Reproducibility package for Taxing Property In Developing Countries: Theory And Evidence From Mexico
Reference ID
PP_MEX_2026_604
Author(s)
Anne Brockmeyer, Alejandro Estefan, Karina Ramírez Arras, Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato
Collections
Metadata
Created on
Mar 24, 2026
Last modified
Jun 09, 2026
Page views
39
Overview
Abstract
We model and estimate the welfare effects of the property tax—the most under-utilized tax in developing countries. Our model shows property tax hikes impact welfare by reducing compliance and exacerbating liquidity constraints. Enforcement impacts welfare by subjecting non-compliant taxpayers to threats of fines and property seizure. The model yields a sufficient- statistics condition indicating when tax hikes raise welfare more than enforcement. In our setting, administrative data, sharp tax increases, and an enforcement experiment show both policies increase revenue. Tax hikes also raise welfare because revenue gains surpass liquidity costs. However, enforcement reduces welfare as threat costs overshadow revenue increases.
Reproducibility Package
Scripts
Reproducibility package for Taxing Property In Developing Countries:
Theory And Evidence From Mexico
File name
PP_MEX_2026_604
Zip package
PP_MEX_2026_604.zip
Title
Reproducibility package for Taxing Property In Developing Countries:
Theory And Evidence From Mexico
Date
2026-06
Dependencies
Stata dependencies are listed in the ado folder.
Instructions
See README in reproducibility package.
Notes
Computational reproducibility verified by Development Impact (DECDI) Analytics team, World Bank.
Source code repository
| Repository name | URI |
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org |
Reproducibility
Technology environment
Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
• Processor: INTEL(R) XEON(R) PLATINUM 8562Y+ (2.80 GHz) (2 processors)
• Memory available: 32 GB
Technology requirements
Run time: 3 hours
Reproduction instructions
Users will only be able to run the portion of the analysis that uses publicly available data included in the replication package. To reproduce that portion, a replicator must:
- Update Directory Paths: Open
_Main.doand update the global directory path on line 33 to match your local directory. Locate the MATLAB executable on the local machine and add its path to line 65 of_Main.do. - Run the Package: Execute
_Main.do. The outputs will be generated in theoutputsfolder.
Because access to the restricted data will not be possible for most users, this package includes all code and outputs used in the analysis for transparency. These files can be used to validate and review the results presented in the paper.
Data
Datasets
Name
Targeting of 2014 Property Tax Debt Enforcement Intervention
Note
Source: Treasury of Mexico City
Filename: ExperimentalDataHabitational.dta, hab 2014.dta
Access policy
Data access was granted directly to the study authors by the data owners. It was obtained with a custom data license that does not allow for redistribution and it is not included in the reproducibility package.
Citation
Treasury of Mexico City. Targeting of 2014 Property Tax Debt Enforcement Intervention [dataset]. Accessed 2019.
Name
Property Tax Records (Cadaster, Tax Bills, Tax Payments)
Note
Source: Treasury of Mexico City
Filename: 2008 01.dta - 2012 06.dta, Completa 2008.dta - Completa 2010.dta, Payments 01 2011.dta -Payments 12 2012.dta
Access policy
Data access was granted directly to the study authors by the data owners. It was obtained with a custom data license that does not allow for redistribution and it is not included in the reproducibility package.
Citation
Treasury of Mexico City. Property Tax Records (Cadaster, Tax Bills, Tax Payments) [dataset]. Accessed 2017.
Name
National Survey of Household Income and Expenditure (ENIGH)
Note
Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)
Filenames: NCV Hogares 2008 concil 2010.dta , NCV Hogares 2014 concil 2010.dta,NCV Concentrado 2008 concil 2010.dta, NCV Concentrado 2014 concil 2010.dta, ncv viviendas 2012 concil 2010.dta
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
INEGI's Terms of Use
License URL
https://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/terminos.html
Data URL
https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enigh/
Citation
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). "National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enigh/
Name
National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE)
Note
Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)
Filenames: 2008trim2_dta.zip, 2010trim2_dta.zip, 2012trim2_dta.zip, 2014trim2_dta.zip
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
INEGI's Terms of Use
License URL
https://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/terminos.html
Data URL
https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enoe/
Citation
National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE). "National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enigh/
Name
National Survey of Financial Inclusion (ENIF)
Note
Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)
Filename: enif_2018_bd_dbf.zip
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
INEGI's Terms of Use
License URL
https://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/terminos.html
Data URL
https://www.inegi.org.mx/contenidos/programas/enif/2018/microdatos/enif_2018_bd_dbf.zip.
Citation
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). "National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enigh/
Name
National Housing Survey (ENVI) 2014
Note
Source: National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)
Filename: envi2014_bd_dbf.zip
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
INEGI's Terms of Use
License URL
https://www.inegi.org.mx/inegi/terminos.html
Data URL
https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/envi/2014/
Citation
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). "National Housing Survey (ENVI) 2020" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enigh/
Name
Mexico City Postal Codes data
Note
Source: Agencia Digital de Innovaci´on P´ublica. (2024)
Filenames: codigos-postales-de-la-cdmx.shp
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
CC BY 4.0
License URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
Data URL
https://datos.cdmx.gob.mx/dataset/codigos-postales-de-la-cdmx.
Citation
National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). "National Housing Survey (ENVI) 2020" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://www.inegi.org.mx/programas/enigh/
Name
Google Trends Search Index (”predial”)
Note
Source: Google Trends
Filename: GoogleTrends.dta
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
Google Terms of Service
License URL
https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en
Data URL
https://trends.google.com/trends/
Citation
Google Trends. "Google Trends Search Index (”predial”)" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://www.google.com/trends
Name
International Survey on Revenue Administration (ISORA)
Note
Source: The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Filenames: 6A Return Filing20162017.xlsx, 9B Third Party Data Interventions an20162017.xlsx
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License URL
https://data.imf.org/en/Datasets/RAFIT-Consolidated/Terms-and-Conditions
Data URL
https://data.imf.org/en/datasets/ISORA:ISORA_LATEST_DATA_PUB
Citation
The International Monetary Fund (IMF). "International Survey on Revenue Administration (ISORA)" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://data.imf.org/en/datasets/ISORA:ISORA_LATEST_DATA_PUB
Name
Global Findex Database 2025
Note
Source: World Bank
Filenames: GlobalFindex2025.dta, micro mex.dta
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
Open access
License URL
https://microdata.worldbank.org/terms-of-use#open_access
Data URL
https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/3238
Citation
World Bank. "Global Findex Database 2025" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/3238
Name
World Revenue Longitudinal Data
Note
Source: The International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Filename: imf world.dta
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License URL
https://data.imf.org/en/Datasets/RAFIT-Consolidated/Terms-and-Conditions
Data URL
https://www.imf.org/en/topics/fiscal-policies/world-revenue-longitudinal-database
Citation
The International Monetary Fund (IMF). "World Revenue Longitudinal Data" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://microdata.worldbank.org/index.php/catalog/3238
Name
World Bank Atlas Country Classification
Note
Source: World Bank
Filename: OGHIST.xls
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
CC BY 4.0 license
License URL
https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/legal/terms-of-use-for-datasets
Data URL
https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext download/site-content/OGHIST.xls.
Citation
World Bank. "World Bank Atlas Country Classification" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext download/site-content/OGHIST.xls.
Name
World Development Indicators
Note
Source: World Bank
Filenames: Data Extract From World Development Indicators,WDI_1002_1, WDI_0930_1
Access policy
Data is publicly available and included in the reproducibility package.
License
CC BY 4.0 license
License URL
https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/legal/terms-of-use-for-datasets
Data URL
https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators
Citation
World Bank. "World Development Indicators" [dataset]. Accessed 2026. https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators
Data statement
Some data is restricted and has not been included in the reproducibility package. For more details, please refer to the README file.
Description
Output
Type
Journal Article
Title
Taxing Property In Developing Countries:
Theory And Evidence From Mexico
Description
Journal Articles
Authors
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Anne Brockmeyer | IFS, UCL, World Bank & CEPR | abrockmeyer@worldbank.org |
| Alejandro Estefan | University of Notre Dame | mestefan@nd.edu |
| Karina Ramírez Arras | Secretaría de Hacienda | karina_ramirez@hacienda.gob.mx |
| Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato | Stanford GSB & NBER | jcsuarez@stanford.edu |
Date of production
2026-06-04
Scope and coverage
Geographic locations
| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| Mexico | MEX |
Keywords
Property Taxation
Tax Compliance
Administrative Capacity
Liquidity Constraints
Topics
Disclaimer
Disclaimer
The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.
Access and rights
License
| Name | URI |
|---|---|
| MIT License | https://opensource.org/license/mit |
| World Bank IGO Rider | https://github.com/worldbank/metadata-editor/blob/main/WB-IGO-RIDER.md |
Contacts
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Anne Brockmeyer | IFS, UCL, World Bank & CEPR | abrockmeyer@worldbank.org |
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org |
Information on metadata
Producers
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DECDI | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata |
Date of Production
2026-06-04
Document version
604