Publications

The 1980s witnessed a number of important shifts in fiscal policy in both the developed and the developing world. These reforms were carried out in response to such growing pressures as the debt crisis, which were hampering the basic operation of taxation and its overall performance in terms of revenue, fairness and efficiency. This paper examines the Asian experience of this process of change - identifying key reforms and assessing their effectiveness. Particular emphasis is placed throughout upon the equity implications of the various tax systems.

This paper focuses on the equity aspects of tax systems in Latin America. Aftrer reviewing quantative characteristics regarding the level and composition of tax structures, the paper analyses recent country experiences of tax reforms and attempts to show how the design of instruments has coped with distributional issues in taxation. Policy proposals to promote a more progressive distribution of the tax burden are presented, paying due notice to institutional and administrative constraints that characterise the region's tax systems and avoiding conflicts with other functions of the tax systems - revenue generation and economic efficiency.

This paper is the product of the authors’ detailed study of food intervention programmes in nine countries. It identifies the imperfections common to all such schemes, finding that most can be brought under two headings - the ‘two errors’ of the title. These mistakes involve excess coverage - food aid is misdirected and reaches a non-priority population - and are characterised by a failure in the prime objective of the intervention. Having made the diagnosis, the authors go on to discuss possible remedies, highlighting areas in which improvements might be made to the structure of food initiatives. It is hoped that this document will be of value to all those working to ensure that food aid gets to the people who need it most.