Aid Fragmentation and Tax Revenue Mobilization in Developing Countries

Bibliographic Data

ID21594101
AuthorsAli Compaoré (0000-0002-6576-2810, UFR SEGGAT, Economics, Management, Geography and Regional Planning University of Caen Caen France), Abrams M E Tagem (0000-0001-9005-6144, African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF) Pretoria South Africa, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume38
Issue2
Pages330-346
Publication date2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of International Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0954-1748 • E-ISSN: 1099-1328
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jid.70044
OpenAlexW4417216444
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited50

A burgeoning empirical literature estimates the impact of aid fragmentation on development outcomes in recipient countries, most of the findings suggesting that aid fragmentation is detrimental. This paper adds to the literature by estimating the impact of aid fragmentation on tax revenue mobilization in 90 developing countries from 2000 to 2020. The paper shows that aid fragmentation, as measured by the Herfindahl index, has a negative impact on recipient countries' tax performance, specifically by undermining the quality of tax policy and administration. The paper also explores the impact of aid fragmentation on tax components and finds convincing evidence that broad‐based taxes are impacted by aid fragmentation, whereas narrow‐based taxes are not. This is because tax reform requires more coordinated donor engagement, the absence of which has more profound negative effects on broad‐based taxes because the political and organizational efforts needed to invest in developing them are larger than those for narrow‐based taxes

Developing country · Empirical evidence · Mobilization · Politics · Revenue · Tax reform · Tax revenue · Value-added tax · Economic Growth and Development · International Development and Aid · Local Government Finance and Decentralization