[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dug/journl/y2015i1p41-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal tax rate and economic growth. Evidence from Nigeria and South Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Olufemi Muibi SAIBU

    (University of Lagos)

Abstract
The recent economic crisis had made developing countries to look inward for financial resources to finance development. The readily alternative is the tax revenues however, the possible adverse direct and indirect effects of tax on productivity and work efforts as well as on aggregate consumption had make some African countries (especially Nigeria and South Africa) reluctant in implementing far reaching tax policy reform. This paper examines optimal tax burden and real output growth Nigeria and South Africa, two of the top four economies in Africa. The paper empirically determined what should be the optimal tax rate for Nigeria and South Africa-the two leading economies in Africa. The paper found that nonlinearity hypothesis in the effects of tax in the case of South Africa is rejected while a significant nonlinear relationship is found in the case of Nigeria. The results suggest that the growth-maximizing tax rate is about 15% of per capita GDP for South Africa and 30% for Nigeria. At that tax rate, the economic growth rate would be around 6% and 8% instead of the actual mean growth rate of 2.84% and 4.51% for South Africa and Nigeria respectively. The paper concluded the current tax burden in the two countries may be sub-optimal and may hurt long term sustainable growth process in the two countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Olufemi Muibi SAIBU, 2015. "Optimal tax rate and economic growth. Evidence from Nigeria and South Africa," EuroEconomica, Danubius University of Galati, issue 1(34), pages 41-50, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:dug:journl:y:2015:i:1:p:41-50
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://journals.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/euroeconomica/article/view/2586/2446
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Odusola, Ayodele, 2006. "Tax Policy Reforms in Nigeria," UNDP Africa Economists Working Papers 307339, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    2. Roderick Hill, 2008. "Optimal taxation and economic growth: a comment," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 419-427, March.
    3. Scully, Gerald W, 2003. "Optimal Taxation, Economic Growth and Income Inequality," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 115(3-4), pages 299-312, June.
    4. Jens Matthias Arnold & Bert Brys & Christopher Heady & Åsa Johansson & Cyrille Schwellnus & Laura Vartia, 2011. "Tax Policy for Economic Recovery and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(550), pages 59-80, February.
    5. Steven F. Koch & Niek J. Schoeman & Jurie J. Van Tonder, 2005. "Economic Growth And The Structure Of Taxes In South Africa: 1960–2002," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 73(2), pages 190-210, June.
    6. Scully, Gerald W, 1995. "The "Growth Tax" in the United States," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 85(1-2), pages 71-80, October.
    7. Johannah Branson & C. Lovell, 2001. "A Growth Maximising Tax Structure for New Zealand," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 8(2), pages 129-146, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jean C. Kouam & Simplice A. Asongu, 2022. "Effects of Taxation on Social Innovation and Implications for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries: A Literature Review," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 22/046, African Governance and Development Institute..
    2. Andre Gbato, 2017. "Impact of Taxation on Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Evidence Based on a New Data Set," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(11), pages 173-193, November.
    3. Andrew Phiri, 2016. "The Growth Trade-off between Direct and Indirect Taxes in South Africa: Evidence from a STR Model," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 14(3 (Fall)), pages 233-250.
    4. Yawovi Mawussé Isaac Amedanou, 2019. "Optimal Taxation and Economic Growth in Togo: Empirical Investigation in Time Series [Taxation Optimale et Croissance Economique au Togo : une Evidence Empirique en Séries Temporelles]," Post-Print hal-01990213, HAL.
    5. Andre Gbato, 2017. "Impact of Taxation on Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: New Evidence Based on a New Data Set," Post-Print hal-01673738, HAL.
    6. Maganya Mnaku Honest, 2020. "Tax revenue and economic growth in developing country: an autoregressive distribution lags approach," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 7(54), pages 205-217, January.
    7. AMEDANOU, Yawovi M. Isaac, 2019. "Taxation Optimale et Croissance Economique au Togo : une Evidence Empirique en Séries Temporelles [Optimal Taxation and Economic Growth in Togo: Empirical Investigation in Time Series]," MPRA Paper 92003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Touray, Alfusainey & Jahateh, Ndey, 2024. "Tax Revenue And Economic Growth Nexus in The Gambia: Evidence From The ARDL Model," MPRA Paper 121588, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Jeeban Amgain, 2017. "Estimating Optimal Level of Taxation for Growth Maximization in Asia," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 4(3), pages 47-55, May.
    10. AMEDANOU, Yawovi M. Isaac, 2018. "Examen de l'optimalité de la performance fiscale dans les pays en développement : le cas de l’UEMOA [Review of the optimality of tax performance in developing countries: evidence from WAEMU]," MPRA Paper 89513, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. ONAKOYA, Adegbemi Babatunde & AFINTINNI, Oluwatobi Ibukun, 2016. "Taxation and Economic Growth in Nigeria," Asian Journal of Economic Modelling, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 4(4), pages 199-210, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew Phiri, 2016. "The Growth Trade-off between Direct and Indirect Taxes in South Africa: Evidence from a STR Model," Managing Global Transitions, University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, vol. 14(3 (Fall)), pages 233-250.
    2. Motloja, Lehlohonolo & Makhoana, Tsholofelo & Kassoma, Rooyen & Houdman, Rozadian & Phiri, Andrew, 2016. "Changes in the optimal tax rate in South Africa prior and subsequent to the global recession period," MPRA Paper 74342, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. repec:vrs:joheec:v:1:y:2014:i:1:p:1-30:n:1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jeeban Amgain, 2017. "Estimating Optimal Level of Taxation for Growth Maximization in Asia," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 4(3), pages 47-55, May.
    5. Yawovi Mawussé Isaac Amedanou, 2019. "Optimal Taxation and Economic Growth in Togo: Empirical Investigation in Time Series [Taxation Optimale et Croissance Economique au Togo : une Evidence Empirique en Séries Temporelles]," Post-Print hal-01990213, HAL.
    6. Menescal, Lucas & Alves, José, 2024. "Optimal threshold taxation: An empirical investigation for developing economies," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 29(C).
    7. Nga Phan Thi Hang & My-Linh Thi Nguyen & Tung Duy Thai & Toan Ngoc Bui, 2020. "The Optimal Threshold of Tax Revenue for Economic Growth: An Investigation into the ASEAN 5+1 Countries," International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), International Journal of Economics & Business Administration (IJEBA), vol. 0(4), pages 422-434.
    8. Giuseppe Di Liddo, 2015. "Urban sprawl and regional growth: empirical evidence from Italian Regions," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2141-2160.
    9. Mura Petru-Ovidiu, 2015. "Tax Composition And Economic Growth. A Panel-Model Approach For Eastern Europe," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1, pages 89-101, February.
    10. Juniours Marire & Tafirenyika Sunde, 2012. "Economic growth and tax structure in Zimbabwe: 1984-2009," International Journal of Economic Policy in Emerging Economies, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 5(2), pages 105-121.
    11. Sami Saafi & Meriem Bel Haj Mohamed & Abdeljelil Farhat, 2017. "Untangling the causal relationship between tax burden distribution and economic growth in 23 OECD countries: Fresh evidence from linear and non-linear Granger causality," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 14(2), pages 265-301, December.
    12. Kristof Witte & Wim Moesen, 2010. "Sizing the government," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 145(1), pages 39-55, October.
    13. Idrys Fransmel Okombi, 2021. "Taxation et croissance économique en Afrique: la qualité des institutions importe‐t‐elle?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(4), pages 592-606, December.
    14. Emilian DOBRESCU, 2016. "Controversies over the Size of the Public Budget," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(4), pages 5-34, December.
    15. Di Liddo, Giuseppe, 2015. "Urban sprawl and regional growth: empirical evidence from Italian Regions," Working Papers 1505, SIET Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica.
    16. Giuseppe Di Liddo & Cosimo Magazzino & Francesco Porcelli, 2015. "Decentralization, Growth And Optimal Government Size In The Italian Regional Framework," Working Papers 0115, CREI Università degli Studi Roma Tre, revised 2015.
    17. Hüseyin Şen & Ayşe Kaya & Ayşegül Durucan, 2023. "New insights into the growth-maximizing size of government: evidence and implications for Turkey," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 2243-2296, August.
    18. Bekzod ABDULLAEV & Laszlo KONYA, 2014. "Growth Maximizing Tax Rate for Uzbekistan," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 14(1), pages 59-72.
    19. Jing Xing, 2011. "Does tax structure affect economic growth? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Working Papers 1120, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    20. Francesca Gastaldi & Paolo Liberati & Elena Pisano & Simone Tedeschi, 2014. "Progressivity-Improving VAT Reforms in Italy," Working papers 6, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    21. Oguzhan Akgun & David Bartolini & Boris Cournède, 2017. "The capacity of governments to raise taxes," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1407, OECD Publishing.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dug:journl:y:2015:i:1:p:41-50. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Florian Nuta (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fedanro.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.