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dc.contributor.authorMick, Moore
dc.coverage.spatialAnglophone Africaen
dc.date.accessioned2016-03-18T09:04:02Z
dc.date.available2016-03-18T09:04:02Z
dc.date.issued2013-05-15
dc.identifier.citationMick, M. (2013) Revenue Reform and Statebuilding in Anglophone Africa. ICTD Working Paper 10. Brighton: IDS.en
dc.identifier.isbn978 1 78118 116 4
dc.identifier.urihttps://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/20.500.12413/10131
dc.description.abstractWithin the development field, tax administration reform is an area of relative success. Over the past two decades, the national revenue systems of most countries in anglophone Africa have undergone major reforms. These comprise, in particular, the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT), the adoption of ‘advanced’ tax administration practices, and the creation of semiautonomous revenue authorities. What do these reforms imply for emerging patterns of politics and governance in anglophone Africa? The first conclusion is conceptual and theoretical. The impact of these reforms has been shaped by the broad context within which they were being implemented, especially the increasingly transnational character of many important policymaking relationships (Orenstein and Schmitz 2006; Stone 2008; Weiss 2005). Senior African revenue staff feature increasingly in transnational expert networks, and face a wider range of employment opportunities, public and private, both at home and abroad. The second conclusion is that these revenue reforms have contributed only modestly to statebuilding. While the new revenue agencies are in many respects impressive organisations, actual revenue collection has not increased much; improvements in organisational capacity have been concentrated at national and capital city level; potentially synergistic improvements in the capacity to formulate tax policy have not occurred; and some anticipated spillover benefits from improving the revenue collection apparatus have not been realised. The third conclusion is that, while these reforms have made it possible for governments to raise revenue from the organised private sector in a more ‘Weberian’ (institutionalised, rule-bound) and a more consensual manner, they have also increased the possibility that the taxation system will be shaped by private sector interests, making it difficult for governments to raise the revenue that they claim they need.en
dc.description.sponsorshipDfID, NORADen
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherInstitute of Development Studiesen
dc.relation.ispartofseriesICTD Working Paper;10
dc.rightsA catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. Reproduction, copy, transmission, or translation of any part of this publication may be made only under the following conditions: - with the prior permission of the publisher; or - with a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd., 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE, UK, or from another national licensing agency; or - under the terms set out below. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for teaching or nonprofit purposes, but not for resale. Formal permission is required for all such uses, but normally will be granted immediately. For copying in any other circumstances, or for reuse in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publisher and a fee may be payable. Available from: Communications Unit, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton BN1 9RE, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1273 915637 Fax: +44 (0) 1273 621202 E-mail: bookshop@ids.ac.uk Web: www.ids.ac.uk/ids/bookshop IDS is a charitable company limited by guarantee and registered in England (No. 877338)en
dc.rights.urihttp://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dmfile/IDSOpenDocsStandardTermsOfUse.pdfen
dc.subjectEconomic Developmenten
dc.titleRevenue Reform and Statebuilding in Anglophone Africaen
dc.typeIDS Working Paperen
dc.rights.holderIDSen
dc.identifier.externalurihttp://www.ictd.ac/ju-download/2-working-papers/81-revenue-reform-and-statebuilding-in-anglophone-africa


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