PhD Defense: Lemou Falapalaki

Analyse des performances des administrations de recettes semi-autonomes en Afrique subsaharienne

Composition du jury

Jean-François Brun, Associate Professor, Université Clermont Auvergne
Akoété Ega Agbodji, Professor, Université de Lomé
Désiré Avom, Professor, Université Yaoundé II SOA
Fouzi Mourji, Professor, Université Hassan II
Sonia Schwartz, Professor, Université Clermont Auvergne

Abstract

This thesis is part of the literature that analyzes the performance of semi-autonomous revenue authorities (SARAs) in developing countries. We are particularly interested in the effectiveness of these administrations in mobilizing tax revenues compared to traditional revenue administrations, their impact on tax transition reforms and the issue of tax-customs information exchange. It is clearly established that the resources actually mobilized and available in government coffers to meet the demand for public goods and services depend largely on the effectiveness and efficiency of tax and customs administrations. Moreover, the quality of tax administration has a fundamental influence on the development of the private sector, which plays a key role in triggering economic growth. The question of organizational choices that would make it possible to have tax and customs administrations capable of mobilizing sufficient public resources to finance the economies of developing countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa, is the main motivation for this research. Chapter 1 of the thesis describes the origins of the governance model of autonomous revenue authorities and summarizes the main studies devoted to the analysis of their performance. The second chapter uses the synthetic control method to examine the effectiveness of these autonomous administrations compared to traditional tax administrations in terms of revenue mobilization in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chapter 3 analyzes the impact of these autonomous administrations on tax transition reforms in developing countries after taking stock of the transition process in these countries using a new indicator. The fourth chapter is a case study that examines the issue of tax-customs information exchange within an autonomous revenue administration, taking the case of the Togolese Revenue Authority. The main message of this thesis is that autonomous administrations are not necessarily better than traditional revenue administrations. The effectiveness of SARAs depends on several factors, including the quality of institutions, governance, democracy, the socio-political environment, implementation conditions, prior reforms and financial resources.

Keywords

Semi-autonomous revenue authorities; Sub-Saharan Africa; Mobilization; developing countries; performance; tax revenue, tax reforms, fiscal transition.

theses.fr/en/s181748