Real Exchange Rate and Export Surge Episodes: What Sectors Take Advantage of the Real Exchange Rate Stimulus?

What are the main characteristics of sectors that take advantage of the real exchange rate stimulus after a large and long-lasting devaluation? We aim to answer this question by analyzing the development of export sectors in Argentina during 2003–2008, after the crisis and large devaluation of 2002. This six-year period shows the highest number of sectors with export surge episodes from 1980 to 2015. We find, first, that the probability of export surge episodes increased 2.5% by each standard deviation of the higher labor intensity index during the large and long-lasting devaluation period because non-tradable costs prevail in their production function. Second, we show that export surges are more likely to occur in sectors related to already competitive sectors (mainly upstream sectors). Finally, the new export volumes in those sectors show persistent dynamics despite the end of the period of currency competitiveness, a signal of trade hysteresis

E-tax System Adoption and Tax Compliance in Ethiopia: Large and Medium Taxpayers' Experience

In the last decade, tax administrations in developing countries have been introducing technological innovations such as e-filing and e-payment platforms. The main aim of introducing these technologies is to improve tax compliance and boost revenue collection by increasing convenience and flexibility for taxpayers and reducing their compliance costs. E-filing and e-payment could save taxpayers time preparing and returning taxes and reduce errors and opportunities for corruption. However, the adoption of these technologies and their effectiveness in improving tax compliance could be undermined by several factors. Using tax administrative records, we examined the adoption rate trend of the e-filing system and the correlation between e-filing adoption and tax compliance of large and medium taxpayers in Ethiopia. The timeliness of value-added tax (VAT) and corporate income tax (CIT) return filing and the amount of tax declared are the two main compliance indicators used in this study. Furthermore, we explored the existing challenges and the way forward to improve the adoption of the e-tax system using focus group discussions (FGDs)

Fiscal Measures to Support Post-Pandemic Resilience

Now that the dust has begun to settle on the Covid-19 pandemic, it is time to reflect on and draw lessons from country experiences in pandemic response, in relation to fiscal management and reform. In order to apply these lessons, countries will require increased fiscal space to enable them to implement social safety nets that help balance the trade-off between livelihoods on the one hand, and health and the economy on the other. What follows in this Research for Policy and Practice Report is a collection of studies supported by the Covid-19 Responses for Equity (CORE) Programme. These studies provide solid evidence from a diverse range of cases, each with varying contexts and constraints, about fiscal policies and macroeconomic reforms that could support crisis response. Improved tax collection and better management of fiscal resources could enable improved social and physical infrastructures, as well as improved social safeguards and safety nets. These considerations should be part of an improved response when the next pandemic hits

Disentangling Government Responses: How Do We Know When Accountability Work Is Gaining Traction?

Advocacy for public accountability aims to produce certain reactions from government officials or service providers. However, the reactions can be many and diverse, and it is not always clear to advocates how to interpret them and decide on next steps—whether to intensify efforts or back off; continue the same strategy or make adjustments.This paper presents a framework to help accountability advocates and practitioners interpret government reactions to their efforts and move forward appropriately. The framework arises from learning and reflection in the context of the International Budget Partnership (IBP)’s Strengthening Public Accountability with Results and Knowledge (SPARK) program. SPARK seeks to bolster the collective agency of marginalized communities and coalitions to advance democratic and equitable fiscal governance systems1 that channel public resources to services that address the priority needs of these historically excluded groups

Measurement and Mirage: The Informal Sector Revisited

Recent years have seen an increasing availability and usage of measurements of informal sectors as the basis of scholarship and policy advice on the causes and consequences of informality. This has created an impression of a consensus around a clearly conceptualised and operationalised object of study – that when we talk about the informal sector, we know what we are talking about. This paper argues that this impression is largely a mirage. It suggests that underneath increasingly accepted measurements, and actively masked by them, there remains a fundamental conceptual confusion and continuing diversity in understandings of what the informal sector is. What should be questions of definition have been moved ‘downstream’ into the specifications of statistical models and measurements, resulting in a lack of transparency and the emergence of feedback loops between common conceptions and methodological assumptions. This has led a large part of the current literature on informal sectors to generate potentially misleading insights into substantial development policy discussions around taxation, registration, and social protection. This paper reviews the causes and consequences of these issues and suggests both best practices and revised definitions in order to address them.Foreign, Commonwealth & Development OfficeBill & Melinda Gates FoundationNorwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad

The Alternatives to Universal Tax Registration in Sri Lanka

This note argues that the Sri Lankan government’s recent proposal to implement universal tax registration is neither a viable nor effective strategy to increase the country’s tax revenue. Instead, the note proposes four alternative measures that are more feasible, while still serving the same purpose of expanding the tax base and generating more revenue

The Arts in Environmental Dialogue and Communication in West and East Africa

Les premières publications sur la délibération environnementale partaient du principe que les pairs débattaient rationnellement des preuves pour parvenir à des conclusions logiques. Cependant, des travaux plus récents présentent les activités artistiques comme un moyen de reconnaître les dimensions émotionnelles comme essentielles aux processus délibératifs. Simultanément, la littérature sur l'art participatif, l'art communautaire, l'activisme culturel et l'éducation artistique, regroupés sous le terme « arts pour le changement », montre comment les activités artistiques peuvent transmettre des messages au public et provoquer des changements. Notre étude a exploré le rôle des arts dans les délibérations à travers une série d'ateliers au Sénégal, au Mali, en Mauritanie, au Ghana et au Kenya. Des acteurs politiques, des activistes communautaires, des chercheurs et des artistes ont collaboré à la création d'oeuvres d'art. Les discussions des participants précédant l'utilisation d'activités artistiques ont montré que les discussions politiques sont déjà fortement influencées par les émotions, les croyances et les systèmes de valeurs, bien qu'elles ne soient souvent pas reconnues comme contribuant de manière significative à l'élaboration des politiques. La principale contribution de la création artistique collaborative a été de créer une atmosphère amicale qui a facilité les relations de travail. C'était particulièrement le cas lorsque les participants se réunissaient autour des fonctions de communication des oeuvres d'art produites, comme l'expriment les « arts pour le changement », plus courants dans les contextes d'Afrique de l'Est et de l'Ouest que les délibérations dirigées par les arts. L'accent mis sur la communication a mis en évidence l'importance d'animateurs artistiques compétents sur le plan esthétique. La facilitation doit également respecter les hiérarchies existantes tout en permettant à tous les participants de contribuer. Des recherches plus approfondies sur le rôle de la création artistique collaborative peuvent être menées dans le cadre d'une recherche-action.This paper contains an English Executive Summary on page 8. Early publications on environmental deliberation assumed that peers rationally debate evidence to reach logical conclusions. However, more recent works suggest that artistic activities are a way to recognise emotional dimensions as essential to deliberative processes. At the same time, literature on participatory art, community art, cultural activism and arts education, collectively referred to as ‘arts for change’, shows how artistic activities can convey messages to the public, and thereby provoke changes. Our study explored the role of the arts in deliberation through a series of workshops in Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Ghana, and Kenya.Arts & Humanities Research Counci

Humanitarian vs Pandemic Responses: Vulnerable Groups among Rohingyas in Bangladesh

Summary: The Rohingya diaspora is a politically sensitive humanitarian crisis for Bangladesh. The current Covid-19 pandemic poses a range of governance, demographic, and environmental policy challenges in an already fragile context. The ongoing situation combined with the pandemic requires a rethinking of humanitarian strategies to tackle the double burden of crises – humanitarian and pandemic. Drawing together evidence and experience from a mixed method participatory action research conducted among Rohingya refugees and the host community in Bangladesh, this article highlights the importance of the institutional readiness of research organisations to produce contextual interventions and targeted approaches in pandemic and humanitarian response for diverse communities. The article also reflects on the strategies researchers applied to create a knowledge network between researchers and implementers, which not only informed the study design and its selection of most vulnerable groups but also worked towards producing knowledge fit for purpose, where critical evidence was shared with key decision makers and policymakers.Resumen: La diáspora rohingya es una crisis humanitaria políticamente sensible para Bangladesh. La actual pandemia de Covid-19 plantea una serie de desafíos en materia de gobernanza, demografía y política medioambiental en un contexto ya de por sí frágil. La situación actual, combinada con la pandemia, exige un replanteamiento de las estrategias humanitarias para hacer frente a la doble carga de las crisis: humanitaria y pandémica. A partir de la evidencia y la experiencia obtenida de una investigación de métodos mixtos para la acción participativa llevada a cabo entre refugiados rohingya y la comunidad de acogida en Bangladesh, este artículo destaca la importancia de la preparación institucional de las organizaciones de investigación para producir intervenciones contextuales y enfoques específicos para la respuesta pandémica y humanitaria en diversas comunidades. El artículo también reflexiona sobre las estrategias aplicadas por los investigadores para crear una red de conocimientos entre investigadores y ejecutores, que no solo sirvió de base para el diseño del estudio y la selección de los grupos más vulnerables, sino que también contribuyó a la producción de conocimiento apto para su aplicación, para lo que se compartió evidencia crítica con los principales responsables de la toma de decisiones y del desarrollo de políticas.Résumé : La diaspora des Rohingyas est une crise humanitaire politiquement sensible pour le Bangladesh. La pandémie de Covid-19 pose une série de défis en matière de gouvernance, de démographie et de politique environnementale dans un contexte déjà fragile. La situation actuelle, combinée à la pandémie, exige de repenser les stratégies humanitaires pour faire face au double fardeau des crises - humanitaire et pandémique. S'appuyant sur les preuves et l'expérience issues d'une méthode mixte de recherche-action participative menée parmi les réfugiés rohingyas et la communauté d'accueil au Bangladesh, cet article souligne l'importance du niveau de préparation institutionnelle des organismes de recherche pour produire des interventions contextuelles et des approches ciblées en matière de réponse humanitaire et sanitaire pour des communautés diverses. L'article se penche également sur les stratégies appliquées par les chercheurs pour créer un réseau de connaissances entre les chercheurs et les responsables de la mise en œuvre. Cela a permis non seulement d'éclairer la conception de l'étude et la sélection des groupes les plus vulnérables, mais aussi de produire des connaissances adaptées à l'objectif visé, notamment par le partage de preuves critiques avec les principaux décideurs et responsables politiques.IDR

The Role of Small and Medium Industries in the Heritage Identity in Iraq: A Case Study of Bashiqa Town

This paper aims to identify the most famous Yazidi heritage industries in the town of Bashiqa, in Nineveh governorate. It explores the economic, social and cultural reality of three non-material industries (the manufacture of al-rashi, olive oil and soap) in the town of Bashiqa by comparing how they were manufactured in the past with how they are manufactured in the present, and assessing the impact of ISIS gangs on these industries. Finally, the paper puts forward proposals for how these industries can be developed to maintain their heritage and sustainability. The research also aims to invoke the cultural and scientific heritage of the local community to draw inspiration from their sources of strength to plan how local production of the traditional heritage industries can be revitalised after the destruction caused by ISIS. The paper also explores the attachment of the Yazidi community in Bashiqa to the traditional industrial crafts and the extent of their influence on social and economic life, especially given that the city of Mosul is famous for its craft activity, in addition to the cultural and religious differences among the local population of Bashiqa, which comprises several components of Iraqi society (Yazidi, Catholic and Orthodox Christians, and the Muslim Shabak – Sunni, Shiite, and Kurdish) and thus affect the community’s view of the traditional crafts

How Might the National Revenue Authority of Sierra Leone Enhance Revenue Collection by Taxing High Net Worth Individuals?

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing domestic revenue mobilisation has become even more of a priority for low-income countries. One of the commonly untapped sources of revenue across many of these countries are high net worth individuals, who usually manage to avoid contributing their fair share of taxes. This is also the case in Sierra Leone, which signalled its intention to develop a strategy to increase compliance of this taxpayer segment in 2019. In this paper we provide an initial assessment of how fit for purpose the current legal setting is, as well as give a general picture of the most likely characteristics of high net worth individuals in the country. Our analysis is based on semi structured interviews with stakeholders from both the public and private sector, and currently available administrative data, and provides a series of suggestions for next steps in the development of a dedicated strategy