the case of Southern African Development Community (2000-2020)

Thesis(Master) -- KDI School: Master of Development Policy, 2022The paper assesses tax revenue performance in the Southern African Development Community by empirically estimating the member countries’ tax capacity and tax effort to determine member states that are near or far from their tax capacity using the standard regression approach. Tax revenue mobilization is of paramount importance for a country’s development and subsequent regional socioeconomic development; therefore, it is imperative to heighten the understanding of whether the current tax systems in the region provide enough tax revenue to meet public expenditure needs. Literature suggests that several economic, demographic, and institutional aspects restrict tax collections. In this regard, the study finds that the level of economic growth, financial deepening, and trade openness positively and significantly influence tax revenue mobilization. On the other side, urbanization, the share of agriculture in GDP, and the size of the shadow economy are negatively and significantly impacting on tax capacity. More so, the low levels of governance quality are having detrimental effects on tax collection and the effect is larger compared to other determinants. Overall low tax collection in the region is attributable to both low tax capacity and administrative inefficiencies. It is also established in the study that the impact of changes in tax structure and systems and external shocks should not be overlooked. The ranking of member countries into different groups of performers has assisted in providing broad guidance for tax policy design and reforms. However, the cross-cutting issue is the need for improving governance to build effective and efficient systems.1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 2 OVERVIEW OF SADC TAX STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS 3 SCHOLARHIP REVIEW 4 METHODS, DATA, AND DATA SOURCES 5 PRESENTATION OF RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 6 CONCLUSION, POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND AREAS FOR FURTHER STUDYmasterpublishedKlery CHIKWED

An empirical investigation of foreign aid effectiveness in reducing poverty in some selected SADC countries: 2005-2013

Historically, aid flows from the developed to developing countries have been economically justified for reducing poverty either through directly targeting the poor or indirectly via economic growth. This present study investigates whether or not aid has produced the anticipated results in 12selected SADC countries using panel data analysis covering a period of nine years (2005-2013). The variable of choice for measuring aid effectiveness in reducing poverty in this present study is the human development index (HDI), a non-monetary poverty measure. Overally, the study finds thataid has a negative and no significant impact on poverty reduction, supporting the works of the public choice hypothesis. The negative and insignificant results could beexplained by aid misallocation, misuse and lack of absorptive capacity by recipient countries. Secondly for the analysis of how aid can be made more effective in reducing poverty, empirical evidence suggests that institutional quality, control of corruption and trade openness are vital for aid effectiveness. Economic growth and trade openness have been found to be necessary conditions for poverty reductio