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