Request for research proposals
Firm-level and tax analysis using micro data

The National Treasury (NT) of the Republic of South Africa and UNU-WIDER, in collaboration with the South African Revenue Service (SARS), invite proposals from qualified researchers which exploit tax administrative data based on company and individual records for purposes of conducting rigorous economic firm-level analysis.

Background

An important element of economic growth and transformation relates to the characteristics, determinants and behaviours of firms. Firms are the economic agents that interact at the micro level but ultimately shape aggregate economic trajectories. Firm level data has high potential for enhancing understanding of these interactions as the heterogeneous characteristics of firms are not masked.

Offer and expectations

The specific objectives of this request for research proposals are:

1. To obtain policy-relevant research findings on the determinants of productivity, investment, employment, exports, profitability and output by different firms with different characteristics (incl. size, sector, ownership, export intensity, degree of competition faced, age, past behaviour, and skills makeup). Also, where possible, to examine dynamic decision making effects on outcomes.
2. To obtain research findings relevant to government policy questions on the impact of tax incentives (e.g. research & development, MIDP, learnership, section 12I manufacturing) and non-tax incentives on investment, value-add, job creation, capital/labour intensity and growth.
3. To obtain economic analyses that could improve policymakers’ insights on issues pertinent to base erosion and profit shifting, including but not limited to corporate leverage and structuring, interest expense in relation to earnings, and linkages between R&D expense and the creation of intangibles.
4. To analyse depreciation allowances claimed by companies by asset class and/or sector, and how this relates to economic depreciation of assets.
5. To obtain economic analysis that improves the understanding of tax behaviour of individuals and firms.

Researchers with successful proposals will gain access to generally inaccessible data sets located at the National Treasury, subject to agreed restrictions to preserve confidentiality. It is important to highlight that, as of this call, the data are only made available to researchers while physically on National Treasury premises in Pretoria. An inventory of potential data sets is appended to this RFRP.

Proposal submission

Submission of proposals is done electronically using appropriate form on the left column of this page. There are three forms to select from; one for individuals, another for groups of individuals and a third one for NGOs. The deadline for submitting proposals is 29 February 2016 23:59 EET. See full request for research proposals for detailed proposal submission details.

Any questions on the proposal process should be sent to researchproposal9@wider.unu.edu by 22 February 2016. All queries and responses will be published on this announcement page after this date.

See full request for research proposals