In 2011, the World Bank Group commenced a multiyear program designed to support countries in systematically examining and strengthening the performance of their education systems. Part of the World Bank's new education sector strategy, this evidence-based initiative, called systems approach for...

This report provides an assessment of the corporate sector accounting, financial reporting, and auditing practices in Suriname, with the aim of assisting the Government of Suriname's efforts to strengthen private sector accounting and auditing practices and enhance financial transparency in the...

Suriname is a small, natural resource-rich, densely forested, upper-middle-income country, which, though it has great economic potential, is undergoing challenging times. Substantial offshore oil deposits were recently discovered in the Suriname-Guyana Basin, with potentially significant...

"Noting that South Africa may be one of the few African countries that could contribute to mitigating climate change, the authors explore the impact of a carbon tax relative to alternative energy taxes on economic welfare. Using a disaggregate general-equilibrium model of the South African...

"Tax expenditures, in the form of tax provisions, are government expenditures. They are conceptually and functionally distinct from those tax provisions whose purpose is to raise revenue. Tax expenditure programs are comparable to entitlement programs. Therefore, tax expenditures must be...

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...

The main message of this report is that Pakistan can take measures to increase the tax to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio by around 3.5 percentage points over the next five years. In order to ensure a healthy long-run economic development, Pakistan needs to embrace substantial changes in tax...

The main message of this report is that Pakistan can take measures to increase the tax to gross domestic product (GDP) ratio by around 3.5 percentage points over the next five years. In order to ensure a healthy long-run economic development, Pakistan needs to embrace substantial changes in tax...

This background paper describes five different tools that can be used for the assessment of tax incentives by governments in low income countries' (LICs). The first tool (an application of cost-benefit analysis) provides an overarching framework for assessment. Evaluations of the various costs...