Tax Reform: Tax Policy, Reform, and Competitiveness in Latin America

Abstract

Taxes are often regarded as a major determinant to competitiveness. Taxes rank second, after policy uncertainty, in the list of major or severe obstacles identified in the World Bank’s Investment Climate Assessments (ICAs) that survey business firms across the world.¹ Taxes also enter into the World Economic Forum’s competitiveness index published annually in the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) and into the Indices of Economic Freedom constructed by the Heritage Foundation and the Fraser Institute.² Other major or severe obstacles listed in ICAs are, in descending order, macroeconomic instability, corruption, finance, employment barriers, licenses and customs, courts, labor, crime, and infrastructure.

The comments and suggestions provided by Ernesto May, David Rosenblatt, David Gould, Antonella Bassani, Vicente Fretes-Cibils, and James Parks are gratefully acknowledged. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this chapter are entirely those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank, its executive directors, or the countries they represent.