Reforming tax systems - the World Bank record in the 1990s

The main constraint on world Bank operations in tax and customs administration is the Bank's inadequate institutional framework for accumulating knowledge from loan operations, concludes this review of the Bank's record on reform of tax systems in the 1990s. The Bank's theoretical basis for reforming tax and customs administration is still rudimentary. Recent theories stress the importance of institutions that harness voice and improve transparency and contestability, but there is little evidence that reform of these factors alone makes tax administration more effective. Improvements are needed in pre-project diagnosis and project design, especially for examining accountability, administration costs, managerial autonomy, performance incentives for staff, taxpayer equity and services, and environmental factors. Pre-project work could draw more systematically on lessons from previous experience. Institutional components of project design have been biased toward organization, manpower upgrading, and procedures related to information technology. Too little attention has been paid to improving accountability, administrative cost-effectiveness, and anticorruption institution-building. Projects have made inadequate use of different kinds of performance indicators, with little uniformity in those applied. Methods used to evaluate project outcomes could be better and more uniform. Suggestions for future Bank operations: 1) doing better background work and articulating a strategy and comprehensive framework for Bank involvement in reform of tax administration. 2) Possibly supporting and strengthening regional tax administration associations, which could serve as catalysts for change. 3) Strengthening partnering and supporting private sector consultant organizations, so they can manage major components of administrative reform. 4) Institutionalizing the accumulation of knowledge about tax administration (which might require changing staff recruitment, the mix of staff skills, and training plans). The authors provide recommendations for improving project diagnosis, design, performance indicators, and appraisal, as well as a short list of projects that serve as guides to good practice.Enterprise Development&Reform,Decentralization,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Banks&Banking Reform,Municipal Financial Management,Banks&Banking Reform,National Governance,Public Sector Economics&Finance,Municipal Financial Management,Tax Policy and Administration

E-Governance: Strategy for Mitigating Non-Inclusion of Citizens in Policy Making in Nigeria

The Nigerian federation that currently has 36 states structure adopted the Weberian Public Administrative system before now as an ideal way of running government, which was characterized with the traditional way of doing things without recourse to the deployment of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Today e-governance is seen as a paradigm shift from the previous way of governance. Research has shown that, the adoption and implementation of e-governance is more likely to bring about effective service delivery, mitigate corruption and ultimately enhance citizens’ participation in governmental affairs. However, it has been argued that infrastructure such as regular electricity power and access to the Internet, in addition to a society with high rate of literacy level are required to effectively implement and realize the potentials of e-governance for improved delivery of services. Due to the difficulties currently experienced, developing nations need to adequately prepare for the implementation of e-governance on the platform of Information Communication Technology (ICT). Hence, this study seeks to examine whether the adoption and implementation of e-governance in the context of Nigeria would mitigate the hitherto non-inclusion of citizens in the formulation and implementation of government policies aimed at enhanced development. To achieve the objective of the study, data were sourced and analyzed majorly by examining government websites of 20 states in the Nigerian federation to ascertain if there are venues for citizens to interact with government in the area of policy making and feedback on government actions, as a way of promoting participatory governance. The study revealed that the adoption and implementation of e-governance in the country is yet to fully take place. This is due to lack of infrastructure, low level of literacy rate and government inability to provide the necessary infrastructure for e-governance to materialize. The paper therefore, recommends among others the need for the Federal Government to involve a sound and clear policy on how to go about the adoption and implementation of egovernance through deliberate effort at increasing budgetary allocation towards infrastructural development and mass education of citizens

The Impact of e-Democracy in Political Stability of Nigeria

The history of the Nigerian electoral process has been hitherto characterized by violence stemming from disputes in election outcomes. For instance, violence erupted across some states in Northern Nigeria when results indicated that a candidate who was popular in that part of the country was losing the election leading to avoidable loss of lives. Beside, this dispute in election outcome lingers for a long time in litigation at the electoral tribunals which distracts effective governance. However, the increasing penetrating use of ICTs in Nigeria is evident in the electoral processes with consequent shift in the behavior of actors in the democratic processes, thus changing the ways Nigerians react to election outcomes. This paper examines the trend in the use ICT in the Nigerian political system and its impact on the stability of the polity. It assesses the role of ICT in recent electoral processes and compares its impact on the outcome of the process in lieu of previous experiences in the Nigeria. Furthermore, the paper also examines the challenges and risks of implementing e-Democracy in Nigeria and its relationship to the economy in the light of the socio-economic situation of the country. The paper adopted qualitative approach in data gathering and analysis. From the findings, the paper observed that e-democracy is largely dependent on the level of ICT adoption, which is still at its lowest ebb in the country. It recognizes the challenges in the provision of ICT infrastructure and argues that appropriate low-cost infrastructure applicable to the Nigerian condition can be made available to implement e-democracy and thus arouse the interest of the populace in governance, increase the number of voters, and enhance transparency, probity and accountability, and participation in governance as well as help stabilize the nascent democrac

Software test and evaluation study phase I and II : survey and analysis

Issued as Final report, Project no. G-36-661 (continues G-36-636; includes A-2568

CONCURRENT MULTI-PART MULTI-EVENT DESIGN REFRESH PLANNING MODELS INCORPORATING SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS AND PART-UNIQUE TEMPORAL CONSTRAINTS

Technology obsolescence, also known as DMSMS (Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages), is a significant problem for systems whose operational life is much longer than the procurement lifetimes of their constitute components. The most severely affected systems are sustainment-dominated, which means their long-term sustainment (life-cycle) costs significantly exceed the procurement cost for the system. Unlike high-volume commercial products, these sustainment-dominated systems may require design refreshes to simply remain manufacturable and supportable. A strategic method for reducing the life-cycle cost impact of DMSMS is called refresh planning. The goal of refresh planning is to determine when design refreshes should occur (or what the frequency of refreshes should be) and how to manage the system components that are obsolete or soon to be obsolete at the design refreshes. Existing strategic management approaches focus on methods for determining design refresh dates. While creating a set of feasible design refresh plans is achievable using existing design refresh planning methodologies, the generated refresh plans may not satisfy the needs of the designers (sustainers and customers) because they do not conform to the constraints imposed on the system. This dissertation develops a new refresh planning model that satisfies refresh structure requirements (i.e., requirements that constrain the form of the refresh plan to be periodic) and develops and presents the definition, generalization, synthesis and application of part-unique temporal constraints in the design refresh planning process for systems impacted by DMSMS-type obsolescence. Periodic refresh plans are required by applications that are refresh deployment constrained such as ships and submarines (e.g., only a finite number of dry docks are available to refresh systems). The new refresh planning model developed in this dissertation requires 50% less data and runs 50% faster than the existing state-of-the-art discrete event simulation solutions for problems where a periodic refresh solution is required

Aeronautical engineering: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 306)

This bibliography lists 181 reports, articles, and other documents recently introduced into the NASA STI Database. Subject coverage includes the following: design, construction and testing of aircraft and aircraft engines; aircraft components, equipment, and systems; ground support systems; and theoretical and applied aspects of aerodynamics and general fluid dynamics

Achieving the Potential: The Future of Federal e-Rulemaking: A Report to Congress and the President

Federal regulations are among the most important and widely used tools for implementing the laws of the land – affecting the food we eat, the air we breathe, the safety of consumer products, the quality of the workplace, the soundness of our financial institutions, the smooth operation of our businesses, and much more. Despite the central role of rulemaking in executing public policy, both regulated entities (especially small businesses) and the general public find it extremely difficult to follow the regulatory process; actively participating in it is even harder. E-rulemaking is the use of technology (particularly, computers and the World Wide Web) to: (i) help develop proposed rules; (ii) make rulemaking materials broadly available online, along with tools for searching, analyzing, explaining and managing the information they contain; and (iii) enable more effective and diverse public participation. E-rulemaking has transformative potential to increase the comprehensibility, transparency and accountability of the regulatory process. Specifically, e-rulemaking – effectively implemented – can open the rulemaking process to a broader range of participants, offer easier access to rulemaking and implementation materials, facilitate dialogue among interested parties about policy and enforcement, enhance regulatory coordination, and help produce better decisions that lead to more effective, accepted and enforceable rules. If realized, this vision would greatly strengthen civic participation and our democratic form of government

Achieving the Potential: The Future of Federal e-Rulemaking: A Report to Congress and the President

Federal regulations are among the most important and widely used tools for implementing the laws of the land – affecting the food we eat, the air we breathe, the safety of consumer products, the quality of the workplace, the soundness of our financial institutions, the smooth operation of our businesses, and much more. Despite the central role of rulemaking in executing public policy, both regulated entities (especially small businesses) and the general public find it extremely difficult to follow the regulatory process; actively participating in it is even harder. E-rulemaking is the use of technology (particularly, computers and the World Wide Web) to: (i) help develop proposed rules; (ii) make rulemaking materials broadly available online, along with tools for searching, analyzing, explaining and managing the information they contain; and (iii) enable more effective and diverse public participation. E-rulemaking has transformative potential to increase the comprehensibility, transparency and accountability of the regulatory process. Specifically, e-rulemaking – effectively implemented – can open the rulemaking process to a broader range of participants, offer easier access to rulemaking and implementation materials, facilitate dialogue among interested parties about policy and enforcement, enhance regulatory coordination, and help produce better decisions that lead to more effective, accepted and enforceable rules. If realized, this vision would greatly strengthen civic participation and our democratic form of government

Mid Term Review of the\ud Health Sector Strategic Plan III 2009-2015

This report summarises the findings, assessment and recommendations of the Mid Term Review (MTR) of Tanzania’s Third Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP III) for the period July 2009–June 2015. The HSSP III covers both the health sector and social welfare sector. In addition to this main report, there are nine specific technical reports, on District and Hospital Services, Maternal Neonatal and Child Health (MNCH), Social Welfare Services, Human Resources for Health (HRH), Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E), Pharmaceutical Supplies, Capital Development, Health Care Financing and Governance. There also are three Field Trip Reports of the MTR.\ud In the context of the MTR the Government of Tanzania’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) and partners produced a Mid Term Analytical Review (MTR-AR 2013) with extensive analysis of available health sector information. The MOHSW and partners also commissioned as part of the MTR an independent Community Perspectives Study to provide an unbiased community input to the MTR, also referenced within this report.\ud The MTR assessed the overall coherence and implementation of HSSP III with the specific aim of informing the development of HSSP IV. A team of 12 national and international consultants carried out the review. They took stock of achievements with special attention to the implementation of the Mpango wa Maendeleo wa Afya ya Msingi (MMAM) and MNCH Services. They also reviewed implementation of financing and the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp).\ud The MTR Steering Committee provided overarching guidance to the review process and Technical Working Groups (TWGs) worked closely with the consultants. The global Health Finance and Governance Project, led by Abt Associates Inc., managed the review