EVENT

Conference: Revisiting the past, looking to the future – Moving beyond the fiscal contract?

  • October 21, 2025
  • October 21-23, 2025
  • Litteraturhuset i Oslo

SPEAKERS

REGISTER

About

The TaxCapDev-network is hosting its final conference in Oslo, Norway, October 2025.

 

 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE OFFICIAL OPENING EVENING (21 OCTOBER)

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE TAXCAPDEV FINAL CONFERENCE (22-23 OCTOBER)

For over a decade, the TaxCapDev network has brought together scholars and practitioners to examine how taxation shapes governance, state-building, and development. This final conference (21–23 October 2025) offers both a moment of reflection and an opportunity to ask where research and policy should go next.

A central theme in tax and development research has been the idea of a ‘fiscal contract’: that taxation fosters reciprocal ties between state and society, strengthening accountability and legitimacy. This perspective has been widely influential, but also increasingly questioned. Has the fiscal contract’s explanatory power been overstated? What aspects of citizen–state relations does it miss, particularly in fragile settings? And if new approaches are needed, what frameworks might better capture the links between taxation, state-building and development?

The conference will first take stock of insights gained from a decade of TaxCapDev work, from debates on capital flight to the politics of taxation. It will then look forward, asking whether the fiscal contract should remain central or give way to new perspectives in light of shifting aid regimes and the growing importance of domestic resource mobilisation.

We invite researchers, policymakers, and practitioners to join us in reflecting on the past and charting the next generation of research on taxation, governance, and development.

Conference Program

Day 1 – Tuesday, 21 October (NUPI, Rosenkrantz’ gate 22, 4th floor)

Short version: Welcome evening at NUPI with documentary screening, panel discussion, and networking reception.

Welcome and evening event at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Time | Session
17:30 – 18:00 | Welcome and registration
18:00 – 19:00 | Documentary film screening
19:00 – 19:30 | Panel discussion

Moderator: Morten Bøås (NUPI)
Panellists: Jan-Philipp Scholz (DW) & Andreas Lind Kroknes (NUPI)
19:30 – 21:00 | Tapas & networking reception

Day 2 – Wednesday, 22 October (Litteraturhuset)

Short version: Main conference day with opening, three panels on taxation and development, lunch and networking.

10 years of TaxCapDev: What have we learned?

Time | Session
09:30 – 10:00 | Coffee and registration
10:00 – 10:15 | Official opening – Welcome & framing
Morten Bøås & Odd-Helge Fjeldstad
10:15 – 11:30 | Panel 1: Is taxation development?
Moderator: Odd-Helge Fjeldstad
Panellists: Peter Ringstad (NORAD, Norway), Sansia Blackmore (ATI), Lucas Katera (REPOA), Trond Hjørungdal (NTA)
11:30 – 11:45 | Coffee break
11:45 – 13:00 | Panel 2: Taxation and state-building in fragile states: What have we learned?
Moderator: Morten Bøås (NUPI)
Panellists: Gayatri Saghal (CMI), Julia Dhmitri (World Bank), Viljar Haavik (NUPI)
13:00 – 14:00 | Lunch
14:00 – 15:30 | Panel 3: Unveiling financial secrecy and capital flight
Moderator: Hector Ulloa (NMBU)
Panellists: Brooke Harrington (UoC), Sony Kapoor, Andreas Fjeldskår (TJN-N)

Day 3 – Thursday, 23 October (Litteraturhuset)

Short version: Future-oriented sessions with panels, breakout groups, and closing plenary discussion.

The future research frontier: Moving beyond the fiscal contract?

Time | Session
09:30 – 10:00 | Coffee and welcome
10:00 – 11:15 | Panel 4: Future frontiers – Beyond the fiscal contract
Moderator: Morten Bøås
Panellists: Marija Norkunaite (UoV), Mick Moore (IDS)
11:15 – 11:30 | Coffee break
11:30 – 12:30 | Panel 5: Building tax knowledge for the future: Where do we need to go?
Moderator: Ingrid Hoem Sjursen (CMI)
Panellists: Olav Lundstøl (NORAD), Vanessa van den Boogaard (ICTD), Øivind Strømme (NTA), Andreas Fjeldskår (TJN-N)
12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch
13:30 – 14:30 | Breakout Groups: Future Frontiers
14:30 – 15:15 | Closing plenary discussion: Why TaxCapDev?
Morten Bøås, Odd-Helge Fjeldstad and Andreas Fjeldskår
Final wrap-up & thanks

Speakers

Political scientist working on issues concerning fragile states, violent entrepreneurs, hybrid governance and peace and conflict in Africa.

Morten Bøås

Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI)

Morten Bøås is Research Professor at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Morten’s research focuses on issues concerning peace and conflict in Africa, including topics such as land rights and citizenship conflicts, youths, ex-combatants and the new landscape of insurgencies and geopolitics. He has conducted in-depth fieldwork in a number of African countries, especially in Central and West Africa. Morten has authored, co-authored and co-edited several books and published a number of articles for academic journals. Among his recent books are “Africa’s Insurgents: Navigating an Evolving Landscape” (published in 2017) and “Doing Fieldwork in Areas of International Intervention: A Guide to Research in Closed and Violent Contexts” (from 2020). Morten has led several major international research projects, including EU Horizon 2020-funded projects and projects funded by the Norwegian Research Council. He is joint coordinator of the TaxCapDev-network.

Odd Helge Fjeldstad is a Research Prof., Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Extraordinary Prof., the African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, and Senior Fellow, International Centre for Tax and Development

Odd-Helge Fjeldstad

Research Prof., Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Extraordinary Prof., the African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, and Senior Fellow, International Centre for Tax and Development

Odd-Helge holds a PhD (Dr. Oecon) in economics from the Norwegian School of Economics. He has over three decades of experience in academic and applied development economics research in East and Southern Africa, with a focus on the political-economy of taxation and reform. His research has appeared in academic journals such as The Economic Journal, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, World Development, Journal of Development Studies, and Journal of Modern African Studies, and in books by Cambridge University Press, ZED/University of Chicago Press, Edward Elgar and Routledge. His work has involved long-term collaboration with research institutions in Africa. He has been advisor for African governments on taxation and public financial management and has worked as consultant for bilateral and multilateral development organizations. He has extensive experience in research management and has served as director of major multidisciplinary research and training programmes. His experience also covers teaching, supervision and training in economic policy analysis, fiscal reforms, governance and the economics of corruption. Odd-Helge is Extraordinary Professor at the African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, and Senior Fellow of the International Centre for Tax and Development.

Senior lecturer, African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Sansia Blackmore

Senior lecturer, African Tax Institute, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Sansia Blackmore is an economist focusing on development and poverty, institutional economics, and a multidisciplinary understanding of state-society relationships.

Viljar

Viljar Haavik

PhD Candidate, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

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The TaxCapDev network is jointly coordinated by Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, and Tax Justice Network Norway.

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