Tax Policy in Punjab, Pakistan
Tax Policy in Punjab, Pakistan
Our work examines the impact of performance
incentives on the behavior of property tax officials,
tax evasion, and overall tax performance.
Our work examines the impact of performance
incentives on the behavior of property tax officials,
tax evasion, and overall tax performance.
Governments cannot pay for quality public services or social protection for the poor unless they have dependable streams of revenue. An EPoD research-policy collaboration is searching out innovative ways to fast-track improvements to Pakistan’s tax capacity, and examining in detail the compact between citizens and the state.
Revenue collection and public sector efficiency is a central question across developing countries. Low levels of tax revenues result in the underprovision of public goods and services, a heightened vulnerability to economic crises, and serious constraints to growth.
Our Research
We are carrying out a series of randomized policy experiments in collaboration with the Government of Punjab in order to examine the impact of performance incentives on the behavior of property tax officials, tax evasion, and overall tax performance.
Academic Papers
Khan, Adnan Q., Asim I. Khwaja, and Benjamin A. Olken. (2018). "Making Moves Matter: Experimental Evidence on Incentivizing Bureaucrats through Performance-Based Postings." Revise and Resubmit, American Economic Review. Link to Online Appendix.
Khan, Adnan Q., Asim I. Khwaja, and Benjamin A. Olken. (2016). "Tax Farming Redux: Experimental Evidence on Performance Pay for Tax Collectors." Quarterly Journal of Economics, 131(1): 219-271.
Policy Briefs and Case Studies
J-PAL Policy Brief: "Paying for Performance"
IGC Policy Brief: "Taxing to develop – When ‘third-best’ is best"
IGC Policy Brief: "Rewarding bureaucrats: Can incentives improve public sector performance?"
3ie Policy Brief: "Do incentives improve tax collectors’ performance and increase tax collection in Pakistan?"
EPoD Case Study: "Increasing property tax collection efficiency with interactive web-based data visualization technology"
Media and Awards
Microeconomic Insights Article: "Impact of incentives on tax collectors and taxpayers"
Harvard Magazine Article: "Tax Collection and Civil Society"
Winner of the Poverty Reduction, Equity and Growth Network Best Practice Award 2017
Primary Investigators
Asim Ijaz Khwaja
Benjamin Olken, MIT
Adnan Khan, LSE
This Research is Supported by the:
National Science Foundation (NSF)
International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
International Growth Centre (IGC)
Harvard University Asia Center
Lakshmi Mittal South Asia Institute at Harvard University
Highlights
How can we motivate civil servants to better serve citizens? Asim Khwaja, Adnan Khan, and Tiffany Simon explain the research.
A high-quality data stream showed promise in answering day-to-day questions for the Excise and Taxation Department in Punjab province, Pakistan.
Asim Khwaja’s experiments in taxation aim to buttress the legitimacy of government in developing nations.