Vanessa Van Den Boogaard
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 152589 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Vanessa Van Den Boogaard |
| PRENOMES | Vanessa Van Den |
| SOBRENOME | Boogaard |
| ASSINATURA | VAN DEN BOOGAARD V |
| AFILIAÇÕES | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4327-2930 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 24 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 45 |
| OBRAS COMO AUTOR | 24 |
| OBRAS COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2017 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 4 |
The Politics of Passage
Roadblocks, or checkpoints, are obligatory passage points that are erected by entities claiming authority over a given crossing. They are often the most common everyday interface between civilians and armed actors in conflict‐affected contexts, but are overlooked in studies on either trade or authority amidst conflict. This article, which introduces a special issue on the topic, argues that roadblocks are a useful empirical entry point to questio…
Narrow formalisation
Over the last decade, there has been growing global pressure to build digitised social protection systems as a means of enhancing access to welfare. This article explores one such case: ‘e-Shram’, a digital registration platform introduced in India in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging as a direct consequence of the hardships faced by informal workers during the pandemic, the article examines e-Shram in this context. It observes tha…
Furthering a feminist fiscal agenda
Tax reform coalitions for urban development
This paper explores the possibilities and limitations of coalitions in overcoming constraints to property tax reform, drawing on two case studies of recent reform experiences in Sierra Leone. The first case shows how support from international partners enabled the local government in Freetown to manoeuvre around political resistance to reform. The second shows how reform coalitions outside of Freetown have recognized traditional chiefs as potenti…
The Political Economy of Taxation in Somalia
This paper investigates the political economy of weak taxation in Somalia, tracing the historical, institutional, and political factors that underpin the country’s low tax-to-GDP ratio of approximately 2 per cent. Challenging conventional narratives that attribute Somalia’s weak tax capacity solely to state collapse and conflict, the study situates contemporary challenges within a broader historical context of pre- and post-colonial governance st…
The Politics of Taxation and Tax Reform in Times of Crisis
The pandemic has had significant fiscal implications around the world. A key question facing governments is how the pandemic has shaped taxpayer attitudes and what that means for the prospects for tax reform and new revenue raising. We aim to understand the impacts of the pandemic on attitudes toward taxation in Sierra Leone with novel survey data, collected before the pandemic, shortly after the pandemic’s onset, and for almost a year afterwards…
Zakat, Non-state Welfare Provision and Redistribution in Times of Crisis
Around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic drew attention to state social protection and its limitations. Less attention has been paid to what is likely the world’s largest system of predominantly non-state welfare provision: zakat, an annual Islamic obligatory payment of a percentage of productive wealth to the poor and other eligible recipients. We explore how states and citizens engage with zakat during crises through a case study of the Covid-19…
The taxed informal economy
Tax and governance in rural areas
While there has been increasing policy attention on broadening tax bases in low‐income countries, taxing citizens in rural areas often leads to neither revenue gains nor stronger accountability outcomes. Through case studies of Sierra Leone and Togo, we demonstrate that revenue collection in rural areas is highly inefficient, leading to little, if any, revenue gains after factoring in collection costs. Accordingly, we question the existing ration…
Mobile money taxation and informal workers
Social protection, community participation and state‐citizen relations
We investigate whether social protection programs can increase participation in community‐driven development programs and examine how this affects state‐citizen relations. Using a randomized controlled trial in south‐central Somalia, we study the impacts of one‐time unconditional cash transfers to vulnerable households that were specifically designed to encourage participation in community development. While the cash transfer is relatively small …
Formalization and its Discontents
The concept of formalization has long underpinned policy interventions and measures intended to connect informal entities with state institutions or formal economic structures. However, despite the policy enthusiasm, the outcomes of formalization policies have frequently been disappointing. This article argues that this disconnect lies in the concept of formalization itself and that common approaches to formalization are often rooted in three con…
Co‐financing community‐driven development through informal taxation
Community contributions are often required as part of community‐driven development programs, with contributions encouraged through matching grants. However, little remains known about the impact of matching grants or the implications of requiring community contributions—also known as informal taxation. We explore this research gap through a randomized control trial of a matching grant program in Gedo region in south‐central Somalia. We find that …
Vaccine Hesitancy among Informal Workers
What is the relationship between trust in the state and vaccine hesitancy among a marginalized sub-population? This article explores attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination programmes of informal workers in the context of Lahore, Pakistan, and draws on in-depth conversations with informal workers across four sectors in 2021. It finds a surprising disconnect between vaccine scepticism and actual decisions to have the vaccination. Those that were va…
A tax by any other name? Conceptions of taxation and implications for research
As taxation has become a prominent issue on the international development policy agenda, a growing body of research has focused on taxpayer perceptions and experiences of taxation. A strand of this research emphasises the importance of the historical, political and social context of taxation. We position ourselves in line with this research as we pay attention to the emic definitions of taxation in Africa across contexts, languages, and time peri…
Enabling tax bargaining
Beyond Greed
Based on a review of the diverse practices of how armed groups tax, we highlight that a full account of why armed groups tax needs to go beyond revenue motivations, to also engage with explanations related to ideology, legitimacy, institution building, legibility and control of populations, and the performance of public authority. This article builds on two distinct literatures, on armed groups and on taxation, to provide the first systematic exp…
The Distances that the Covid-19 Pandemic Magnified
What does research on informal sector workers and the state entail in the time of Covid-19? The pandemic has limited possibilities for in-person interactions and required adaptations in research approaches. These challenges are exacerbated when the subjects of the research are informal sector workers with limited access to technology and undefined spaces of work. In this article, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic has magnified distances: betwee…
Financing governance beyond the state
Individuals in low-income countries often contribute significantly to financing local public goods through informal taxation. However, there is limited understanding of how informal revenue generation relates to formal tax and governing institutions. We explore the relationship between informal revenue generation, public finance, and the state in the Gedo region in south-central Somalia, relying on original data from surveys with 2,300 households…
Informal taxation in Sierra Leone
In low-income countries, citizens often pay ‘taxes’ that differ substantially from what is required by statute. These non-statutory taxes are central to financing both local public goods and maintaining informal governance institutions. This study captures the incidence of informal taxation and taxpayer perspectives on these payments. We find, first, that informal taxes are a prevalent reality within areas of weak formal statehood in Sierra Leone…
Genre et systèmes formels et informels de finances publiques locales en Sierra Leone
Cet article s'intéresse aux rapports différenciés des hommes et des femmes de l'Est et du Nord de la Sierra Leone à la collecte des taxes formelles et informelles. Il fait valoir que la littérature sur la fiscalité et l'égalité entre les sexes dans les pays à faible revenu doit accorder plus d'attention aux modalités réelles de financement des services publics par les citoyens. Il montre que la fiscalité formelle touche une proportion très réduit…
Norms, Networks, Power and Control
Recent research has cast light on the variety of informal payments and practices that govern the day-to-day interactions between traders and customs agents at border posts in low-income countries. Building on this literature, this paper draws on survey and qualitative evidence in an effort to explore which groups are most advantaged and disadvantaged by the largely informal processes and norms governing cross-border trade. We find that variation …
Modern post-colonial approaches to citizenship
This project of critical citizenship studies and comparative political theory utilizes a framework of multiple modernities in order to deeply explore the ontological foundations and complexities of a non-Western conception of citizenship and nationhood: political pan-Africanism. It does so through a study of the political thought of Kwame Nkrumah, a deeply influential political theorist and actor, in the context of the Gold Coast’s struggle for i…
Norms, Power, and the Socially Embedded Realities of Market Taxation in Northern Ghana
This article provides a ground-level view of market taxation in two local government areas in Ghana's relatively disadvantaged northern region. It describes a system shaped by informal practices that are grounded in social relationships and collective norms, which sometimes foster greater equity and in other cases serve to reinforce existing inequalities. The evidence suggests the need for a more nuanced understanding of the highly informal and s…
Norms, Power, and the Socially Embedded Realities of Market Taxation in Northern Ghana
This article provides a ground-level view of market taxation in two local government areas in Ghana's relatively disadvantaged northern region. It describes a system shaped by informal practices that are grounded in social relationships and collective norms, which sometimes foster greater equity and in other cases serve to reinforce existing inequalities. The evidence suggests the need for a more nuanced understanding of the highly informal and s…
Informal taxation in Sierra Leone
In low-income countries, citizens often pay ‘taxes’ that differ substantially from what is required by statute. These non-statutory taxes are central to financing both local public goods and maintaining informal governance institutions. This study captures the incidence of informal taxation and taxpayer perspectives on these payments. We find, first, that informal taxes are a prevalent reality within areas of weak formal statehood in Sierra Leone…
Formalization and its Discontents
The concept of formalization has long underpinned policy interventions and measures intended to connect informal entities with state institutions or formal economic structures. However, despite the policy enthusiasm, the outcomes of formalization policies have frequently been disappointing. This article argues that this disconnect lies in the concept of formalization itself and that common approaches to formalization are often rooted in three con…
Beyond Greed
Based on a review of the diverse practices of how armed groups tax, we highlight that a full account of why armed groups tax needs to go beyond revenue motivations, to also engage with explanations related to ideology, legitimacy, institution building, legibility and control of populations, and the performance of public authority. This article builds on two distinct literatures, on armed groups and on taxation, to provide the first systematic exp…
The taxed informal economy
Co‐financing community‐driven development through informal taxation
Community contributions are often required as part of community‐driven development programs, with contributions encouraged through matching grants. However, little remains known about the impact of matching grants or the implications of requiring community contributions—also known as informal taxation. We explore this research gap through a randomized control trial of a matching grant program in Gedo region in south‐central Somalia. We find that …
Financing governance beyond the state
Individuals in low-income countries often contribute significantly to financing local public goods through informal taxation. However, there is limited understanding of how informal revenue generation relates to formal tax and governing institutions. We explore the relationship between informal revenue generation, public finance, and the state in the Gedo region in south-central Somalia, relying on original data from surveys with 2,300 households…
Norms, Networks, Power and Control
Recent research has cast light on the variety of informal payments and practices that govern the day-to-day interactions between traders and customs agents at border posts in low-income countries. Building on this literature, this paper draws on survey and qualitative evidence in an effort to explore which groups are most advantaged and disadvantaged by the largely informal processes and norms governing cross-border trade. We find that variation …
Modern post-colonial approaches to citizenship
This project of critical citizenship studies and comparative political theory utilizes a framework of multiple modernities in order to deeply explore the ontological foundations and complexities of a non-Western conception of citizenship and nationhood: political pan-Africanism. It does so through a study of the political thought of Kwame Nkrumah, a deeply influential political theorist and actor, in the context of the Gold Coast’s struggle for i…
Tax reform coalitions for urban development
This paper explores the possibilities and limitations of coalitions in overcoming constraints to property tax reform, drawing on two case studies of recent reform experiences in Sierra Leone. The first case shows how support from international partners enabled the local government in Freetown to manoeuvre around political resistance to reform. The second shows how reform coalitions outside of Freetown have recognized traditional chiefs as potenti…
A tax by any other name? Conceptions of taxation and implications for research
As taxation has become a prominent issue on the international development policy agenda, a growing body of research has focused on taxpayer perceptions and experiences of taxation. A strand of this research emphasises the importance of the historical, political and social context of taxation. We position ourselves in line with this research as we pay attention to the emic definitions of taxation in Africa across contexts, languages, and time peri…
The Distances that the Covid-19 Pandemic Magnified
What does research on informal sector workers and the state entail in the time of Covid-19? The pandemic has limited possibilities for in-person interactions and required adaptations in research approaches. These challenges are exacerbated when the subjects of the research are informal sector workers with limited access to technology and undefined spaces of work. In this article, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic has magnified distances: betwee…
Genre et systèmes formels et informels de finances publiques locales en Sierra Leone
Cet article s'intéresse aux rapports différenciés des hommes et des femmes de l'Est et du Nord de la Sierra Leone à la collecte des taxes formelles et informelles. Il fait valoir que la littérature sur la fiscalité et l'égalité entre les sexes dans les pays à faible revenu doit accorder plus d'attention aux modalités réelles de financement des services publics par les citoyens. Il montre que la fiscalité formelle touche une proportion très réduit…
Modern post-colonial approaches to citizenship
This project of critical citizenship studies and comparative political theory utilizes a framework of multiple modernities in order to deeply explore the ontological foundations and complexities of a non-Western conception of citizenship and nationhood: political pan-Africanism. It does so through a study of the political thought of Kwame Nkrumah, a deeply influential political theorist and actor, in the context of the Gold Coast’s struggle for i…
Norms, Power, and the Socially Embedded Realities of Market Taxation in Northern Ghana
This article provides a ground-level view of market taxation in two local government areas in Ghana's relatively disadvantaged northern region. It describes a system shaped by informal practices that are grounded in social relationships and collective norms, which sometimes foster greater equity and in other cases serve to reinforce existing inequalities. The evidence suggests the need for a more nuanced understanding of the highly informal and s…
Norms, Networks, Power and Control
Recent research has cast light on the variety of informal payments and practices that govern the day-to-day interactions between traders and customs agents at border posts in low-income countries. Building on this literature, this paper draws on survey and qualitative evidence in an effort to explore which groups are most advantaged and disadvantaged by the largely informal processes and norms governing cross-border trade. We find that variation …
Informal taxation in Sierra Leone
In low-income countries, citizens often pay ‘taxes’ that differ substantially from what is required by statute. These non-statutory taxes are central to financing both local public goods and maintaining informal governance institutions. This study captures the incidence of informal taxation and taxpayer perspectives on these payments. We find, first, that informal taxes are a prevalent reality within areas of weak formal statehood in Sierra Leone…
Genre et systèmes formels et informels de finances publiques locales en Sierra Leone
Cet article s'intéresse aux rapports différenciés des hommes et des femmes de l'Est et du Nord de la Sierra Leone à la collecte des taxes formelles et informelles. Il fait valoir que la littérature sur la fiscalité et l'égalité entre les sexes dans les pays à faible revenu doit accorder plus d'attention aux modalités réelles de financement des services publics par les citoyens. Il montre que la fiscalité formelle touche une proportion très réduit…
Enabling tax bargaining
Beyond Greed
Based on a review of the diverse practices of how armed groups tax, we highlight that a full account of why armed groups tax needs to go beyond revenue motivations, to also engage with explanations related to ideology, legitimacy, institution building, legibility and control of populations, and the performance of public authority. This article builds on two distinct literatures, on armed groups and on taxation, to provide the first systematic exp…
The Distances that the Covid-19 Pandemic Magnified
What does research on informal sector workers and the state entail in the time of Covid-19? The pandemic has limited possibilities for in-person interactions and required adaptations in research approaches. These challenges are exacerbated when the subjects of the research are informal sector workers with limited access to technology and undefined spaces of work. In this article, we argue that the Covid-19 pandemic has magnified distances: betwee…
Financing governance beyond the state
Individuals in low-income countries often contribute significantly to financing local public goods through informal taxation. However, there is limited understanding of how informal revenue generation relates to formal tax and governing institutions. We explore the relationship between informal revenue generation, public finance, and the state in the Gedo region in south-central Somalia, relying on original data from surveys with 2,300 households…
Tax and governance in rural areas
While there has been increasing policy attention on broadening tax bases in low‐income countries, taxing citizens in rural areas often leads to neither revenue gains nor stronger accountability outcomes. Through case studies of Sierra Leone and Togo, we demonstrate that revenue collection in rural areas is highly inefficient, leading to little, if any, revenue gains after factoring in collection costs. Accordingly, we question the existing ration…
Mobile money taxation and informal workers
Social protection, community participation and state‐citizen relations
We investigate whether social protection programs can increase participation in community‐driven development programs and examine how this affects state‐citizen relations. Using a randomized controlled trial in south‐central Somalia, we study the impacts of one‐time unconditional cash transfers to vulnerable households that were specifically designed to encourage participation in community development. While the cash transfer is relatively small …
Formalization and its Discontents
The concept of formalization has long underpinned policy interventions and measures intended to connect informal entities with state institutions or formal economic structures. However, despite the policy enthusiasm, the outcomes of formalization policies have frequently been disappointing. This article argues that this disconnect lies in the concept of formalization itself and that common approaches to formalization are often rooted in three con…
Co‐financing community‐driven development through informal taxation
Community contributions are often required as part of community‐driven development programs, with contributions encouraged through matching grants. However, little remains known about the impact of matching grants or the implications of requiring community contributions—also known as informal taxation. We explore this research gap through a randomized control trial of a matching grant program in Gedo region in south‐central Somalia. We find that …
Vaccine Hesitancy among Informal Workers
What is the relationship between trust in the state and vaccine hesitancy among a marginalized sub-population? This article explores attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccination programmes of informal workers in the context of Lahore, Pakistan, and draws on in-depth conversations with informal workers across four sectors in 2021. It finds a surprising disconnect between vaccine scepticism and actual decisions to have the vaccination. Those that were va…
A tax by any other name? Conceptions of taxation and implications for research
As taxation has become a prominent issue on the international development policy agenda, a growing body of research has focused on taxpayer perceptions and experiences of taxation. A strand of this research emphasises the importance of the historical, political and social context of taxation. We position ourselves in line with this research as we pay attention to the emic definitions of taxation in Africa across contexts, languages, and time peri…
The Politics of Taxation and Tax Reform in Times of Crisis
The pandemic has had significant fiscal implications around the world. A key question facing governments is how the pandemic has shaped taxpayer attitudes and what that means for the prospects for tax reform and new revenue raising. We aim to understand the impacts of the pandemic on attitudes toward taxation in Sierra Leone with novel survey data, collected before the pandemic, shortly after the pandemic’s onset, and for almost a year afterwards…
Zakat, Non-state Welfare Provision and Redistribution in Times of Crisis
Around the world, the Covid-19 pandemic drew attention to state social protection and its limitations. Less attention has been paid to what is likely the world’s largest system of predominantly non-state welfare provision: zakat, an annual Islamic obligatory payment of a percentage of productive wealth to the poor and other eligible recipients. We explore how states and citizens engage with zakat during crises through a case study of the Covid-19…
The taxed informal economy
Furthering a feminist fiscal agenda
Tax reform coalitions for urban development
This paper explores the possibilities and limitations of coalitions in overcoming constraints to property tax reform, drawing on two case studies of recent reform experiences in Sierra Leone. The first case shows how support from international partners enabled the local government in Freetown to manoeuvre around political resistance to reform. The second shows how reform coalitions outside of Freetown have recognized traditional chiefs as potenti…
The Political Economy of Taxation in Somalia
This paper investigates the political economy of weak taxation in Somalia, tracing the historical, institutional, and political factors that underpin the country’s low tax-to-GDP ratio of approximately 2 per cent. Challenging conventional narratives that attribute Somalia’s weak tax capacity solely to state collapse and conflict, the study situates contemporary challenges within a broader historical context of pre- and post-colonial governance st…
The Politics of Passage
Roadblocks, or checkpoints, are obligatory passage points that are erected by entities claiming authority over a given crossing. They are often the most common everyday interface between civilians and armed actors in conflict‐affected contexts, but are overlooked in studies on either trade or authority amidst conflict. This article, which introduces a special issue on the topic, argues that roadblocks are a useful empirical entry point to questio…
Narrow formalisation
Over the last decade, there has been growing global pressure to build digitised social protection systems as a means of enhancing access to welfare. This article explores one such case: ‘e-Shram’, a digital registration platform introduced in India in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging as a direct consequence of the hardships faced by informal workers during the pandemic, the article examines e-Shram in this context. It observes tha…
Economics (20 obras) · Political science (19 obras) · Politics (12 obras) · Business (11 obras) · Public economics (11 obras) · Taxation and Compliance Studies (11 obras) · Economic growth (9 obras) · Law (9 obras) · Development economics (8 obras) · Informal sector (8 obras)