IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ise/remwps/wp02912023.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tax structure and public sector efficiency: new evidence for developing countries

Author

Listed:
  • Lucas Menescal
  • José Alves

Abstract

This study examines the effects of the tax structure composition for public sector efficiency in a sample of 41 developing countries for the period between 1997-2019. We start by calculating Public Sector Performance (PSP) composite indicators and use them as outputs to compute data envelopment analysis (DEA) efficiency scores under different orientation setups. After using a general-to-specific approach to identify the most determinant variables, we analyze the relevance of different taxes for public efficiency in a panel regression specification. We find that tax effects are significantly different depending on the orientation of DEA scores. Notably, we observe that taxation presents stronger detrimental effects to input-oriented scores in comparison to output-oriented, and that Opportunity PSP indicators seem more affected by property taxes and working contributions, while Musgravian PSP indicators are more closely related to individual and corporate income taxes. Our results allow us to provide policy implications regarding better tax structures to improve efficiency on the provision of public goods and services.

Suggested Citation

  • Lucas Menescal & José Alves, 2023. "Tax structure and public sector efficiency: new evidence for developing countries," Working Papers REM 2023/0291, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    • Handle: RePEc:ise:remwps:wp02912023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://rem.rc.iseg.ulisboa.pt/wps/pdf/REM_WP_0291_2023.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2021. "Structural Tax Reforms and Public Spending Efficiency," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 32(5), pages 1017-1061, November.
    2. Damian Clarke, 2014. "General-to-specific modeling in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 14(4), pages 895-908, December.
    3. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2021. "Taxation and Public Spending Efficiency: An International Comparison," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(3), pages 356-383, September.
    4. Antonis Adam & Manthos Delis & Pantelis Kammas, 2011. "Public sector efficiency: leveling the playing field between OECD countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 163-183, January.
    5. Afonso, António & Tovar Jalles, João & Venâncio, Ana, 2022. "Do financial markets reward government spending efficiency?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    6. Henry Tulkens, 2006. "On FDH Efficiency Analysis: Some Methodological Issues and Applications to Retail Banking, Courts and Urban Transit," Springer Books, in: Parkash Chander & Jacques Drèze & C. Knox Lovell & Jack Mintz (ed.), Public goods, environmental externalities and fiscal competition, chapter 0, pages 311-342, Springer.
    7. Maria Alessandra Antonelli & Valeria De Bonis, 2019. "The efficiency of social public expenditure in European countries: a two-stage analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 47-60, January.
    8. Glenn Rayp & Nicolas Van De Sijpe, 2007. "Measuring and explaining government efficiency in developing countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 360-381.
    9. Antonis Adam & Manthos Delis & Pantelis Kammas, 2014. "Fiscal decentralization and public sector efficiency: evidence from OECD countries," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 17-49, February.
    10. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    11. Konstantinos Angelopoulos & Apostolis Philippopoulos & Efthymios Tsionas, 2008. "Does public sector efficiency matter? Revisiting the relation between fiscal size and economic growth in a world sample," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 245-278, October.
    12. Antonio Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2010. "Public sector efficiency: evidence for new EU member states and emerging markets," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(17), pages 2147-2164.
    13. Livia Baciu & Alina Botezat, 2014. "A Comparative Analysis of the Public Spending Efficiency of the New EU Member States: A DEA Approach," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(S4), pages 31-46.
    14. Gupta, Sanjeev & Verhoeven, Marijn, 2001. "The efficiency of government expenditure: experiences from Africa," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 433-467, May.
    15. Eric Wang & Eskander Alvi, 2011. "Relative Efficiency of Government Spending and Its Determinants: Evidence from East Asian Countries," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 1(1), pages 3-28, June.
    16. Mr. David Hauner & Ms. Annette J Kyobe, 2008. "Determinants of Government Efficiency," IMF Working Papers 2008/228, International Monetary Fund.
    17. António Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2005. "Public sector efficiency: An international comparison," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 321-347, June.
    18. Sok-Gee Chan & Zulkufly Ramly & Mohd Zaini Abd Karim, 2017. "Government Spending Efficiency on Economic Growth: Roles of Value-added Tax," Global Economic Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 162-188, April.
    19. Jose Alves, 2019. "The impact of tax structure on investment: an empirical assessment for OECD countries," Public Sector Economics, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 43(3), pages 291-309.
    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. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2023. "Government Spending and Tax Revenue Decentralization and Public Sector Efficiency: Do Natural Disasters matter?," Working Papers REM 2023/0271, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    2. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2022. "A Tale of Government Spending Efficiency and Trust in the State," Working Papers REM 2022/0253, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    3. López-Herrera, Carmen & Cordero, José M. & Pedraja-Chaparro, Francisco & Polo, Cristina, 2023. "Fiscal rules and their influence on public sector efficiency," MPRA Paper 119018, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio, 2021. "Taxation and Public Spending Efficiency: An International Comparison," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(3), pages 356-383, September.
    5. António Afonso & José Alves, 2022. "Does government spending efficiency improve fiscal sustainability?," Working Papers REM 2022/0226, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    6. António Afonso & José Alves, 2023. "Are fiscal consolidation episodes helpful for public sector efficiency?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(31), pages 3547-3560, July.
    7. Antonis Adam & Manthos Delis & Pantelis Kammas, 2011. "Public sector efficiency: leveling the playing field between OECD countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 163-183, January.
    8. Antonis Adam & Manthos Delis & Pantelis Kammas, 2014. "Fiscal decentralization and public sector efficiency: evidence from OECD countries," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 17-49, February.
    9. Afonso, António & Tovar Jalles, João & Venâncio, Ana, 2022. "Do financial markets reward government spending efficiency?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Dobdinga Fonchamnyo & Molem Sama, 2016. "Determinants of public spending efficiency in education and health: evidence from selected CEMAC countries," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 40(1), pages 199-210, January.
    11. Gergana Mihaylova-Borisova & Presiana Nenkova, 2021. "DEA Efficiency Approach in Comparing Macroeconomic Performance of EU and Balkan Countries," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 42-62.
    12. Tumaniants, Karen A. (Туманянц, Карэн) & Sesina, Julia E. (Сесина, Юлия), 2017. "Social Expenditures of Russian Regions in Terms of “Input-Output” [Расходы На Социальную Политику Российских Регионов В Координатах «Затраты — Результат»]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 128-149, October.
    13. Ablam Estel Apeti & Bao-We-Wal Bambe & Aguima Aime Bernard Lompo, 2023. "Determinants of public sector efficiency: a panel database from a stochastic frontier analysis," Post-Print hal-04189811, HAL.
    14. Sok-Gee Chan Mohd & Zaini Abd Karim, 2012. "Public Spending Efficiency And Political And Economic Factors: Evidence From Selected East Asian Countries," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 57(193), pages 7-24, April- Ju.
    15. Christl, Michael & Köppl-Turyna, Monika & Kucsera, Dénes, 2018. "Public sector efficiency in Europe: Long-run trends, recent developments and determinants," Working Papers 14, Agenda Austria.
    16. Janne Tukiainen & Sebastian Blesse & Albrecht Bohne & Leonardo M. Giuffrida & Jan Jäässkeläinen & Ari Luukinen & Antti Sieppi, 2021. "What Are the Priorities of Bureaucrats? Evidence from Conjoint Experiments with Procurement Officials," EconPol Working Paper 63, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    17. Riadh Brini & Hatem Jemmali, 2015. "Public Spending Efficiency, Governance, and Political and Economic Policies: is there a Substantial Casual Relation? Evidence from Selected MENA Countries," Working Papers 947, Economic Research Forum, revised Sep 2015.
    18. Djedje Hermann Yohou, 2015. "In Search of Fiscal Space in Africa: The Role of the Quality of Government Spending," CERDI Working papers halshs-01222812, HAL.
    19. Aristovnik, Aleksander & Obadić, Alka, 2014. "Measuring relative efficiency of secondary education in selected EU and OECD countries: the case of Slovenia and Croatia," MPRA Paper 63936, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Antonio Afonso & Ludger Schuknecht & Vito Tanzi, 2010. "Public sector efficiency: evidence for new EU member states and emerging markets," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(17), pages 2147-2164.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public sector performance; Government efficiency; Tax structure; Data envelopment analysis; Developing countries; Panel data.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General

    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:ise:remwps:wp02912023. 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: Sandra Araújo (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rem.rc.iseg.ulisboa.pt/ .

    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.