IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2021-177.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

No taxation without informational foundation: On the role of legibility in tax state development

Author

Listed:
  • Matthias vom Hau
  • José Peres-Cajías
  • Hillel David Soifer

Abstract

This paper combines cross-national statistical analysis and in-depth historical case studies of Argentina and Chile to explore the relationship between two crucial dimensions of state capacity. We show that information capacity contributes to the development of fiscal capacity. States require accurate information about their subject populations, territories, and economies in order to effectively mobilize revenues. In developing this argument this paper makes three broader contributions.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthias vom Hau & José Peres-Cajías & Hillel David Soifer, 2021. "No taxation without informational foundation: On the role of legibility in tax state development," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-177, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-177
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-177-no-taxation-without-informational-foundation-role-legibility-tax-state-development.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cameron G. Thies, 2005. "War, Rivalry, and State Building in Latin America," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(3), pages 451-465, July.
    2. Matthias vom Hau, 2012. "State capacity and inclusive development: new challenges and directions," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-002-12, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    3. Adcock, Robert & Collier, David, 2001. "Measurement Validity: A Shared Standard for Qualitative and Quantitative Research," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(3), pages 529-546, September.
    4. Stanley L. Engerman & Kenneth Lee Sokoloff, 2002. "Factor Endowments, Inequality, and Paths of Development Among New World Economies," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2002), pages 41-110, August.
    5. Nathan Nunn & Diego Puga, 2012. "Ruggedness: The Blessing of Bad Geography in Africa," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(1), pages 20-36, February.
    6. Brautigam,Deborah & Fjeldstad,Odd-Helge & Moore,Mick (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521888158.
    7. Brautigam,Deborah & Fjeldstad,Odd-Helge & Moore,Mick (ed.), 2008. "Taxation and State-Building in Developing Countries," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521716192.
    8. Queralt, Didac, 2019. "War, International Finance, and Fiscal Capacity in the Long Run," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 73(4), pages 713-753, October.
    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. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2011. "Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9624.
    2. Gough, Ian & Abu Sharkh, Miriam, 2011. "Financing welfare regimes: mapping heterogeneous revenue structures," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 36629, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Persson, Torsten & Besley, Tim, 2013. "Taxation and Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 9307, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Jeffrey Pickering & Emizet F. Kisangani, 2014. "Foreign military intervention and post-colonial state-building: An actor-centric analysis," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 31(3), pages 244-264, July.
    5. repec:cep:stieop:41 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. van den Boogaard, Vanessa & Prichard, Wilson & Benson, Matthew S. & Milicic, Nikola, 2018. "Tax Revenue Mobilization in Conflict†affected Developing Countries," Working Papers 13659, Institute of Development Studies, International Centre for Tax and Development.
    7. Frederick Golooba-Mutebi & Sam Hickey, 2013. "Investigating the links between political settlements and inclusive development in Uganda: towards a research agenda," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-020-13, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    8. K. Kivanç Karaman & Sevket Pamuk, 2011. "Different Paths to the Modern State in Europe: The interaction between domestic political economy and interstate competition," Europe in Question Discussion Paper Series of the London School of Economics (LEQs) 7, London School of Economics / European Institute.
    9. Matthias vom Hau, 2012. "State capacity and inclusive development: new challenges and directions," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-002-12, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    10. Vanessa van den Boogaard & Wilson Prichard & Nikola Milicic & Matthew Benson, 2016. "Tax revenue mobilization in conflict-affected developing countries," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-155, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Ricciuti, Roberto & Savoia, Antonio & Sen, Kunal, 2019. "How do political institutions affect fiscal capacity? Explaining taxation in developing economies," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 351-380, April.
    12. Timmons, Jeffrey F. & Garfias, Francisco, 2015. "Revealed Corruption, Taxation, and Fiscal Accountability: Evidence from Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 13-27.
    13. Flores-Macías, Gustavo A., 2018. "Building support for taxation in developing countries: Experimental evidence from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 13-24.
    14. Leanora Alecia Brown & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2015. "International Debt Forgiveness: Who Gets Picked and Its Effect On The Tax Effort Of Developing Countries," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1504, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    15. Jean-Paul Faguet & Camilo Matajira & Fabio Sánchez-Torres, 2022. "Constructive extraction? Encomienda, the colonial state, and development in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 20105, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    16. Pedro L. Rodríguez, José R. Morales, Fancisco J. Monaldi, 2012. "Direct Distribution of Oil Revenues in Venezuela: A Viable Alternative?," Working Papers 306, Center for Global Development.
    17. Gabriella Y. Carolini, 2021. "Aid’s urban footprint and its implications for local inequality and governance," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(2), pages 389-409, March.
    18. Agustín Goenaga & Oriol Sabaté & Jan Teorell, 2023. "The state does not live by warfare alone: War and revenue in the long nineteenth century," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 393-418, April.
    19. Arjan de Haan & Ward Warmerdam, 2012. "The politics of aid revisited: a review of evidence on state capacity and elite commitment," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series esid-007-12, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    20. Kodjo Adandohoin, 2021. "Tax transition in developing countries: do value added tax and excises really work?," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 379-424, May.
    21. Mara Redlich Revkin, 2021. "Competitive Governance and Displacement Decisions Under Rebel Rule: Evidence from the Islamic State in Iraq," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(1), pages 46-80, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    State capacity; Information; Fiscal capacity; Taxation; Statebuilding; Mixed methods; Latin America;
    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-2021-177. 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.