IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2021-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Glimpses of fiscal states in sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Mick Moore

Abstract

There is a widespread perception that taxing in sub-Saharan Africa has been and remains fraught with problems or government failure. This is not generally true. For more than a century, colonial administrations and independent states have steadily developed the capacity to routinely collect more substantial revenues than one might expect in a low-income region. The two main historical dimensions of this collection capacity were (a) powerful, centralized bureaucracies focused on achieving revenue collection targets and (b) large, taxable international trade sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Mick Moore, 2021. "Glimpses of fiscal states in sub-Saharan Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-151, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-151-glimpses-fiscal-states-sub-Saharan-Africa.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christoph Ernst & Katharina Richter & Nadine Riedel, 2013. "Corporate taxation and the quality of research & development," Working Papers 1301, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    2. Moore, Mick & Prichard, Wilson & Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge, 2018. "Taxing Africa: Coercion, Reform and Development," Working Papers 13997, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    3. repec:cep:stieop:41 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Paul Clist, 2016. "Foreign aid and domestic taxation: multiple sources, one conclusion," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 34(3), pages 365-383, May.
    5. Moore, Mick & Prichard, Wilson, 2017. "How Can Governments of Low-Income Countries Collect More Tax Revenue?," Working Papers 13357, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    6. Sanjeev Gupta & Jianhong Liu, 2020. "Can Tax Buoyancy in Sub-Saharan Africa Help Finance the Sustainable Development Goals?," Working Papers 532, Center for Global Development.
    7. Christof Ernst & Katharina Richter & Nadine Riedel, 2014. "Corporate taxation and the quality of research and development," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(4), pages 694-719, August.
    8. Mascagni, Giulia & Dom, Roel & Santoro, Fabrizio, 2021. "The VAT in Practice: Equity, Enforcement and Complexity," Working Papers 16603, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    9. Mr. Patrick Fossat & Mr. Michel Bua, 2013. "Tax Administration Reform in the Francophone Countries of Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Working Papers 2013/173, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Moore, Mick, 2018. "Taxation and Development," Working Papers 14008, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    11. Kangave, Jalia & Byrne, Kieran & Karangwa, John, 2020. "Tax Compliance of Wealthy Individuals in Rwanda," Working Papers 15554, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    12. Mr. Bernardin Akitoby & Mr. Jiro Honda & Keyra Primus, 2020. "Tax Revenues in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States—Why Are They Low and How Can We Raise Them?," IMF Working Papers 2020/143, International Monetary Fund.
    13. Mascagni, Giulia & Santoro, Fabrizio & Mukama, Denis & Karangwa, John & Hakizimana, Napthal, 2022. "Active Ghosts: Nil-filing in Rwanda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    14. Stelios Michalopoulos & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Historical Legacies and African Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 53-128, March.
    15. Kangave, Jalia & Nakato, Susan & Waiswa, Ronald & Zzimbe, Patrick Lumala, 2016. "Boosting Revenue Collection through Taxing High Net Worth Individuals: The Case of Uganda," Working Papers 11205, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    16. Moore, Mick, 2020. "What is Wrong with African Tax Administration?," Working Papers 15661, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    17. Kangave, Jalia & Byrne, Kieran & Karangwa, John, 2020. "Tax Compliance of Wealthy Individuals in Rwanda," Working Papers 15536, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    18. Persson, Torsten & Besley, Tim, 2013. "Taxation and Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 9307, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Roel Dom, 2019. "Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa: Silver Bullet or White Elephant," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(7), pages 1418-1435, July.
    20. Eui Soon Chang & Elizabeth Gavin & Nikolay Gueorguiev & Mr. Jiro Honda, 2020. "Raising Tax Revenue: How to Get More from Tax Administrations?," IMF Working Papers 2020/142, International Monetary Fund.
    21. Moore, Mick, 2020. "What is Wrong with African Tax Administration?," Working Papers 15831, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    22. Prichard, Wilson, 2016. "Reassessing Tax and Development Research: A New Dataset, New Findings, and Lessons for Research," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 48-60.
    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. Ane Karoline Bak & Matilde Jeppesen & Anne Mette Kjær, 2021. "Fiscal states in sub-Saharan Africa: conceptualization and empirical trends," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-182, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    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. Moore, Mick, 2021. "Glimpses of Fiscal States in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 16977, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    2. Mascagni, Giulia & Santoro, Fabrizio & Mukama, Denis & Karangwa, John & Hakizimana, Napthal, 2022. "Active Ghosts: Nil-filing in Rwanda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    3. Mascagni, Giulia & Mengistu, Andualem T. & Woldeyes, Firew B., 2021. "Can ICTs increase tax compliance? Evidence on taxpayer responses to technological innovation in Ethiopia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 172-193.
    4. Abel Gwaindepi, 2021. "Domestic revenue mobilisation in developing countries: An exploratory analysis of sub‐Saharan Africa and Latin America," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(2), pages 396-421, March.
    5. Pablo Beramendi & Melissa Rogers, 2021. "Disparate geography and the origins of tax capacity," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 213-237, January.
    6. Gilles Saint‐Paul & Davide Ticchi & Andrea Vindigni, 2021. "Engineering crises: Favoritism and strategic fiscal indiscipline," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 583-610, November.
    7. Guo, Jang-Ting & Hung, Fu-Sheng, 2020. "Tax evasion and financial development under asymmetric information in credit markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    8. Ouattara, B. & Standaert, S., 2020. "Property rights revisited," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Wier, Ludvig, 2020. "Tax-motivated transfer mispricing in South Africa: Direct evidence using transaction data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    10. James Cust, 2017. "The role of governance and international norms in managing natural resources," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-203, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Arvin, Mak B. & Pradhan, Rudra P. & Nair, Mahendhiran S., 2021. "Are there links between institutional quality, government expenditure, tax revenue and economic growth? Evidence from low-income and lower middle-income countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 468-489.
    12. Kohl, Miriam, 2020. "Redistribution, selection, and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    13. Vu, Trung V., 2021. "Statehood experience and income inequality: A historical perspective," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 415-429.
    14. 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.
    15. Tahir Yousaf & Qurat ul Ain & Yasmeen Akhtar & Wasi Ul Hassan Shah, 2022. "The Crowding in (out) Effect of Intergovernmental Transfers on Local Government Revenue Generation: Evidence from Pakistan," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 242(3), pages 3-28, September.
    16. 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).
    17. Mohammad Hoseini, 2020. "Value‐Added Tax, Input–Output Linkages and Informality," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(347), pages 813-843, July.
    18. Gwaindepi, Abel, 2019. "Domestic revenue mobilization in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America: A comparative analysis since 1980," Lund Papers in Economic History 209, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    19. Andersson, Martin & Julia, Juan P. & Palcio Ch., Andrés F., 2021. "Resilience to economic shrinking as the key to economic catch-up: A social capability approach," Lund Papers in Economic History 231, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    20. Mpofu Favourate Y Sebele, 2021. "Informal Sector Taxation and Enforcement in African Countries: How plausible and achievable are the motives behind? A Critical Literature Review," Open Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 72-97, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax; Revenue; Sub-Saharan Africa; Tax reform; Tax administration; Customs; Fiscal states;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-151. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.