Talk:Fiscal capacity

This article is or was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Vivianliu94 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Mfekade1366, Shenqiu92.

Some comments

Hi, Vivianliu94. Thanks for writing this article. I think you've got a lot of important information here and you've covered (what seems to me to be) a good outline of the topic. My only major recommendation is that you simplify some of the sentences, especially in the latter paragraphs. I know this is a complex topic and it is important to fairly and precisely represent the voices on it, but compound-complex sentences--like the snarl of one I'm navigating now--can make it harder for a reader to get a comfortable handle on the topic.

I would also recommend condensing and reframing the article to focus on what you want the reader to come away with. I find this helps a bit: look at each of your paragraphs and try to determine the core ideas you need to get across to your audience. Let's take the two paragraphs starting from "Richer and more developed countries have larger..." as an example. I see:

• Richer countries can raise more revenue and this corresponds with a higher fiscal capacity.
• They can not only raise more money they can do so more efficiently for a variety of reasons
• Optimal taxation theory suggests that the kinds of taxes these states tend to raise are more efficient
• But this general theory has some problems, namely some obvious lurking variables.
  • rich countries have institutions which make certain forms of taxation contribute more or less to fiscal capacity

The next paragraph goes on to discuss the important and recent developments in that discussion but in doing so repeats some of the points above. I've broken the article out a bit. I hope the above helps. Let me know if you need more (or more specific) info. Adam (Wiki Ed) (talk) 18:54, 6 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi Adam (Wiki Ed). Thanks very much for your useful comments! I have one question on behalf of the class--how did you generate the "Find link" tool? We tried for instance, to search "https://edwardbetts.com/find_link/Jeffrey_Herbst" and nothing was available; is there a process to generate the 'find link tool results' for each article that it's used for? Please let me know. Thanks Vivianliu94 (talk) 15:02, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

I don't know anything about the tool you've linked, Vivianliu94; it's the first time I've seen it. What tool or function on Wikipedia are you referring to? Adam (Wiki Ed) (talk) 16:45, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

Hi Adam (Wiki Ed); This was added to the top of my page: "" The 'Find look tool' links to the edwardbetts.com tool that I mentioned earlier. Vivianliu94 (talk) 22:17, 19 April 2016 (UTC)

That tag was left by a bot, an automated script looking for pages with few incoming links from other articles to this one. I've never actually clicked on that find links tool in 8 years on wikipedia! All you have to do to clear that tag is insert links to this page where appropriate. You're a better judge of that than a bot, so I would ignore the output of that tool. If you're linking text already on the page, that's good. A sentence or clause to insert "fiscal capacity" should both have a reference and be germane to the article. Once you've wikilinked 2 or more pages to this one you can remove the tag yourself. Or, if you don't, the tag can stay on indefinitely with no impact on the article. It's there to alert someone reading it who is an editor that they can improve the encyclopedia as a whole by adding links. Adam (Wiki Ed) (talk) 14:52, 20 April 2016 (UTC)

Thanks Adam (Wiki Ed)! I have quite a few wikilinks throughout, so I think I'll remove the tag. Vivianliu94 (talk) 16:55, 21 April 2016 (UTC)

New Revision/Structure

I just made a revision to the framework/structure of the page on Fiscal Capacity, and added sections "Definitions and Patterns", "Fiscal Capacity in Practice (subsections: Administration, Tax Structure", and "Origins (subsection: War)". What remains is another subsection on Elites, and another section on Relationship to State Building. Notes on Elites and an overall structure are below:

1. Definitions and Patterns 2. Fiscal Capacity in Practice A. Administration B. Tax Structure 3. Origins Elites

• Scholars emphasize incentives and goals of elites to build state and fiscal capacity, and how the transition of power from elites to the general population influences fiscal capacity.
• Kaldor (1963) emphasizes the difference between development experts that focus on incentives rather than on resources.
• "What limits the ability to tax are incentive constraints tied to asymmetric information, or perhaps political motives, rather than the mere administrative capabilities of the state" (Besley & Persson, 2011). <br
• goals of elite are consistent with Johnson & Koyama's (2015) explanation of lessons learned from economic history in current public finance economics: "stronger fiscal and legal institutions can lead to economic development, [but] it is not so clear where the support for these institutions comes from initially. Frequently it is the private-order institutions--such as family alliances, religious organizations, or informal trade networks--which from the bases around which public-order institutions are eventually built." (Johnson & Koyama, 2015)

War 4. Relationship to State-building A. Coevolution with other things B. Relationship to democratization C. Relationship with Economic Development

Vivianliu94 (talk) 06:38, 18 April 2016 (UTC)

Peer Review Comments

Approaching this page as someone who doesn't understand economics at all and who almost failed Principles of Econ, most of my critique about the page comes from not understanding some concepts or phrases, like deadweight loss.

Peer Review Comments

• tried to break up sentences and make the page sound less academic, and more accessible
• added links to other wiki pages. I found that there were certain phrases that I had to google to understand and through googling I found their wiki pages and linked those phrases on your page. Instead of you having to explain these concepts, I thought I would be easier to link so that if someone doesn't understand a phrase or concept they can link on the link.
• I added citation needed throughout the page. I noticed that when you reference something for the second time, you don't cite your source. For example, in Definitions and Patterns you write "In addition to generating increased revenue levels, rich countries tend to rely more on the personal income tax and consumption taxes, whereas poorer countries rely on less efficient tax types, such as corporate income taxes, tariffs, and seignorage" and you cite your source. Further on in the page, you write "Developed countries and states with strong fiscal capacity tend to rely on these efficient, broad-based taxes, whereas the reverse holds true for developing countries" and do not include a citation.

Lead Section

Great introduction to the topic. I felt like your lead followed Wikipedia lead guidelines. I just thought you could give examples of when taxes are not the government's only source of revenue. I wrote a sentence stating that foreign aid is an example, but I couldn't think of any other examples.

Definitions and Patterns

• I separated Definitions and Patterns to two sub groups to make it easier for someone reading wikipedia to skim. I also moved your "conclusion" sentence at the end of Definitions and Patterns to the beginning of the Patterns section because I thought it was a nice overview of what you are going to write about.
• found sentences that needed citation
• linked phrases and terms to relevant wiki pages.

Here are some phrases and concepts that I did not understand and did not have their own wikipedia pages and I think you should clarify:

Ideas for Expansion

i think that you should add more social science to this page.

• Solutions to Weak Fiscal Capacity

Mfekade1366 (talk) 21:17, 24 April 2016 (UTC)