Structural Indicators

We put together six indicators known to bound the tax base — GDP per capita, urbanisation, trade openness, agriculture share, informal employment, and ATMs per 100k adults — into an equally weighted composite. The combined score ranks EAP-16 against an 83-country LMIC/UMIC peer pool.

Approach

• A combined score from 6 indicators known to bound the tax base.
• GDP per capita, urbanisation, trade openness, agriculture share, informal employment, ATMs per 100k adults.
• Equally weighted; min–max normalised on a 99-country sample.
• Computed for EAP-16 against an 83-country LMIC/UMIC peer pool.

The list is indicative, not exhaustive: it does not capture every relevant structural dimension and does not capture the political economy of reform.

The combined score across EAP-16

Combined score for EAP-16. Malaysia tops the regional ranking at 0.70; Solomon Islands and Myanmar at the bottom (0.18 and 0.23). Grey vertical lines in the background = combined scores of the 83-country donor pool (rest-of-world peer set).

Which dimension is binding

Structural Indicators components per EAP country (normalised, 0 = lowest, 1 = highest in 99-country sample). Malaysia and Thailand combine high GDP per capita, urbanisation, and financial infrastructure. PNG, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu are constrained primarily by very low urbanisation and very high agricultural employment.

Reading

Several EAP economies sit well below the median on the combined score. The binding constraint differs by country: informality, agricultural employment, urbanisation, financial infrastructure. A decade of WB advisory has focused on instrument design. Where structural characteristics bind, instrument design alone hits a ceiling — this may be one reason why the needle on tax/GDP has not moved.

Source files

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