Paving the way for fiscal capacity - Think WIDER webinar series

Description

The process of transformation of public finance institutions, or the emergence of fiscal states, is a fundamental part of becoming an effective state. How can developing economies build fiscal states that are capable of collecting revenues from a broad tax base, as well as effectively spending public funds on a range of goods and services that will benefit households and firms?

In this one-hour webinar, panellists from the academic and policy communities will share insights on what we know about the origins of fiscal states in developing economies, and their policy implications.

The webinar aims to address the following questions:

Does history and politics matter in the development of fiscal states, and how?

What are the lessons of the historical experiences of developed economies for building fiscal states in developing economies?

How do social contracts between the state and citizen emerge wherein citizens voluntarily pay taxes to the state?

What type of policy interventions are needed to increase the fiscal capacity of the state?

The event is chaired by Kunal Sen, who leads the Fiscal states – the origins and developmental implications project, part of UNU-WIDER’s Domestic Revenue Mobilization (DRM) programme. Introduction to the topic will be given by Antonio Savoia (University of Manchester, UNU-WIDER). Panelists include Shanta Devaraj (Georgetown University, former Chief Economist of the Africa region in the World Bank), Sansia Blackmore (African Tax Institute) and Anne Mette Kjaer (Aarhus University). The event concludes with a Q&A session open to the audience.

Period	21 Mar 2023
Held at	United Nations University, Japan