This paper investigates whether the adoption of inflation targeting (IT), by strengthening central bank independence and maintaining inflation at low levels, has encouraged the governments of emerging economies to improve the collection of domestic tax revenue in order to recoup the loss of...

We take a first pass at quantifying the magnitudes of debt relief achieved through default and restructuring in two distinct samples: 1979-2010, focusing on credit events in emerging markets, and 1920-1939, documenting the official debt hangover in advanced economies that was created by World...

The high degree of fiscal stress experienced by state governments in the 2001 and the 2007-2009 recessions has prompted renewed discussions of alternative approaches to stabilizing state finances over the business cycle. Prompted by evidence of increased state tax revenue cyclicality in the...

Value Added Tax (VAT) is a type of indirect tax that is imposed on goods and services. In one of the most important reforms of the country’s public finances in over the past 50 years, India has finally launched much delayed Value Added Tax (VAT) from 1st April, 2005 in 21 states. VAT has...

Intergovernmental transfers can be either conditional or unconditional with regard to the autonomy of local governments in spending such financial means. Although fiscal decentralisation has recently been quite pronounced in Eastern European transition countries, the dominance of a purpose- and...

When it comes to gambling taxes, house rules apply. State governments have the prerogative to decide whether to allow lotteries or casinos to operate in their states. This chapter explores the expansion of legal gambling in the United States, focusing on the taxes states get from lotteries and...

We review the current state of the West African Economic and Monetary Union's tax coordination framework, against the main objectives of the WAEMU Treaty of 1994: reduce distortions to intra-community trade, and mobilize domestic tax revenue. The process of tax coordination in WAEMU is one of...