Institutional Culture, Actor Interests, and Tax Cooperation in the OECD, IMF and United Nations

Webb, Michael. "Institutional Culture, Actor Interests, and Tax Cooperation in the OECD, IMF and United Nations" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association 48th Annual Convention, Hilton Chicago, CHICAGO, IL, USA, Feb 28, 2007
Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript

Abstract: The OECD is the most prominent and most widely studied international institution in international tax diplomacy, but it is not the only one. This paper compares the approaches taken by the OECD, the IMF, and the United Nations to international taxation, particularly corporate taxation and developing countries.

The IMF provides so-called "technical assistance" on taxation to developing countries, assistance that is heavily influenced by tax theory developed by academic economists and that helps constitute states and state-society relations in developing countries. Various agencies within the UN have developed a Model Tax
Treaty that is more favorable to developing countries than the OECD Model, and they providetechnical and diplomatic assistance to developing countries on tax issues. The paper argues that some similarities and differences in the approaches taken by these institutions can be accounted for by the interests of their memberstates (which in turn are shaped by societal interests, especially those of transnational taxpayers), but that the culture, norms and traditions of the institutions also matter.