Rebuilding the social compact: Urban service delivery and property taxes in Pakistan

A significant challenge to the provision of local public services in developing economies is the inability to raise adequate resources, especially through local taxation. In many countries the social compact, whereby citizens agree to pay taxes to fund government services that are credibly and transparently delivered, is broken. This study investigates whether strengthening the link between local tax collection and the provision of urban services can increase citizens' willingness to pay taxes, which in turn can improve service delivery by revitalising the social compact.