The most popular technique for estimating tax elasticities is the “Proportional Adjustment†method. This paper shows that the standard methodology used will almost invariably lead to biased elasticity estimates, and proposes an alternative methodology which avoids this problem. [WP]

The challenge to the tax system to expand both the revenue base and progressively bring into the net larger number of taxpayers remains as daunting as ever. The object is not to ignore the generally beneficial impact of deregulation and tax friendly measures in providing a more conducive...

This week, the finance minister presents a statement to Parliament of how much money the central government expects to raise in the next financial year, and how it will spend that money. The budget speech is also used by the government to propose other policy measures. In this primer the paces...

The Finances of the PRIs are looked into. The role of 13th Finance Commission is explained. Some ‘learnings’ from International experience is given.

The Indian tax reform experience can provide useful lessons for many countries due to the largeness of the country with multilevel fiscal framework, uniqueness of the reform experience and difficulties in calibrating reforms due to institutional constraints. This paper details the evolution of...

Budget speech by finance minister of Karnataka

1) Allocating budget to the measure for the real revitalization of Japan to recover Japan’s economy and society 2) Reviewing the existing budget based on the result of evaluation by the Policy Proposing Type Screening 3) Reducing public sector’s waste thoroughly 4) Following the...

The effects of the Indonesian decentralization and democratization process on budget allocation at the sub-national level is analyzed. Based on panel data for 271 Indonesian districts for the years of 1994 to 2009, the determinants of local investment expenditures in public infrastructure in the...

The main objective of the study is to investigate whether there is any evidence to support the view that the disbursement of micro finance to women reduces the incidence of domestic violence, and if so, under what circumstances. [WCD]. URL:[http://wcd.nic.in/].