PREM Notes
176 items available
Permanent URI for this collection
This note series is intended to summarize good practices and key policy findings on poverty reduction and economic management (PREM) topics.
Items in this collection
1 - 5 of 5
-
Publication
Estimating Economic Benefits for Revenue Administration Reform Projects
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2007-03)The World Bank relies in part on economic benefit estimates to evaluate the merits of investment projects. Recent lending operations for revenue administrations in Vietnam have led to some rethinking of these calculations. This Note shares their findings and it also provides some pointers that may be useful in estimating the economic benefits of revenue reform projects. Earlier estimates and their shortcomings are closely looked at, as well as customs administration and tax administration. This guidance can also assist in preparation of the technical annex of the financial and economic analysis of individual projects as required by World Bank guidelines. -
Publication
Salary Bonuses in Revenue Departments : Do They Work?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2004-01)Compensation provides a major incentive for workers to perform well. Accordingly, bonus payments are often used to enhance staff effectiveness and efficiency-and have become increasingly common in revenue departments around the world. A recent World Bank study analyzed the bonus systems applied by revenue authorities in seven countries, and was complemented by questionnaires completed by tax and customs administrations in seven others. Though the sample was small, the study generated interesting findings and points to areas requiring further analysis. The countries analyzed indicate that bonus systems are fraught with danger and so must be designed with the utmost care. There is no evidence that bonuses automatically increase the effectiveness of revenue departments. And because staff performance is influenced by factors other than salaries and bonuses, it is not easy to determine the effects of such systems. This note reviews reasons for introducing bonus systems and discusses a number of crucial design features, particularly the importance of effective and transparent performance appraisal systems based on clear performance measures. -
Publication
Best Practices in Customs Reform - Lessons from Morocco
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2002-04)Successful trade policy reform, often requires customs reform. In the 1990s Morocco's trade policies were strongly influenced by its agreement with the European Union, with the World Trade Center, and the Multi-fiber Agreement, which led the Customs and Indirect Taxes Administration to examine its procedures. Customs reforms were based on the principles of the World Customs Organization, supported by technical assistance provided by the International Monetary Fund and bilateral partners. Such reforms were the result of public-private partnerships, focused on four main areas: 1) simplified procedures and selective controls; 2) increased use of information technology; 3) improved management of special customs procedures; and, 4) enhanced transparency and partnerships with the private sector. -
Publication
Why Have Trade Promotion Organizations Failed, and How Can They Be Revitalized?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-09)The proclaimed priority of exports contained in many development plans, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, and similar documents will remain hollow if it is not supported by forceful reforms that counter biases against exports. Once such reforms are implemented, much can be gained from reforming trade promotion organizations along the lines of the above recommendations -or from simply eliminating organizations that cannot be reformed. -
Publication
Reforming Tax Systems : Lessons from the 1990s
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2000-04)World Bank-supported efforts to reform public institutions--including tax and customs administration--increasingly rely on institutional analysis. But there are no formal, generally accepted guidelines for analyzing tax systems. As a result the Bank's task managers and team leaders conduct these analyses in very different ways. The paper on which this Note is based reviewed 83 Bank-financed tax and customs reform operations in the 1990s to assess whether current approaches fall within the bounds of institutional analysis and add up to a consistent methodology. The review compiled Bank projects that supported tax administration reform, compared their diagnostic work to an emerging diagnostic model, and assessed their focus and their results.