pages 1199-1226, October.
    8. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2014. "Why Do Developing Countries Tax So Little?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 99-120, Fall.
    9. 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.
    10. Vitor Gaspar & Laura Jaramillo & Mr. Philippe Wingender, 2016. "Tax Capacity and Growth: Is there a Tipping Point?," IMF Working Papers 2016/234, International Monetary Fund.
    11. repec:cep:stieop:41 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Mr. Michael W. Bell & Ms. Kalpana Kochhar & Hoe Ee Khor, 1993. "China at the Threshold of a Market Economy," IMF Occasional Papers 1993/006, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Paul Collier & Benedikt Goderis, 2007. "Commodity Prices, Growth, and the Natural Resource Curse: Reconciling a Conundrum," CSAE Working Paper Series 2007-15, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    14. Ragnar Torvik, 2009. "Why do some resource-abundant countries succeed while others do not?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 241-256, Summer.
    15. Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2005. "Do Leaders Matter? National Leadership and Growth Since World War II," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(3), pages 835-864.
    16. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & José F. Sanz-Sanz (ed.), 2007. "Fiscal Reform in Spain," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12595.
    18. Ross, Michael L., 2004. "Does Taxation Lead to Representation?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 34(2), pages 229-249, April.
    19. Mr. John D Brondolo & Zhiyong Zhang, 2016. "Tax Administration Reform in China: Achievements, Challenges, and Reform Priorities," IMF Working Papers 2016/068, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Murphy, Kevin M & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1993. "Why Is Rent-Seeking So Costly to Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(2), pages 409-414, May.
    21. Jorge Onrubia, 2006. "The Reform of the Tax Administration in Spain," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0612, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    22. David Brady & Michael Spence, 2009. "Leadership and politics: a perspective from the Growth Commission," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(2), pages 205-218, Summer.
    23. Sebastian Edwards, 2014. "Economic Development and the Effectiveness of Foreign Aid: A Historical Perspective," NBER Working Papers 20685, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Ahmad, Ehtisham, 2011. "Should China revisit the 1994 fiscal reforms?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 57969, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    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. Corrales, Javier & Hernández, Gonzalo & Salgado, Juan Camilo, 2020. "Oil and regime type in Latin America: Reversing the line of causality," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    2. Kenneth Abante, 2019. "Minimizing Smuggling and Restoring Public Trust in the Philippine Bureau of Customs," CID Working Papers 113a, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    3. Christine Lewis, 2019. "Raising more public revenue in Indonesia in a growth - and equity-friendly way," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1534, OECD Publishing.

    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. Grier, Robin & Young, Andrew T. & Grier, Kevin, 2022. "The causal effects of rule of law & property rights on fiscal capacity," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Marina Nistotskaya & Michelle D'Arcy, 2021. "No taxation without property rights: Formalization of property rights on land and tax revenues from individuals in sub-Saharan Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-175, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Manuel Oechslin & Mauricio Rodriguez, 2021. "Fiscal weakness, the (under-) provision of public services, and institutional reform," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 38(1), pages 20-44, January.
    4. Vitor Gaspar & Laura Jaramillo & Mr. Philippe Wingender, 2016. "Tax Capacity and Growth: Is there a Tipping Point?," IMF Working Papers 2016/234, International Monetary Fund.
    5. Boris Petkov, 2018. "Natural Resource Abundance: Is it a Blessing or is it a Curse," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 43(3), pages 25-56, September.
    6. Roberto Ricciuti & Antonio Savoia & Kunal Sen, 2019. "What determines administrative capacity in developing countries?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(5), pages 972-998, October.
    7. Cáceres, Neila & Malone, Samuel W., 2015. "Optimal Weather Conditions, Economic Growth, and Political Transitions," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 16-30.
    8. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2014. "Under the Thumb of History? Political Institutions and the Scope for Action," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 951-971, August.
    9. Mawejje, Joseph & Sebudde, Rachel K., 2019. "Tax revenue potential and effort: Worldwide estimates using a new dataset," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 119-129.
    10. Savoia, Antonio & Sen, Kunal & Tagem, Abrams M. E., 2023. "Constraints on the executive and tax revenues in the long run," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(3), pages 314-331, June.
    11. Tania Masi & Antonio Savoia & Kunal Sen, 2020. "Is there a fiscal resource curse? Resource rents, fiscal capacity, and political institutions in developing economies," WIDER Working Paper Series wp2020-10, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Timothy Besley & Ethan Ilzetzki & Torsten Persson, 2013. "Weak States and Steady States: The Dynamics of Fiscal Capacity," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 205-235, October.
    13. Al-Kasim, Farouk & Søreide, Tina & Williams, Aled, 2013. "Corruption and reduced oil production: An additional resource curse factor?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 137-147.
    14. Ishak, Phoebe W. & Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza, 2020. "The impact of declining oil rents on tax revenues: Does the shadow economy matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    15. Masi, Tania & Savoia, Antonio & Sen, Kunal, 2024. "Is there a fiscal resource curse? Resource rents, fiscal capacity and political institutions in developing economies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    16. Sen, Kunal, 2013. "The Political Dynamics of Economic Growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 71-86.
    17. Christian Ebeke & M Mansour & Grégoire Rota-Graziosi, 2016. "The Power to Tax in Sub-Saharan Africa: LTUs, VATs, and SARAs," Working Papers halshs-01332049, HAL.
    18. Oskar Nupia, 2017. "Income Taxes, Political Accountability and Public Goods Provision," Documentos CEDE 15835, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    19. Syed Mansoob Murshed, 2007. "What Turns a Blessing into a Curse? The Political Economy of Natural Resource Wealth (Invited Lecture)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 46(4), pages 351-377.
    20. Esteban Muñoz-Sobrado & Amedeo Piolatto & Antoine Zerbini & Federica Braccioli, 2024. "The Taxing Challenges of the State: Unveiling the Role of Fiscal & Administrative Capacity in Development," Working Papers 1432, Barcelona School of Economics.

    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:imf:imfwpa:2016/233. 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: Akshay Modi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imfffus.html .

    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.