The marginal cost of public funds and tax reform in Africa

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Auriol, Emmanuelle; Warlters, Michael
• 署名单位: Universite de Toulouse; Universite Toulouse 1 Capitole; Toulouse School of Economics
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2011.01.003
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 58-72
• 关键词: Marginal cost of public fund; Tax reform; Developing countries; AFRICA

摘要

In this paper we propose estimates of the marginal cost of public funds (MCF) in 38 African countries. We develop a simple general equilibrium model that can handle taxes on five major tax classes, and can be calibrated with little more than national accounts data. A key feature of our model is the explicit recognition of the informal economy. Our base case estimate of the average MCF from marginal increases in all five tax instruments is 1.2. Focusing on the lowest cost tax instruments in each country, commonly the VAT but not always, the average MCF is 1.1. Finally extending the tax base to include sections of the informal economy by removing some tax exemptions offers the potential for a low MCF source of public funds, and a lowering of MCFs on other tax instruments. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V.