Government revenue is crucial for emerging market and developing economies as it provides the financial resources to fund essential public goods and services. Effective revenue mobilization reduces dependence on external aid, fosters greater fiscal autonomy, and enhances resilience against economic shocks. South Asia’s revenue collection is well below the average of emerging market and developing economies, despite having above-average tax rates. This shortfall is particularly pronounced in direct and sales tax revenues, reflecting challenges such as widespread informality outside the tax net, a large agricultural sector, and a large food consumption that benefits from preferential tax rates. Adopting successful policy measures from other regions could help South Asia address these challenges and boost revenue collection.

South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), the Centre of Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), and the World Bank Group are pleased to announce a competitive call for papers and participation in the conference on revenue mobilization, taking place on April 30, 2025, at the World Bank headquarter in Washington, D.C., USA. The event aims to promote high-quality economic research on the topic of revenue mobilization, present successful case studies of effective revenue mobilization measures in developing countries, and facilitate dialogue among academics, policy advocates, researchers, and young aspiring economists worldwide.

Theme:

Papers should be relevant to the theme “Revenue Mobilization in Emerging Market and Developing Economies”.

Important Dates:

• Last date of abstract submission :  February 20, 2025
• Selection of abstracts :  March 01, 2025
• Last date of paper submission :  April 10, 2025
• Conference date :  April 30, 2025

Format of the Abstract:

We invite submissions of substantive abstracts of 2-3 pages (that will include the objectives, the research questions, a brief description of the methodology and an outline of the paper) or completed papers.

Submission of the Abstract:

Interested individuals are requested to submit the abstract of the paper and CV through the following google form. https://forms.gle/iir9aEzvTyrjLGQs5

Registration for Participation:

Interested participants, for in-person participation, are requested to apply for registration through this google form. The last date to register is April 1, 2025. https://forms.gle/ZpcPjVC2iHwu2LGQ9

Funding:

There is limited scope for small partial funding ONLY for selected paper presenters to participate in the conference in Washington, D.C., USA. Other confirmed participants should manage their funding for participation.

Download the call