A Gendered Fiscal Incidence Analysis for Ethiopia: Evidence from Individual-Level Data

Ambel, Alemayehu A.; Tesfaye, Wondimagegn M.; Yonis, Manex Bule

doi:10.1596/1813-9450-10130

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Yet there are limited studies that consider the gendered impact of revenue and expenditure together, with the more recent and welcome exception of gendered fiscal incidence analyses (e.g. Lustig 2018;Ambel et al 2022). While we highlight the value of such perspectives, it is beyond the scope of this paper to fully review the literature on gendered budgeting and expenditure.…”

Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of their importance for financing local public goods, not including user fees and informal taxes in analyses of gender and taxation in lower-income countries leaves an incomplete picture of gender inequities, which may be embedded in both formal and informal structures and institutions. In some contexts, including Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia and Somalia, formal and informal user fees for essential services represent a much greater burden for individuals and households than formal taxes paid to local governments, and are often the largest component of formal and informal payments for most taxpayers (Ambel et al 2022;Paler et al 2017;van den Boogaard et al 2019; van den Boogaard and Santoro 2021).…”

Section: Figure 22 Direct and Income Tax Revenue As Percentage Of Gdp...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It requires an understanding of the overall progressivity of the tax and redistributive system, and a recognition that such taxes are often an important source of revenue for governments (Maskaeva et al 2021). Accordingly, analyses need to consider not just the stand-alone burden of indirect taxes, but also their contribution to government spending and social protection transfers, which in turn may promote gender equality (see, e.g., Ambel et al 2022).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…A common tool for this is fiscal incidence analysis (e.g. Ambel et al 2022;Lustig 2018;Abramovsky and Selwaness 2023), which can enable a more comprehensive view of the equity and progressiveness of government systems -though there are challenges when data is limited, or when it is difficult to identify the beneficiaries of public spending programmes. The overall progressiveness of a tax system can reduce post-tax income gaps, requiring comprehensive analyses of both taxation and redistribution.…”

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Engendering Taxation: a Research and Policy Agenda

Joshi,

Kangave,

van den Boogaard

2024

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Increased attention has been paid to the gender dimensions of taxation in recent years, though there has been limited research on the subject – particularly in lower-income contexts. Understanding how tax policies might affect women in lower-income countries is important at the current time, when governments are looking for new ways to increase domestic revenue – particularly through expanding the tax base. Given that women have historically represented only a small part of the formal workforce in these contexts, a shift towards indirect taxes and taxing the informal economy are likely to have a disproportionate effect on poorer households, and women in particular. Understanding whether, and in what specific ways, tax policy in lower-income countries affects the ability of women to participate in the workforce and carry out their caring responsibilities within households is critical for ensuring development with gender justice. This paper reviews the existing literature and related debates on gender and tax in lower income countries. It identifies knowledge gaps, and maps broader issues that are relevant for understanding the gendered impact of taxation. The paper makes four broad observations. First, existing research focuses on formal direct taxes that are less relevant for women in lower-income contexts, given their high participation rates in the informal economy. Instead, presumptive taxes, user fees and informal taxes place a disproportionate burden on low income women. Second, there needs to be greater attention paid to the ways in which women in senior and junior positions in tax administration can affect how taxpayers interact with tax authorities. Third, any assessment of tax policy’s impact on gender needs to consider revenue and expenditure together to ensure that the positive effects of tax policies are not undermined by budgets, or vice versa. Finally, we show that there has been insufficient gender-disaggregated data collection and analysis, which is required to draw generalizable conclusions about the gendered impact of tax policy. We argue that tax specialists need to think about research questions that address these gaps, and simultaneously address methodological challenges by gender disaggregation in data collection, as well as impact evaluation of tax policy implementation and innovation. Our overall conclusions are that tax policies can be made gender-neutral by paying careful attention to where they affect women differentially. There are opportunities for governments to explore policies that positively discriminate as a way to address structural gendered inequities. At the same time we recognise that, barring a few exceptions, tax policy and administration is often an unwieldy instrument to address gender equity directly. Instead other policies relating to labour markets, social protection and public services are better placed to be gender-transformative.

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Section: Figuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Figure 22 Direct and Income Tax Revenue As Percentage Of Gdp...mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Engendering Taxation: a Research and Policy Agenda

Joshi,

Kangave,

van den Boogaard

2024

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Fiscal Policy and Child Poverty in Ethiopia

Ambel,

Belete,

Fiala

2023

Child Ind Res

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This study investigates the effects of public transfers and taxes on the wellbeing of children in Ethiopia. It applies the Commitment to Equity for Children (CEQ4C) methodology to examine the burdens of taxation and the benefits from government transfers and spending, and their differential wellbeing impacts on children. The study integrates data from the Ethiopia Socioeconomic Survey 2018/19, which also collected data on taxes and transfers, with administrative data. Measuring its distribution by child monetary and multidimensional wellbeing, the study finds, on average, a progressive, poverty-reducing and equalizing fiscal system. However, there are important differences in the distribution of some of its elements. Indirect taxes, comprising of VAT and excise taxes, are regressive. Similarly, primary education spending, the largest of in-kind transfers, is only progressive in urban areas. With regards to poverty and inequality, the fiscal system reduced the monetary child poverty headcount by 21% and the poverty gap by 33%. The effect is stronger for girls and children in rural areas than for boys and children in urban areas, therefore reducing inequalities in poverty rates. However, this is only the case when in-kind transfers for education and health are considered. Without the inclusion of in-kind transfers, the study finds that the fiscal system is not well calibrated to reduce poverty. This highlights the essential role of public services, not only in delivering fundamental child rights, but also in reducing poverty amongst children.

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A Gendered Fiscal Incidence Analysis for Ethiopia: Evidence from Individual-Level Data

Cited by 2 publications

References 33 publications

Engendering Taxation: a Research and Policy Agenda

Engendering Taxation: a Research and Policy Agenda

Fiscal Policy and Child Poverty in Ethiopia

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