Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/249488 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2021/182
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper contributes to the debate on domestic revenue mobilization and statebuilding in the Global South by asking whether there are fiscal states in sub-Saharan Africa. To answer this question, we review the diverse understandings of the fiscal state across relevant literatures and explore which preconditions are necessary for the emergence of fiscal states. We define the fiscal state by a balanced relationship between taxation and borrowing as dominant revenue sources, and we distinguish it conceptually from the tax, debt, and rentier states. We analyse and show that the average sub-Saharan African country cannot be categorized as a fiscal state, and that this is to a large extent explained by the absence of economic preconditions. This finding is important because when African states are regarded as fiscal states, assumptions are made about their economic structures; yet, to the extent that these are absent, fiscal policy reforms are unlikely to carry long-term positive effects.
Subjects: 
fiscal states
sub-Saharan Africa
taxation
borrowing
debt state
rentier state
JEL: 
H20
N17
O2
Y10
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9267-122-8
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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