Performance of tax-benefit systems amid COVID-19 crises in sub-Saharan Africa: A comparative perspective

Jesse Lastunen, Adnan Shahir, Pia Rattenhuber, Kwabena Adu-Ababio and Rodrigo Oliveira

No wp-2023-130, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: We examine the distributional effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated tax-benefit measures in seven sub-Saharan African countries, focusing on the onset of the crisis. We evaluate impacts on disposable incomes, considering variations across income groups; assess the effectiveness of tax-benefit policies in mitigating income losses; and analyse the influence of these measures on income-based poverty and inequality. We find notable reductions in disposable incomes, concentrated among higher-income households, and moderate increases in headcount poverty rates and poverty gaps.

Keywords: COVID-19; Income distribution; Poverty; Inequality; Africa; Tax-benefit systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-pub
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publ ... b-Saharan-Africa.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2023-130

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Siméon Rapin ().