Publications

Explaining Informal Taxation and Revenue Generation: Evidence from south-central Somalia

ICTD Research in Brief 96

Most people in low-income countries contribute substantially to the financing of local public goods through informally generated revenue – that is, non-market payments that are not required or defined by state law and are enforced outside of the state legal system. However, very little is...

Vanessa van den Boogaard

Fabrizio Santoro

Beyond Greed: Why Armed Groups Tax

ICTD Research in Brief 97

Armed groups tax. Journalistic accounts often have a tone of surprise about this fact, while policy reports tend to strike a tone of alarm, highlighting the link between armed group taxation and ongoing conflict. Policymakers often focus on targeting the mechanisms of armed group taxation as...

Max Gallien & 4 others

Technology Evolution and Tax Compliance: Evidence from Rwanda

African Tax Administration Paper 30

Information technology (IT) has great potential to help increase taxpayer compliance and revenue collection. Despite the increasing use of IT solutions by African tax administrations, evidence on its effectiveness remains limited. In Rwanda, the Revenue Authority introduced a more advanced...

Naphtal Hakizimana

Fabrizio Santoro

Mobile Money Taxation and Informal Workers: Evidence from Ghana’s E-Levy

ICTD Working Paper 146

The use of digital financial services, including money transfers and mobile money, have expanded widely in lower-income countries in the past decade; 47 per cent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa (548 million) had a registered mobile money account in 2020, with 29 per cent of those...

Max Gallien & 3 others

Practical Guides for Participatory Methods: Disability Inclusive Research

In the past, people with disabilities have been left out of many aspects of life including research. They have not usually been included in ‘mainstream’ studies about key topics such as health, education, WASH, gender empowerment, social and political participation, while other groups in...

Mary Wickenden

The Menopause: Hidden WASH Needs

SLH Learning Paper;16

This Sanitation Learning Hub Learning Paper provides practical guidance for the WASH sector on meeting the additional needs of women going through the (peri)menopause, a phase of life rarely spoken about. The paper outlines what the perimenopause and menopause are, and how the WASH sector can...

Amita Bhakta

Naomi Vernon

Tax Treaty Norms Among Lower- Income Countries and the Role of the UN Model: Past, Present and Potential

ICTD Working Paper 171

Bilateral tax treaties draw heavily from model conventions published by international organisations. In this paper we investigate the influence of the UN model on tax treaties signed by lower-income countries, as well as the potential for specific model provisions to be mainstreamed in a...

Martin Hearson & 2 others

Inclusive and Effective International Tax Cooperation: Views From the Global South

ICTD Working Paper 172

In 2023, demands for the United Nations to take up a larger role in global tax governance are louder than ever before. Nevertheless, there is not yet a global consensus on the way forward. In this paper we investigate how the United Nations (UN) could create a more inclusive and effective...

Martin Hearson & 5 others

Rethinking Formalisation: A Conceptual Critique and Research Agenda

The concept of ‘formalisation’ has been ubiquitous in development discourse and policymaking. It has underpinned policy interventions and proposals from tax registration to property titling, and a range of measures intended to connect informal entities with state institutions or formally...

Max Gallien

Vanessa van den Boogaard

Non-State Welfare Provision and Redistribution in Times of Crisis: Evidence from the Covid-19 Pandemic

ICTD Research in Brief; 91

The funding of social protection initiatives is especially complex in times of crisis. While social protection is critical as a means of redistributing income, delivering relief to those in particular need, and building economic resilience, crises severely limit states’ abilities to fund these...

Max Gallien & 2 others

Fringe Heroines: Situated Struggles of Women Scientists in Brazilian Agriculture

Feminist scholarship regards the Western scientific revolution and twentieth-century agricultural modernization as patriarchal endeavors andtechnoscientific regimes as entangled in societal interests and politics. In thisarticle, I engage with these perspectives by focusing on women...

Lídia Cabral

Using Participatory Methods to Explore Freedom of Religion and Belief: Whose Reality Counts?

Examining countries where religious pluralism is in decline, including Iraq, India, Pakistan and Nigeria, this book brings together reflections, knowledge and learning about the daily experiences of religiously marginalized groups, generated using participatory research methods. It also...