Finance and Administration

Abstract

One of the recurring themes of this study is that a decision to adopt a human development strategy does not imply an unusually large state or an unusually heavy burden of taxation. Human development is more concerned about spending priorities than about the total volume of expenditure. How the state spends its money is more important than how much money the state spends. Given that the total resources available to the government in most developing countries is a fifth to a quarter of total income, it should be possible to finance the state’s contribution to human development by reallocating expenditure within existing revenue ceilings, without the necessity to raise additional revenues through taxation.