ICTD Research Director Wilson Prichard is the author of a new book titled “Taxation, Responsiveness and Accountability in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Dynamics of Tax Bargaining“, published by Cambridge University Press.
The book provides the most comprehensive analysis of the connections between taxation and government accountability in developing countries to date. It establishes that reliance on taxation, by increasing the political power of taxpayers, has enhanced government responsiveness towards citizens. However, these gains are far from guaranteed, and the most important insights from the book revolve around when, and how, connections between taxation and accountability are likely to emerge – and the types of strategies that can be adopted to encourage such positive outcomes. The book correspondingly captures the often complex, long term and widely varying connections between taxation, responsiveness and accountability through in-depth case studies of tax bargaining in Ghana, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
It has already received praise from several key academics in the field. Michael Ross from the University of California, Los Angeles calls the book a “breakthrough” which “will dramatically improve our understanding of fiscal politics and should be widely read by both scholars and policymakers.”
Nick Cheeseman from Oxford University writes that “the rich combination of econometric and case study analysis, combined with clear prose and important insights, mean that this volume should be read by everyone interested in the prospects for progressive economic and political change in Africa- and beyond.”
David Leonard of the University of California, Berkeley calls the book a “must read”, while Richard Bird of the University of Toronto says it is “essential reading for anyone interested in tax policy in developing countries.”