GDN's Fiscal Policy and Development program works with governments, donor agencies, researchers, and other stakeholders to encourage the more frequent and effective use in policy and development planning debates of tools for analysis of, and evidence surrounding, the equity impacts of fiscal policy or 'taxes and transfers.' The program benefits immensely from its long-standing relationship with the Commitment to Equity Institute at Tulane University, which includes among other things application and implementation of the Commitment to Equity Assessment fiscal incidence framework as well as the joint development of related fiscal incidence tools and methods.
The program is currently implementing fiscal analytical tools in Angola, Ghana, Guatemala, and Namibia with the support and collaboration of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). In addition, it participates in global events such as the Addis Tax Initiative, and the 'DAC community of practice on poverty and inequalities.'
The program is explicitly focused on the effective incorporation of scientifically-sound and internationally-vetted social science research tools and the evidence those tools produce into locally-relevant budget debates, development planning frameworks and processes, and policy planning for the climate transition.
Research-in-Use (RIU)
While the implementation or co-production of social science research is an important plank in the program platform, equally important for GDN's mission is encouraging the establishment and thriving of a local ecosystem of evidence production around fiscal policy questions. The Research-in-Use (RIU) initiative therefore focuses on supporting people, organisations and networks working with Fiscal Incidence Analysis (FIA) to produce, use or disseminate the analysis more effectively.
An RIU report focused on strengthening demand for, supply of, and use of evidence on the equity impacts of fiscal policy, budgeting processes and development planning in Ghana, Guatemala and Namibia was released in 2023. Read the RIU report here.
For more information, please contact Francesco Obino.