Dr Ehtisham Ahmad

Dr Ehtisham Ahmad is a Visiting Senior Fellow of the LSE Asia Research Centre.

He is also a Senior Fellow at ZEF, University of Bonn. Dr. Ahmad has held senior positions over the past two decades in the International Monetary Fund (Senior Advisor, Office of Executive Directors; Advisor and Division Chief, Fiscal Affairs Department); and was also a member of the core team for the World Bank’s 1990 World Development Report on Poverty.

He has also been Special Advisor to the Finance Minister of Saudi Arabia; as well as Director of the Development Economics Research Program, STICERD, LSE in the late 1980s, and Deputy Director of the Development Economics Research Center at the University of Warwick (to 1986).

Research Interests

• Design of public policies, governance and distributional questions
• Political economy of intergovernmental fiscal relations
• Applied fiscal issues in China, South Asia and a number of countries in the Middle East
• Public Economics
• Federalism

Selected Publications 

• Ahmad, E., and Brosio, G. (eds.) (2015). Handbook of Multilevel Finance. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK. 
• Ahmad, E., Bhattacharya, A., Vinella, A., and Xiao, K. (2014). Involving the Private Sector and PPPs in Financing Public Investments: Some opportunities and challenges. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E. (2014). Political Economy of Multilevel Information Generation and Liability Management: Some lessons from international experience. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., Brosio, G., and Pöschl, C. (2014). Local Property Taxation and Benefits in Developing Countries - Overcoming political resistance? ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E. (2013). Governance and Institutions: The role of multi-level fiscal institutions in generating sustainable and inclusive growth. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E. (2013). Can the New Intergovernmental Structure Work in Pakistan in the Presence of Governance Challenges? Learning from China. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., and Mohammed, A. (2013). Pakistan the United States and the IMF: Great game or a curious case of Dutch Disease without the oil? ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., Best, M., and Pöschl, C. (2013). Tax Reforms in the Presence of Informality in Developing Countries. ARC Working Paper.
• Agustina, C.D., Ahmad, E., Nugroho, D., and Siagian, H. (2012). Political economy of natural resource revenue sharing in Indonesia. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., and Best, M. (2012). Financing Social Policy in the Presence of Informality. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., and Brosio, G. (2011). Effective Federalism and Local Finance. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.
• Ahmad, E. (2010). Changing International Perspectives on Decentralisation: International agencies and options for Pakistan. Paper delivered at the Pakistan Society of Development Economics Annual Conference, Islamabad.
• Ahmad, E., and Al Faris, A. (2010). Fiscal Reforms in the Middle East: VAT in the Gulf Cooperation Council. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.
• Ahmad, E., and Brosio, G. (2009). Does Decentralization Enhance Service Delivery and Poverty Reduction? Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.
• Ahmad, E. (2010). The political-economy of tax reforms in Pakistan: the ongoing saga of the GST. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., and Stern, N. (2009). Effective Carbon Taxes and Public Policy Options: Insights from India and Pakistan. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., and Brosio, G. (2009). Decentralization and local service provision: What do we know? ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., and Poddar, S. (2009). GST Reforms and Intergovernmental considerations in India. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E. (2009). Fiscal Policy Instruments and the Political Economy of Designing Programs to reach the poorest. ARC Working Paper.
• Ahmad, E., and Brosio, G. (2006). Handbook of Fiscal Federalism. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.
• Ahmad, E., and Stern, N. (1991). The theory and practice of tax reform in developing countries. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
• Ahmad, E., Drèze, J., Hills, J., and Sen, A. (1991). Social Security in Developing Countries. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
• Ahmad, E., and Stern, N. (1984). The theory of reform and Indian indirect taxes. Journal of Public Economics, 25(1984): 259-298.