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This book examines the role of social protection and taxation systems in developing countries during times of crises. The main objective of the work is to promote understanding about proper crisis response, and the way social protection and tax systems can be made more sustainable to support countries' paths through and out of economic crises.
While there is a vast body of literature evaluating social protection programmes in general, few of these focus on episodes of crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number and scale of social protection programmes increased rapidly around the globe, but many developing countries lacked a systematic approach to social protection and taxation. Crises have a devastating effect on employment, incomes, and livelihoods. These impacts are more dangerous when people are already in a vulnerable position. This has become very clear during the latest worldwide crises, including the sharp rise in food and fuel prices. Armoured with comprehensive policies and systems for social protection and taxation, developing countries could enable automatic and speedy assistance when crises hit across the entire income distribution. Analogously to the currently standard financial stress testing in anticipation of crises, thorough stress testing of social protection and tax policies is also of crucial importance.
Poor Protection explores to what extent tax-benefit systems can act as automatic stabilizers in a developing country context during crises, and how they can help provide the fiscal space necessary to cushion at least the most detrimental developments in terms of inequality.
Volume editor:
Maria Jouste (Research Associate Research Associate United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)),
Ravi Kanbur (Cornell University,
Cornell University,
T. H. Lee Professor of World Affairs and Economics),
Jukka Pirttilä (Professor of Public Economics,
Professor of Public Economics,
University of Helsinki and VATT Institute for Economic Research),
Pia Rattenhuber (Research Fellow,
Research Fellow,
United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER))
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780198909422
ISBN 10: 019890942X
Series: WIDER Studies in Development Economics
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 06 November 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming
1: Jukka Pirttilä, Maria Jouste, Ravi Kanbur, and Pia Rattenhuber: Introduction: Protecting the poor and vulnerable when crises are the New Normal 2: Rodrigo Oliveira, Jesse Lastunen, Pia Rattenhuber, Melissa Samarin, and Adnan Shahir: Strengthening resilience: Investigating the effectiveness of social protection and tax policies in cushioning income and poverty impacts amidst crises in low- and middle-income countries Part I. Performance of tax-benefit systems during crises 3: Katrin Gasior, Iva V. Tasseva, and Gemma Wright: The impact of social protection on poverty through normal times and times of crisis: Evidence from Ghana, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia 4: Jesse Lastunen, Adnan Shahir, Pia Rattenhuber, Kwabena Adu-Ababio, and Rodrigo C. Oliveira: Performance of tax-benefit systems during the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa: A comparative perspective 5: David Rodríguez, H. Xavier Jara, Mariana Dondo, Cristina Arancibia, David Macas, Rebeca Riella, Joana Urraburu, Linda Llamas, Luis Huesca, Javier Torres, and Rodrigo Chang: The role of taxes and benefits in protecting household incomes during the COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of seven Latin American countries 6: Antoine de Mahieu and Jesse Lastunen: The cushioning effects of tax-benefit policies in Vietnam during the COVID-19 pandemic Part II. Income developments and specific politics during COVID-19 7: Timothy Köhler, Robert Hill, and Haroon Bhorat: The effect of wage subsidies on job retention: Evidence from South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic 8: Cuong Viet Nguyen: The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns and aid packages in Vietnam 9: Olivier Bargain, Paul Carillo-Maldonado, and H. Xavier Jara: Top earnings and inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ecuador Part III. Looking ahead 10: Annalena Oppel: Social protection floor gaps and pandemic relief: Embracing universalism? 11: Enrico Nichelatti, Maria Jouste, and Pia Rattenhuber: The potential of universal basic income schemes to buffer shocks: Comparing Uganda and Zambia during COVID-19 12: Adnan Shahir, Ravi Kanbur, Jukka Pirttilä, and Pia Rattenhuber: Targeted versus universal benefits: Poverty reduction performance in times of crisis 13: Dingquan Miao, Ravi Kanbur, and Jukka Pirttilä: Optimal tax rates for Zambia in the COVID-19 pandemic period Part IV. Summary and policy takeaways 14: Jukka Pirttilä, Maria Jouste, Ravi Kanbur, and Pia Rattenhuber: Summary 15: Jukka Pirttilä, Maria Jouste, Ravi Kanbur, and Pia Rattenhuber: Policy takeaways
Maria Jouste is a research associate at UNU-WIDER. She holds a PhD in economics from the University of Turku. Her research interest is in development and public economics, focusing on taxation and social protection in developing countries. She uses both empirical and microsimulation methods for the evaluation of policy-relevant research questions, and has experience in curating and employing large administrative tax data in collaboration with African revenue authorities. Ravi Kanbur is T. H. Lee Professor of World Affairs and Economics at Cornell University and Co-Chair of the Food Systems Economics Commission. He has served on the senior staff of the World Bank including as Chief Economist for Africa and has published work in leading economics journals. He has previously held positions as Chair of the Board of United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research, member of the OECD High-Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance, President of the Human Development and Capability Association, President of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality. Jukka Pirttilä is Professor of Public Economics at the University of Helsinki and VATT Institute for Economic Research. He also serves as the deputy director of Helsinki Graduate School of Economics and as a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER. He conducts research on topics in public economics, especially tax policies, with a special reference to taxation in developing countries. Pia Rattenhuber is a research fellow at UNU-WIDER. She works in the fields of public, development, and labour economics, specializing in redistribution policies. She leads UNU-WIDER's work on tax-benefit microsimulation in the SOUTHMOD project. She holds a PhD from Free University Berlin and previously worked for the OECD (in the Department of Labour and Social Affairs), the German Ministry of Economics, and the German Institute of Economic Research (DIW Berlin).
