This paper attempts to extend the theoretical and empirical methodology employed in previous literature, by proposing a utility maximization process to estimate the optimal tax revenue from a sample of 30 countries. It is shown that an optimal tax system is defined solely by two crucial...

In the tax literature, the tax effort index for any country is usually measured by the ratio of the actual tax ratio to the predicted ratio. This reflects mainly the variance in the taxable capacity of a country. A high value of tax effort index indicates that a particular country is collecting...

Taxation is an important tool to enhance the economic development and to finance the expenditure responsibilities of a government. This paper attempts to measure the tax capacity and tax effort of 14 major Indian states from 1992-92 to 2010-11 using Stochastic Frontier Analysis. The use of tax...

This article studies the impact of vertical fiscal transfers on local tax effort in Mexico, considering evidence for municipalities in Sinaloa between 1993 and 2008. Based on cadastral information, gross added value and property taxes we create a “pure” indicator of fiscal effort which is...

This 2011 Article IV Consultation reports that the Philippines is being affected along with other countries in the region by the fragile global environment. The key challenge is to navigate through the period of global uncertainty to maintain macroeconomic stability while building the...