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Posts by Laura Zimmermann

Do value-added taxes benefit firms? Evidence from the adoption of state-specific value-added taxes

Value-added tax (VAT) systems have grown popular in the last 30 years, especially among developing countries looking for ways to raise tax revenue efficiently. Using 2000-2012 data on product, state-s...

  • Articles

Are transparency and accountability enough? Open corruption and why it exists

While India’s federal anti-corruption ombudsmen have just taken up their work, awareness of the complexity of corruption is growing. This article studies whether highly accountable Indian village co...

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Production responses and tax evasion with limited State capacity: Evidence from major reform in India

Although VAT eliminates the double taxation of inputs of the retail sales system, which enhances growth, it may increase the number of firms in the informal sector. This makes it very important, from ...

  • IGC Research on India

Production Responses and Tax Evasion with Limited State Capacity - Evidence from Major Reform in India

This project explores: what is the effect of switching from a retail sales tax to a VAT in a country with limited tax capacity and a large informal economy? The project explores this question through...

  • IGC Research on India

MNREGA's impact on rural labour markets

In this article, Laura Zimmermann, Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Georgia, provides an overview of the research on the impact of the initial phase of MNREGA on rural labour mark...

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Maoist violence and MNREGA

The spate of Maoist attacks on security personnel in Chhattisgarh this week serves as a reminder that Moaist insurgency is the single biggest internal security threat faced by India. This column anal...

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