Raising revenue right is a defining challenge for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). Government revenues have not kept pace with spending, squeezing fiscal space. Many tax systems are also inefficient, distorting economic activity with high tax rates, narrow tax bases, and many loopholes. Fairness is also lacking as the combined effect of taxes and transfers in many countries leaves more people in poverty than it lifts out.
This Policy Research Report argues that countries can do better. It presents an integrated framework to help policymakers identify the best combination of efficiency and fairness for raising a given amount of revenue—an ideal referred to as the fiscal frontier. To reach the fiscal frontier, the report argues that countries should leverage three major transformations in the fiscal landscape: technological advances, greater transparency enabled by international cooperation, and new insights on trust and the political economy of taxation. Together, these forces equip governments with richer information, sharper policy guidance, and more powerful tools for execution, enabling public finance systems to raise needed revenues while improving efficiency and fairness.
| Repository name | URI |
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org |
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| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Pierre Bachas | World Bank | pbachas@worldbank.org |
| Oyebola Okunogbe | World Bank | ookunogbe@worldbank.org |
| Mahvish Shaukat | World Bank | mshaukat@worldbank.org |
| Dario Tortarolo | World Bank | dtortarolo@worldbank.org |
| Agency Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Katy Bergstrom | Tulane University | kbergstrom@tulane.edu |
| Maria Sol Bernasconi | World Bank | mbernasconi@worldbank.org |
| Gaston Bernheim | World Bank | gbernheimportela@worldbank.org |
| Anne Brockmeyer | World Bank | abrockmeyer@worldbank.org |
| William Dodd | Tulane University | wdodds@tulane.edu |
| Yi Jie Gwee | World Bank | ygwee@worldbank.org |
| Thiago Scot | World Bank | tscot@worldbank.org |
| Alastair Thomas | World Bank | athomas@worldbank.org |
| Jon Jellema | World Bank | jrjellema@gmail.com |
| Fabrizio Santoro | International Centre for Tax & Development | f.santoro@ids.ac.uk |
2026-08-21
| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| World | WLD |
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.
| 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 |
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Maria Sol Bernasconi | World Bank | mbernasconi@worldbank.org |
| Gaston Bernheim | World Bank | gbernheimportela@worldbank.org |
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org |
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DECDI | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata |
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