Taxing To Develop: When ‘Third-Best’ Is Best
- London International Growth Brief 2016
- 8p.
- Growth Brief | STATE | April 2016 .
Inability to tax is both a symptom and cause of underdevelopment. In countries with large informal economies, tax policies must account for gaps in monitoring, reporting, and administration to overcome barriers to tax enforcement and collection. Developing country governments are often characterised by poor public service delivery. Without the benefits of public goods and services, citizens have few incentives to pay taxes. This brief presents a rethinking of tax policy. Traditional tax models assume a ‘second-best’ approach where, in the absence of perfect information (‘first-best’ conditions), tax authorities face some informational barriers to tax collection.
