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Long-term Drivers of Taxation in Francophone West Africa 1893–2010

Andersson, Jens LU and Lazuka, Volha LU (2019) In World Development 114(February). p.294-313
Abstract
Which factors have driven fiscal revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa in the long run? We address this question by studying quantitatively the long-term relationship between fiscal outcomes, economic expansion and external dependency in four francophone West African countries – Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Senegal – between 1893 and 2010. Using panel co-integration modelling we find a long-term relationship between, on the one hand, tax revenue and local economic development, proxied by international trade, and, on the other hand, tax revenue and developments of the economy and taxation in the former colonizing power France. The results indicate that economic expansion has been a significant factor in driving the long-term development of tax... (More)
Which factors have driven fiscal revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa in the long run? We address this question by studying quantitatively the long-term relationship between fiscal outcomes, economic expansion and external dependency in four francophone West African countries – Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Senegal – between 1893 and 2010. Using panel co-integration modelling we find a long-term relationship between, on the one hand, tax revenue and local economic development, proxied by international trade, and, on the other hand, tax revenue and developments of the economy and taxation in the former colonizing power France. The results indicate that economic expansion has been a significant factor in driving the long-term development of tax revenue in West Africa, just as it was in historical Europe, but also point to the historical vulnerability and external dependency of the fiscal systems of the four West African countries. We suggest that the wider implication of these results is that they point to the importance of deepening our understanding of how domestic contexts interact with external economic and institutional external forces to shape African fiscal systems, in contrast to factors such as inter-state warfare that are ubiquitous in narratives of historical European taxation and state development. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
World Development
volume
114
issue
February
pages
294 - 313
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:85056164197
ISSN
1873-5991
DOI
10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.10.008
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f6b78cf0-ec6a-453d-8d44-a1cb78720d6b
date added to LUP
2018-10-26 08:41:04
date last changed
2022-04-25 18:25:39
@article{f6b78cf0-ec6a-453d-8d44-a1cb78720d6b,
  abstract     = {{Which factors have driven fiscal revenue in Sub-Saharan Africa in the long run? We address this question by studying quantitatively the long-term relationship between fiscal outcomes, economic expansion and external dependency in four francophone West African countries – Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Senegal – between 1893 and 2010. Using panel co-integration modelling we find a long-term relationship between, on the one hand, tax revenue and local economic development, proxied by international trade, and, on the other hand, tax revenue and developments of the economy and taxation in the former colonizing power France. The results indicate that economic expansion has been a significant factor in driving the long-term development of tax revenue in West Africa, just as it was in historical Europe, but also point to the historical vulnerability and external dependency of the fiscal systems of the four West African countries. We suggest that the wider implication of these results is that they point to the importance of deepening our understanding of how domestic contexts interact with external economic and institutional external forces to shape African fiscal systems, in contrast to factors such as inter-state warfare that are ubiquitous in narratives of historical European taxation and state development.}},
  author       = {{Andersson, Jens and Lazuka, Volha}},
  issn         = {{1873-5991}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{02}},
  number       = {{February}},
  pages        = {{294--313}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{World Development}},
  title        = {{Long-term Drivers of Taxation in Francophone West Africa 1893–2010}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.10.008}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.10.008}},
  volume       = {{114}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}