The TaxCapDev network

Researh Program

Domestic revenue mobilisation (DRM) is crucial for a government’s ability to make investments that foster social and economic development and is an integral part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Taxation also plays a crucial role in state building by providing the resources needed to fund core state activities as well as constituting the foundation of a social contract between citizens and the state.

How to improve taxation and prevent illicit capital flows are questions of great importance as the answers can shape the policies needed to spur sustainable growth. If this is to happen, knowledge sharing, discussions, and interactions between different types of stakeholders are needed.

The purpose of the TaxCapDev network is to facilitate such interaction by bringing together researchers, policymakers and civil society working on issues related to taxation and capital flows in developing countries, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.

Through the organisation of seminars, pod-casts and publishing condensed and accessible research briefs and blog posts, the network aims to facilitate discussions and exchange of experiences, with the goal of creating and sharing knowledge to strengthen DRM in developing countries and contribute to the shaping of new international research agendas.

Coordinating institutions and leadership

Recent publications

Fjeldstad & Therkildsen (2020) Implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for revenue generation in poor African countries. DIIS Working Paper - Implications of the Covid-19 pandemic - Pdf

The pandemic talks

The pandemic talks are the TaxCapDev-network's film series about the financial and tax consequences of COVID-19. Her you meet researchers from Norway and Africa.

Episode 1: Kenya

Episode 2: Nigeria

Episode 3: Senegal

The Norwegian magazine Bistandsaktuelt, covering aid and international development, wrote about The pandemic talks in january 2021: Read the Norwegian article here.

Contact information:

Research assistant for the SkattJakt/TaxCapDev network is Viljar Haavik.

News

News

Tax for Development Webinar Series Presenting the TaxCapDev-Network

November 4, 2020

Taxation is the key to state-building and the pathway out of fragility. An important theme forming the basis for the TaxCapDev-network. 

News

Did British colonial rule in Africa foster a legacy of corruption among local elites?

October 30, 2020

The empowerment of chiefs during colonial rule fostered a legacy of corruption more potent than the formal legal system left behind by the colonisers.

News

Corruption in customs: Time for a new approach

October 15, 2020

Customs are often perceived as one of the most corrupt institutions in developing countries. Though difficult and complex, fighting corruption in customs is possible but requires an approach that is less centered on transposition of norms and practices from developed countries. 

News

Tax for Development Webinar Series

October 14, 2020

A new webinar series featuring ongoing research and initiatives to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation in developing countries, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa.

News

Africa, Tax and the Digital Economy

September 4, 2020

Are the giant tech companies paying their fair share of taxes? Challenges facing African countries in the digital economy. 

News

Tax and fragile states: Challenges for Norwegian development assistance

September 10, 2019

States need revenue to function and an efficient tax system plays an important role. Can Norwegian development assistance contribute to this? 

News

Taxation and tax reform in Africa

April 26, 2019

Lessons from and for Tanzania 

News

Information worth killing for

April 2, 2019

What is the role of investigative journalism in unveiling financial secrecy? 

News

Is taxation the new politics of development?

December 17, 2018

According to scholars in the field of development studies, taxation might be the missing piece to the puzzle of peace- and state-building.

News

ANALYSIS: Kurdish State-building and the Struggle for Natural Resources in Iraq

December 11, 2018

What role do taxation and natural resource management have in Kurdish state-building?

News
The image shows a baby and a mother mountain gorilla

Transboundary collaboration on conservation and natural resources in East Africa

December 5, 2018

How can transboundary collaboration on conservation and the management of natural resources transform a zone of war into more peaceful coexistence? The case of Uganda-Rwanda-DR Congo holds some promise.

News

Tax is the new gender issue

July 3, 2018

Increasing attention has been given to the way tax regimes affect women’s lives. Not only is capital flight now considered in a human rights perspective, taxation policies are also becoming relevant for gender equality issues and women’s rights.

News

BOOK: Taxing Africa: Coercion, Reform and Development

May 9, 2018

New book on Taxation in Africa by Mick Moore (ICTD), Wilson Prichard (ICTD) and Odd-Helge Fjeldstad (CMI). 

News

The challenges of illicit economies and financial flows

May 2, 2018

– Illicit economies pitch the advantages of borderless transport, communications and financial flows against legal systems that remain bound by the confines of the Westphalian nation state. What to do? 

News

REPORT: Building tax systems in fragile states

April 13, 2018

New report from the TaxCapDev network recommends nine entry points for Norwegian support to taxation in fragile states. 

News

Book launch: Perspectives on international taxation and capital flight from Africa

March 16, 2018

- How does the international tax system affect domestic revenue systems in Africa? New book from TaxCapDev Network launched in Norway

News

New book: Perspectives on international taxation and capital flight from Africa

October 12, 2017

New book from the TaxCapDev-network. 

News

The challenge of taxation in African countries

October 18, 2017

Tax is the key to development, but African countries are facing several domestic as well as international challenges. What may be the solutions? This was the main question discussed among leading researchers at the plenary session in Bergen in August. 

News

Global tax justice at crossroads

August 8, 2017

In a world of Trump and Brexit – who makes international tax policy?  

News
chatham house

How to stop illicit financial flows

May 26, 2017

Tax evasion and terror financing are among the issues that make up illicit financial flows. 

News

Expanding the Hunt on Tax Evasion

March 15, 2017

The TaxCapDev network is extending this spring.

News

“Survival of the Richest”

December 21, 2016

New report evaluates Norway’s effort to curtail tax evasion: acceptable work in some areas, but completely fails in the field of tax treaties.  – Norwegian tax treaties are directly harmful to developing countries, according to the report from Eurodad.

News

New Tax Haven in Nairobi?

December 13, 2016

Will the establishment of the new International Financial Centre in Nairobi (NIFC) be the key to the development of Kenya’s economy, or will it turn out to be just another tax haven?

News

Developing countries are worlds net creditors

December 7, 2016

Developing countries have effectively served as net-creditors to the rest of the world with tax havens playing a major role in the flight of unrecorded capital, according to a new report from research project in the SkattJakt -network.

News

Lifting the Veil of Secrecy - Tax Havens and Developing countries

November 23, 2016

Tax havens and developing countries – How do we curtail the increasing illicit financial flow from developing countries and which consequences do we see? Leading researchers and experts met in Bergen 21-22 November to discuss and present state-of-the-art research. 

Publications

Publication

Building tax systems in fragile states. Challenges, achievements and policy recommendations

2018
This report systematises and analyses existing knowledge on taxation in fragile states. Efforts to support domestic revenue mobilisation in conflict situations ...
Publication : ARTIKKEL

Global wealth chains in the international political economy

2014
This work is funded by the ‘Systems of Tax Evasion and Laundering: Locating Global Wealth Chains in the International Political Economy’(STEAL 2012-15) ...

Projects

Project : Research Project

Systems of Tax Evasion and Laundering

The project seeks to identify Global Wealth Chains that are the articulation of organized activities between individuals or international entities, developed countries, developing countries, and tax havens.
Project : Research Project

Follow the money: the role of cross-border networks in natural resource extraction, stolen assets recovery, and tax havens and the regulation of cr...

The project will examine the formal and informal regulation of cross border flows of natural resource wealth, with a particular emphasis on the crossborder networks that are at the heart of much of the illicit flows in and from Africa.
Themes
Africa  International economics  The EU  Foreign policy
Events
Tue 30 Aug 2022
Event
Time: 13:30 Europe/Oslo
Location: NUPI

Fragile states and taxation: Evidence from Afghanistan, Liberia, and the Sahel

Join us on the 30th of August for an illuminating look into the role taxation and state fragility play in modern state-building.

Mon 31 May 2021
Event
Time: 15:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Zoom

When ‘Pockets of effectiveness’ matter politically: Extractive industry regulation and taxation in Uganda and Tanzania

We are excited to announce this semester’s fifth and last Tax for Development Webinar with Anne Mette Kjær (Aarhus university). She will present the study “When ‘Pockets of effectiveness’ matter politically: Extractive industry regulation and taxation in Uganda and Tanzania”.

Wed 8 Jun 2022
Event
Time: 16:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: NUPI

Book talk: Roadblock politics – The origin of Violence in Central Africa

Join us for a journey into the heart of Africa as Peer Schouten paints a captivating picture of the importance of roadblocks in his new book.

Thu 9 Sep 2021
Event
Time: 16:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Microsoft Teams

Long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic resource mobilisation in sub-Saharan Africa

Which impacts may the Covid-19 pandemic have for taxation in sub-Saharan Africa? Professor Odd-Helge Fjeldstad (CMI) will present findings from a new study at this webinar.

Mon 12 Apr 2021
Event
Time: 15:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Zoom

Informal elites as local bureaucrats: Why working as a tax collector increases the local accountability of city chiefs in Congo

We are excited to announce that this semester’s third seminar in our Tax for Development Webinar Series will take place on Tuesday April 13th at 03:00 PM (CET). The speaker is Jonathan Weigel (London School of Economics). He will present the paper “Informal elites as local bureaucrats: Why working1

Mon 8 Mar 2021
Event
Time: 15:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Zoom

Electronic Payment Technology and Tax Capacity: Evidence from Uruguay’s Financial Inclusion Reform

We are excited to announce this semester’s second webinar in our Tax for Development Webinar Series featuring Anne Brockmeyer talking about financial inclusion reform in Uruguay.

Mon 8 Feb 2021
Event
Time: 15:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Zoom

Tax compliance, culture and local institutions: The legacy of pre-colonial centralization in Uganda

We are excited to announce that this semester’s first webinar in our Tax for Development Webinar Series featuring Merima Ali (CMI and Syracuse University)

Mon 14 Dec 2020
Event
Time: 15:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Zoom

Social norms, pressures and corruption in tax administration

Welcome to the final webinar this year in the Tax for Development Series where David Jackson, senior advisor at U4 Anti Corruption Centre, will discuss the informal contexts of corruption.

Wed 25 Nov 2020
Event
Time: 13:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Webinar

Building Tax Systems in Fragile States

How can international donors contribute where institutions are weak?

Mon 16 Nov 2020
Event
Time: 15:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Webinar - Zoom

Improving tax compliance and revenue collection: Evidence from Uganda

Welcome to the third seminar of our Tax for Development Webinar Series where Maria Jouste will present the study "Do tax administrative interventions targeted at small businesses improve tax compliance and revenue collection? Evidence from Ugandan tax data."

Tue 6 Nov 2018
Event
Time: 09:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Forskningsparken, Oslo

The New Politics of Development: Fragility, Taxation and State-building

The TaxCapDev Research Network invites you to this two-day conference on taxation and state building in fragile states.

Mon 3 Apr 2017
Event
Time: 12:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: NUPI

Armed groups tax collectives in DR Congo

NUPI has the pleasure of inviting Kasper Hoffmann from University of Copenhagen to talk about armed groups in DR Congo, and how they use taxation in their constitution of public authority.

Sun 20 Nov 2016
Event
Time: 09:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Bergen

The SkattJakt conference 2016

What consequences do illicit capital flows have for developing countries? How to prevent multinational corporations from tax evasion? What do tax havens mean for illicit capital flows?

Mon 6 Jun 2016
Event
Time: 14:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: C.J. Hambros plass 2 D

The mineral sector in Northern Kivu, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Opportunities and challenges

NUPI has the pleasure of inviting Aloys Tegera from Pole Institute in Goma, DRC to talk about the mineral sector in Northern Kivu, DRC. In his talk Dr. Tegera will address the following issues:

Thu 2 Jun 2016
Event
Time: 10:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: C.J. Hambros plass 2 D

Does global activism affect public debate around conflict minerals? The case of Congo

NUPI, UNDP OGC and the Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy to Norway have the pleasure of inviting you a seminar with Dr. Dirk-Jan Koch.

Wed 10 Feb 2016
Event
Time: 13:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: NUPI

STEAL Final Seminar: Global Wealth Chains and Tax Evasion

This seminar will present the findings of the project "Global Wealth Chains and Tax Evasion", and a discuss of the latest cases investigated

Wed 20 Jan 2016
Event
Time: 14:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: NUPI

Does democratisation foster effective taxation? Evidence from Benin

The question of whether democratisation leads to higher tax revenues is explored. The presentation is based on data from Benin.

Mon 10 May 2021
Event
Time: 15:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: Zoom

Informal taxation and community-driven development: Evidence from south-central Somalia

We are excited to announce that this semester’s fourth seminar in our Tax for Development Webinar Series with Vanessa van den Boogaard and Fabrizio Santoro (both at the International Centre for Tax and Development) presenting the study "informal Taxation and community-driven development: Evide1

Tue 27 Oct 2015
Event
Time: 14:00 Europe/Oslo
Location: NUPI

Boko Haram – funds and logistics

NUPI and the Skattjakt-network has the pleasure of inviting to a seminar with Dr Adebusuyi Isaac Adeniran (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria).