The importance of the role that institutions play in determining economic outcomes has led to a substantial and well debated literature where proxies for the institutional environment are routinely included in both microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis. This thesis aims to contribute to this literature from two applied, but rather different avenues - taxation and disability. There is persistence in this institutional effect and whilst establishing change takes time, there are opportunities for policymakers to enhance development outcomes through institutional change. From a macroeconomic perspective, this thesis aims to investigate the heterogeneity in tax performance that is evident in sub-Saharan Africa despite commonalities amongst countries based on colonial heritage. Specifically, using ethnographic data translated and compiled through the process of the research, the characteristics of ethnic groups and historical population data are combined to create variables that aim to capture indigenous institutional structures or the deeper determinants of current institutional performance. Using these variables, tax performance and tax effort are analysed in a series of averaged cross-sections for a sample of 35 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 1970 to 2010. It appears evident that the structure of indigenous institutions has a dynamic, statistically significant and positive effect on both aspects of taxation. The evidence also suggests that a history of more structured organisation and governance amongst tribal groups is a more important contributor to tax performance than the level of ethnic fragmentation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:659286 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Torrance, Samantha Leigh |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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