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Project
Urban informality, tax compliance, and accountability in Zambia
What drives tax compliance among informal sector workers in Africa? And does taxation strengthen accountability between governments and the informal sector? These questions are hugely important in Africa for a number of reasons. First, the informal sector plays a critical role in contributing to structural transformation, particularly by facilitating production and...
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Project
Monitoring Myanmar's electrification plan: Welfare effects and access issues
Myanmar is in energy poverty. Venture outside Yangon or Mandalay at night and one will be mostly faced with darkness. The Government of Myanmar rightly sees electrification as a national priority for growth. The National Electrification Plan (NEP) is an ambitious plan by the government to provide access to electricity for all by 2030, up from 34% today. It aims to achieve...
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Project
Fiscal institutions for an East African monetary union
The Protocol for the Establishment of the East African Monetary Union was ratified by the Heads of State of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi in November 2013. As partner states embark on the implementation of the Protocol, the Secretariat of the East African Community (EAC) has asked IGC-Tanzania to advise on the design of specific fiscal institutions to support...
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Project
Reaping the benefits of Electronic Billing Machines
Electronic Billing Machines (EBMs) enable revenue authorities to monitor formal business transactions and thus offer the potential to improve VAT compliance. However, because firms can choose not to issue receipts or issue false receipts, EBMs do not offer truly objective tax reporting and have thus offered limited benefits to tax collection. Using examples from Rwanda,...
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Project
Improving supplier development linkages in the ‘Made in Rwanda’ policy: The potential of a Local Content Unit and a Firm Database
The Government of Rwanda has recently drafted a “Made in Rwanda” (MiR) Policy. This seeks to improve the overall trade balance by improving perceptions of Rwandan products within Rwanda, promote nascent industries, and boost productivity of exporting sectors (MINEACOM, 2017). Improving linkages between domestic suppliers and large exporting firms is a critical...
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Project
Formal evaluation of the Ghana commodities exchange
The goal of this project is to contribute to the study and improvement of agricultural markets in sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, this project aims to examine the impact of the introduction of a commodities exchange in a nation without one. The recent establishment of the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX) has generated significant interest at the highest levels of...
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Project
Financing the in-between sector: Designing and evaluating targeted SME lending in Tanzania
Employment growth in Tanzania has been driven by small, often informal, manufacturing firms. Many formal and informal micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are similarly productive to larger formal firms and are likely to have significant growth potential. However, access to finance is one of the main obstacles these firms face. The literature on MSMEs in Africa still...
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Project
Scoping trip: Introducing a formal bus system into Kampala
In order for urbanisation to result in productivity gains, a city must achieve a high degree of connectivity, which is the process that supports scale and specialisation. However, in cities like Kampala, the level of connectivity is fairly low. In particular, Kampala has not introduced any formal mass public transportation system to date. Rather, the reliance is on these...
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Project
How do disclosures affect financial choices? The case of life insurance in India
Insurance is one of the most popular investment avenues in India. Recent miss-selling scandals in insurance (as well as financial products more generally) have brought a renewed focus on how best to regulate their sale. This has meant rules on commissions paid to distributors of these products, increased fiduciary responsibilities, as well as improved disclosures. Removing...
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Project
Rapid response project on Indian firm data
In March 2015, IGC organised a Workshop on Industry Data, held in Delhi. The workshop provided an opportunity for academics, policy makers and government agencies to discuss difficulties they face with using or collecting datasets on Indian firms, and define the steps for a way forward to improve the quality of the data available in these areas. To prepare for the...
Project
The effectiveness of government bureaucracy: A study of the Ghanaian civil service
The effective functioning of the public sector is crucial for economic growth. This project, requested by the Head of Ghana’s Civil Service, assessed the link between management practices and productivity in the public sector to inform reforms. The study found that granting civil servants more autonomy is associated with more effective public organisations, but...