1,575 research outputs found

    The political economy of redistribution and (in)efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean

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    Predominant views on the political economy of Latin America and the Caribbean tend to emphasize that elite domination helps to understand the high levels of inequality. The contemporary fiscal version of that assertion goes something like “the rich are powerful and they don't like taxes, hence we have little taxation and little redistribution.” That is a good approximation to the reality of some countries, but not of others. There are cases in the region where there are high levels of taxation and non-negligible redistributive efforts. But in some of those cases such redistribution comes hand in hand with macroeconomic imbalances, high inflation, low growth, as well as low-quality public policies. When redistributive efforts are short-sighted and attempted with inefficient public policies, fiscal imbalances lead to inflation and to frequent macroeconomic crises that reduce growth and thwart poverty reduction efforts. The argument of this paper is that there are various possible political configurations (including elite domination and populism among others) that lead to different economic and social outcomes (including the degree of redistribution and others). We postulate that each configuration of social outcomes emerges out of different political economy equilibria. Different countries in the region will be in different political economy equilibria, and hence will have different combinations of political economy syndromes and of socioeconomic outcomes. In this paper, we characterize the countries regarding the size of the public sector, how much fiscal redistribution there is, and how efficient this public action is. We summarize various strands of literature that attempt to explain some elements of that fiscal vector one at a time; and then attempt to provide a simple framework that might explain why different countries present different configurations of size, distributiveness, and efficiency

    Assessing land administration systems with their legal frameworks: the case of peri-urban land in Ekiti State, Nigeria

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    The coexistence of customary and statutory law, tenure, and administration in peri-urban areas of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries such as Nigeria may cause conflict and tension. An efficient and effective land administration systems (LASs) and legal frameworks are crucial for ensuring pro-poor objectives in land administration. Women, the vulnerable and the poor who are denied access to efficient and effective land administration services tend to experience tenure insecurity. Nigeria is one of the countries with an inefficient and ineffective LASs. The study explores the possibility of hybrid legal systems contributing to tenure insecurity in peri-urban areas of Southwest Nigeria. This study assesses customary and statutory laws and administration systems pertaining to Ekiti State, Nigeria to understand whether there is legal pluralism. A case study of customary and statutory laws, tenure, and administration was carried out using primary and secondary data. The study used three peri-urban cases from Ekiti State, Nigeria (Ikere-Ekiti, Ijero-Ekiti, and Oye-Ekiti) to learn how customary and statutory laws, tenure, and administration operate within the same geographical space. The study adopted Soft System Methodology (SSM), with two analytical frameworks: Responsible Land Management (RLM) and Fit-For-Purpose Land Administration (FFPLA). Moreover, the study used institutional isomorphism theory to determine the conflicting pressure exerted on the customary legal framework, comprising the customary courts and the Customary Court of Appeal of a State (CCAS). The LASs with their legal frameworks were assessed using text-based and empirical approaches. The study findings show weak and deep legal pluralism in LASs. The assessment leads to developing conceptual tools for assessing LASs with their legal frameworks. On the one hand, the conceptual tool for assessing LASs with their legal frameworks is based on the three pillars of human rights, the rule of law, and legal pluralism, taking a constitutional focus. The study findings revealed conflicting pressure exerted on customary courts and the Customary Court Appeal of a State (CCAS). On the other hand, the conceptual tool for measuring land tenure security based on three pillars of jurisdiction, legitimacy, and collaboration. The conceptual tools provide understanding of the influence of the hybrid legal system in LASs in peri-urban areas. The understanding of the influence of hybrid system is based on decentralising land administration activities, local land management, self-determination, and autonomy. The framework also incorporates legal and institutional flexibility. Areas of further research are recommended

    Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean 2023: fiscal policy for growth, redistribution and productive transformation

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    In 2022, the fiscal situation in Latin America and the Caribbean was characterized by rising tax revenues and declining in public spending, resulting in smaller fiscal deficits. Nevertheless, public debt remains high. Against this backdrop, this edition of the Fiscal Panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean proposes a fiscal policy for growth, redistribution and productive transformation. It examines options for strengthening personal income tax, to boost its revenues and redistributive potential. In a context of mounting pressure on public spending, it is vital to take strategic approach, to make spending more effective in closing social gaps. This report therefore proposes a new methodology for identifying, measuring and classifying public spending related to gender equality, Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendants and persons with disabilities.Foreword .-- Chapter I. Public finance trends in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2022 .-- Chapter II. The challenges of strengthening personal income tax as a development instrument in Latin America and the Caribbean .-- Chapter III. Public expenditure targeting gender equality, Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendants and persons with disabilities .-- Tables

    Consistent flexibility: Enforcement of deficit rules through political incentives

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    We study the optimal design of a deficit rule in a model in which the government is present-biased, shocks to tax revenues make rule compliance stochastic, and a rule violation reduces the payoff from holding office. We show that: i) the benchmark policy of the social planner can be always implemented via an optimal nonlinear deficit rule and under certain conditions even under a linear rule; ii) the optimal rule prescribes a zero structural deficit but only partially accounts for shocks; and iii) a government with a stronger ex-ante deficit bias should be granted a higher degree of flexibility

    Fiscal knowledge and its impact on revealed MWTP in Covid times: Evidence from survey data

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    Individual preferences over public policies should ideally be based on the possession of correct information about their reality. To test whether this holds, we conducted four waves of a survey, every six months since May 2020 (still under the COVID-19- lockdown), asking basic macro questions regarding the level of tax burden, of public debt, and of the underground economy in Spain. The percentage of correct responses (defined within broad ranges) never reaches 35%, and it is by far lowest for public debt. For the tax burden, leftwing individuals (with respect to right-wing) make more errors, and highly educated people (with respect to the rest of society) make fewer. No clear deterministic patterns arise for pĂşblic debt and for the underground economy.I Independently of the percentage of errors, we infer the existence of relative biases across different social characteristics: highly educated people tend to undervalue the level of the tax burden and of the underground economy and overvalue the level of public debt; leftist individuals undervalue the level of the tax burden and of the public debt but overvalue the level of the underground economy. There are also significant gender biases: with respect to men, women overvalue the tax burden and the importance of the underground economy, and undervalue the level of public debt. This misinformation and biases correlate with the marginal willingness to pay taxes (MWTP). MWTP is 10% higher under the presence of misinformation. This is particularly so for those individuals who undervalue the real level of the tax burden. Although COVID-19 generates greater interest to collect information, including about fiscal issues, there is a decrease in knowledge. The pandemic seems to have produced an excess of information up to causing misinformation. We also observe a general tendency to undervalue the level of public debt provoked by the exposure to COVID-19, which might be caused by the lax fiscal policy carried out during the pandemic

    Beyond amnesty: Rethinking government’s stabilisation efforts in Nigeria’s Niger delta region

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    Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). In 2009, President Umaru Yar’Adua granted amnesty to militant groups in the Niger Delta. This came after a decade of insurgency within Nigeria’s oil-rich region. Amnesty was strategically designed to deescalate further confrontation with militants, curb the proliferation of small arms, stop kidnapping and limit the destruction of oil and gas installations. Amnesty was also aimed at disarming, demobilising and re-integration militants into civil society. To what extent has amnesty shaped the region and of what consequence? This study examined the multi-layered drivers of crisis within the Niger-Delta. It then investigated the appropriateness of amnesty in the region using semi-structured interviews. As its main finding, deplorable conditions that sparked unrest in the region still persist, evoking growing discontent in several communities. The paper recommends sustainable policies and programs through which communities, oil companies and the region at large can benefit immensely
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