Taxing the Good? Distortions, Misallocation, and Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa

Cirera, Xavier ; Fattal Jaef, Roberto N. ; Maemir, Hibret B.

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: total factor productivity;    distortions;    misallocation;    business environment;    taxes;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7949
RP-ID  :  WPS7949

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper uses comprehensive andcomparable firm-level manufacturing census data from fourSub-Saharan African countries to examine the extent, costs,and nature of within-industry resource misallocation acrossheterogeneous firms. The paper finds evidence of severemisallocation in which resources are diverted away fromhigh-productivity firms toward low-productivity ones in allfour countries, although the magnitude differs acrosscountries. The paper shows that a hypothetical reallocationof resources that equalizes marginal returns across firmswould increase manufacturing productivity by 31.4 percent inCote d'Ivoire and as much as 162.7 percent in Kenya.The paper emphasizes the importance of the quality of theunderlying data, by comparing the results against those fromthe World Bank Enterprise Surveys. The comparison finds thatthe survey-based results underestimate the extent ofmisallocation vis-a-vis the census. Finally, the paper findsthat the size of existing distortions is correlated withvarious measures of business environment, such as lack ofaccess to finance, corruption, and regulations.