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Title
The trouble with tariffs: customs policies and the shaky balance between colonial and private interests in the Congo (1885-1914) |
Full text
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/6983834; http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-6983834; https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/6983834/file/6996153 |
Date
2015 |
Author(s)
De Roo, Bastiaan |
Abstract
This article deals with a key constraint on the ability of African colonial states to tax international trade. In the Congo Free State and Belgian Congo, tariff policies were always the result of a difficult balancing act. On the one hand, the colonial state depended on customs receipts to make ends meet. On the other hand, policymakers feared the counterproductive effect of tariff policies: excessive taxation would cause customs receipts to decline because it slowed down commerce and encouraged traders to smuggle or to relocate. Sometimes, this fear held back policymakers from increasing the tariff burden ' even when the colony was in dire financial straits. On other occasions, budgetary necessity forced policymakers to implement customs measures which they believed would cripple the colonial economy and jeopardized future fiscal revenue. |
Subject(s)
History and Archaeology; Douane; Colonialism; Congo Free State; Belgian Congo; Belastingen; State formation; Customs; Kolonialisme; Belgisch Kongo; Taxation |
Language
eng |
Type of publication
journalArticle; info:eu-repo/semantics/article; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
Format
application/pdf |
Source
TIJDSCHRIFT VOOR SOCIALE EN ECONOMISCHE GESCHIEDENIS = THE LOW COUNTRIES JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY; ISSN: 1572-1701 |
Rights
I have transferred the copyright for this publication to the publisher; info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
Repository
Gent - University of Gent
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