Issue #3 (Volume 15 2026)

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
The purpose of this study is to assess the relationship between tax burden, income, and the level of poverty in rural areas of Kazakhstan. Panel regional data are analyzed for the period 2010–2024, obtained from the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan and the State Revenue Committee. The methodological framework includes regression analysis and econometric modeling. Five models were constructed showing that the growth of the gross regional product has a positive association with the incomes of the rural population (β = 0.927, p < 0.001). On the contrary, the relationship with the tax burden is statistically insignificant (β = 0.001). The study showed that before the 2018 tax reform, the fictitious indicator was β = –0.014; after that, β = 0.251, indicating a structural shift in household incomes of about 25–29%. The regional resource-based model shows that in non-oil regions, the tax burden is positive (β = 0.014), whereas in oil regions, it is statistically significant but negative (–0.021). The results suggest that higher GRP levels are not statistically associated with corresponding improvements in rural income indicators and poverty rates. In these cases, it is necessary to undertake comprehensive actions to improve the social well-being of the rural population, including strengthening the institutional environment, promoting regional economic development, and ensuring equitable distribution of benefits from economic growth.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study aims to analyze the effect of government budget on tax compliance, with tax fairness and public trust as mediating variables. This study used a sample size of 200 respondents, based on the minimum sample size criteria for partial least squares (PLS-SEM), inverse square root, and gamma-exponential methods. To strengthen the robustness of results, a bootstrapping method with a subsample of 5,000 was used in hypothesis testing. The survey was conducted with 200 individual taxpayers. The results show that the government budget has a positive effect on tax compliance with a coefficient of 0.233. Tax fairness has a positive effect on tax compliance, with a coefficient of 0.573. The results show that government budget expenditure positively affects tax fairness and has a positive indirect effect on tax compliance through tax fairness at the 10% level. The results also show that the relationship between budget expenditure and public trust is negative and statistically significant (β = –0.170, p = 0.036). Government budget positively affects tax fairness and has a positive indirect effect on tax compliance through tax fairness, marginally significant at the 10% level. The IPMA analysis results indicate that tax fairness has the highest importance and performance, while the government budget ranks the lowest. The practical value of this research is that the government must implement a fair taxation system, as it is the primary determinant of tax compliance.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Provincial financial assistance is a distinct but under-examined tier of Indonesia’s intergovernmental transfer system, sitting alongside the national village fund and the regency village fund allocation. This is a theoretical policy analysis of the design of West Java’s provincial assistance to villages in Bogor Regency, a flat grant of IDR 130 million per village. The aim is to assess, against fiscal federalism and administrative burden theory, whether a uniform per-village transfer is an appropriate design for a recipient population that is highly heterogeneous in development status. The analysis draws only on official regulations, budget records, and published statistics for 2017–2025, with no primary survey or interview data. Three design properties are examined: the allocation rule, the disbursement procedure, and the participation channel. The analysis shows that the flat rule directs a proportionally smaller fiscal share to lower-capacity villages than to higher-capacity ones, that the multi-step disbursement procedure generates an administrative burden disproportionate to the grant’s modest size, and that no regulation between 2017 and 2025 provides any channel for villages to participate in setting the amount, the earmarks, or the procedure. The grant equals only about 13.8% of the average national village fund, yet imposes a comparable compliance load. The study concludes that the appropriate reform is not a larger grant but a redesigned one: a basic-plus-need allocation formula, a simplified and digitalized disbursement process with a binding calendar, and an institutionalized consultative forum. The framework is transferable to other provinces operating uniform village grants.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
The growing importance of renewable energy in ensuring energy security and sustainable development has increased attention to the role of public finance, particularly at the regional level. This study aims to assess whether different categories of regional public expenditure are associated with renewable energy development in Ukraine, distinguishing between installed capacity and electricity generation. The analysis is based on a balanced panel dataset for 25 Ukrainian regions over 2018–2021 and applies two-way fixed effects models with lagged specifications and Driscoll–Kraay standard errors. The results show that expenditures on electric transport exhibit the strongest positive association with installed renewable energy capacity (β ≈ 0.078, p < 0.001), followed by SME support (β ≈ 0.025, p < 0.001), other environmental activities (β ≈ 0.017, p < 0.001), and natural resource management (β ≈ 0.013, p < 0.001). In contrast, most general economic expenditures are not statistically significant, suggesting that these expenditure categories are not statistically associated with higher renewable energy development within the analyzed period. For renewable electricity production, contributions to the statutory capital of enterprises are positively associated (β ≈ 0.006, p < 0.05), while co-financing of investment projects is negatively associated (β ≈ −0.027, p < 0.001), reflecting implementation lags. Additionally, capital investments in environmental protection are negatively associated with renewable electricity production (β ≈ −0.072, p < 0.001), suggesting that installed capacity expansion differs from renewable electricity production.

Acknowledgment
The authors acknowledge funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) [Grant No. IZURZ1_224119]. The authors bear sole responsibility for the conclusions and results of the research.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study examines Somalia’s post-debt relief governance and debt sustainability to identify the institutional and fiscal reforms needed to preserve debt sustainability in fragile states. This study adopts a mixed-methods approach that combines a qualitative systematic literature review with a debt sustainability analysis by using the IMF-World Bank Low Income Country Debt Sustainability Framework (LIC DSF). Somalia’s debt position improved markedly after HIPC relief: external debt declined from 64 % of GDP in 2018 to 6.4 % in 2023 and is projected to remain below 6 % of GDP during 2024-2028. In the baseline scenario, the present value of external debt averages about 5 % of GDP, well below the 30 percent threshold for countries with weak debt-carrying capacity. Debt service indicators also remain low, with debt service-to-exports below 1.2 % and debt service-to-revenue below 4.5 % through 2028. Standardized stress tests, by contrast, push debt service above its indicative ceilings, which supports a moderate rather than a low-risk rating. Yet many peer countries in Sub-Saharan Africa still face precarious debt positions, with numerous low-income nations at high risk or already in debt distress. Sustaining this outlook will depend on continued governance reforms, fiscal discipline, and transparent borrowing that strengthen institutional capacity and resilience to future shocks.