Although developing countries have a continuing concern with fiscal problems, studies in development finance take little account of the results of the intensive theoretical and empirical work on economic development done during the 1950s and 1960s, and development economists tend to view the financial side of the development process as secondary. In this study of the structure, role, and effects of taxation in the economic development of Colombia, Richard M. Bird bridges the gap between fiscal experts and development economists. He appraises all aspects of national and local tax systems and proposes that taxation be used as an instrument of development policy.

Agriculture is the largest economic sector in most countries of Latin American, Africa, and Asia, and the taxation of agricultural land is a potentially important instrument in the development policies of such nations. But there is a large gap between theory and practice, a gap that needs explaining. In addition, there have been interesting changes in thought on the role of such taxation in development. Richard M. Bird covers all this in a complete rethinking of the whole subject. His book is a distinguished successor to Haskell P. Wald’s classic study, Taxation of Agricultural Land in Underdeveloped Economics, published by Harvard University Press in 1959. With abundant evidence Bird argues that the tax system of each country, in order to be effective as a part of development policy, must be tailored carefully to peculiar circumstances and objectives of that country.