The Local Government Revenue Initiative (LoGRI) is planning to conduct policy-oriented research into the reform of property taxation in Senegal, and we are looking for a researcher to join the project alongside Dr. Colette Nyirakamana, Research Lead for LoGRI. The research will have two overlapping but distinct goals.
- Understanding the broad politics of an ongoing effort to reform property taxation in the capital city, Dakar, including the introduction of a new IT system and experiments with a simplified “points based” valuation methodology. This will include inquiries into multiple dimensions of reform politics: reform leadership, taxpayer attitudes, inter-institutional dynamics and administrative politics.
- Understanding the dynamics of property tax administration in secondary cities, and, in particular, (a) assessing the unique challenges of property tax reform in secondary cites within a centralized administrative structure, and (b) assessing prospects for, and challenges to, extending the specific reform initiatives undertake in Dakar to secondary cities.
The broader objective of the work is several fold: (a) to support engagement with government and non-government actors about reform strategies, options and prospects, (b) to produce publicly facing and policy oriented writing in brief or blog format, to reflect on key messages for reform, and (c) to produce up to two working papers/academic articles. In-country research will be conducted July 1 – August 7, followed by collaborative writing of outputs until December 31, 2022. The project is expected to amount to about 60 days of work.
The individual will require in-depth knowledge of issues related to fiscal decentralization and local revenue mobilization, including specific knowledge of those issues in Senegal or Francophone West Africa. The individual needs advanced research and writing skills, as reflected in a completed or near completed PhD, and to be professionally bilingual in English and French. Experience conducting applied policy research and engaging with policy debates and audiences is highly desirable for the role. In-country research is expected to take place during the entire month of July, with some flexibility before and after, with writing of research outputs continuing in the months thereafter.
The Local Government Revenue Initiative is based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, and in order to comply with public procurement laws all interested parties are required to complete the attached Public Procurement form. We ask that anyone interested in the role please submit the signed form along with a CV, a short letter of interest describing your interest and qualifications (max 300 words) to [email protected], and an indication of your daily rate for research work, following the instructions in the form under “Special Instructions”.
