The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) is seeking research proposals for the Political Economy of Taxation project.

This project is part of the mobilisation (MRC) and is supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD). development (Norad). Original research proposals that address the central themes of this project and offer sound empirical or theoretical contributions will be considered.

Areas of intervention

• In particular, they are interested in proposals that advance knowledge theoretical and empirical studies on the following points:
  • Taxation and the social contract : What are the preferences of citizens and elites when it comes to direct and indirect taxation? Does progressive taxation increase tax compliance? How do elites react to changes in taxation? When does confidence in state institutions increase? Under what conditions do they see a shift from indirect to direct taxation?
  • Taxation and the governance dividend : Does taxation improve governance? Which taxes are most likely to produce a governance dividend? Is it taxation on labour or taxation on capital that leads to a governance dividend? Focus on Africa: Under what conditions do they see a governance dividend in this region?
  • Taxation in resource-rich economies : What political institutions can facilitate taxation in resource-rich countries? And why do such political institutions emerge in some resource-rich countries and not in others? Did they need these institutions before natural resources were discovered? If so, for low-income countries that already had weak institutions of political accountability before the discovery of natural resources, how can the curse of fiscal resources be avoided?
• They are particularly interested in proposals that make a strong empirical contribution or use innovative data sets for low-income countries, particularly in Africa. They are also interested in comparative case studies of countries that could increase their fiscal capacity relative to other countries with similar levels of economic development. Proposals that conduct systematic reviews and theoretical analyses that expand the frontier of research in LMICs, and other data-limited contexts, are also welcome.

Information on funding

• The papers will be published in the WIDER working paper series with a view to future publication in high-quality journals in economics, political science, development studies or related fields.
• For successful proposals, individual researchers will be awarded UNU consultant contracts, while non-profit organisations will receive UNU institutional contractual agreements. A total research honorarium of between USD 6,000 and USD 10,000 will be paid in two instalments depending on the qualifications of the principal investigator and the evaluation of the proposal. The first payment will be made after submission of a satisfactory first draft paper, and the second payment will be made after submission and review of the revised full working paper. Products must be acceptable to the UNU-WIDER Project Coordinator before payment is made. The honorarium must cover all expenses associated with the conduct of the proposed research (including data collection, assistance with the researchetc.). It is not necessary to submit a budget.

Eligibility criteria

• UNU-WIDER invites proposals from qualified researchers for papers examining the political economy factors behind taxation in low-income countries.
• Proposals from individuals, groups of individuals and not-for-profit organisations are welcome.
• They strongly encourage junior and early career researchers to submit a research proposal either individually or with a senior collaborator as a research group.
• Each proposal will be examined to determine its scientific merit and the feasibility. Proposals will be selected on the basis of three criteria:
  • relevance to the research project,
  • the strength of the theoretical or empirical contribution, and
  • clarity of writing.
• Preference will be given to applications from early career researchers and women, as well as researchers from the South. Ideal candidates should hold a recent PhD in economics, political science or a related field (or be about to obtain their PhD).

For more information, please visit the UNU-WIDER website.