Tax incentives neither make up for serious deficiencies in a country's investment environment nor generate the desired externalities. But when other factors, such as infrastructure, transport costs, and political and economic stability are more or less equal, the taxes in one location may have a...

A few Sub-Saharan countries, by improving their business environment, have begun to attract more substantial foreign direct investment than other African countries with bigger domestic markets and greater natural resources. Like Ireland and Singapore, perhaps they can become competitive...