“In this paper, the authors examines the extent to which different kinds of taxes and expenditures succeed in transferring resources to the poor in Africa. In examining the welfare impact of fiscal policy, the study is limited to a more easily measured and understood definition of poverty in terms of income (or consumption expenditure as a proxy for permanent income). This not only facilitates comparisons across different types of services, but across countries as well. Likewise, it allowed the researchers to compare the progressivity of taxes and expenditures using a common money-metric of utility. Beyond the issue of the choice of welfare indicator used for ranking households (and subsequently measuring inequality), a number of important issues arise in examining the benefits of spending and the costs of taxation.”
