Journal of World Economy

Exploring Tax Compliance Challenges Among Small and Medium Enterprises in Rubaga Division, Kampala: Perspectives from SME Owners and Tax Officials

Kikomeko Joseph — 2026-05-22

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are pivotal to Uganda’s economy, contributing over 90% of private sector employment and approximately 40% of GDP, yet their tax contribution remains disproportionately low. This study investigates the persistent tax compliance challenges among SMEs in Rubaga Division, Kampala, employing a qualitative exploratory design to capture the dual perspectives of 25 SME owners and 10 tax officials. Guided by the Slippery Slope Framework, the study examines the interplay between trust in authorities and the power of enforcement. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and were analyzed thematically. Findings reveal that tax non-compliance is driven by a complex mix of high operational costs, the digital divide exacerbated by the Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing System (EFRIS), and a deficit of institutional trust. The study concludes that enforcement-heavy strategies without corresponding trust-building measures are unsustainable. It recommends that the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) prioritize digital infrastructure support, streamline tax procedures for SMEs, and enhance taxpayer education to foster voluntary compliance.

The Impact of Budgetary Allocation on Economic Development in Nigeria

Iniobong Ephraim Ebong — 2026-07-07

The study examines the impact of budgetary allocation on economic development in Nigeria. Using time series data from the Central bank of Nigeria from. The specific objectives of the study include investigation of the impact of budget on the educational development index, health development index, consumer price index and security development index. This study utilized ex-post facto research design. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) was employed to test the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The study found out that education budget expenditure (EDUEXP) has a negative and significant relationship with education sector index in Nigeria (ESI), Health budget expenditure (HEXP) has a negative and significant relationship with the Health sector index (HSI) in Nigeria, Recurrent expenditure (REXP) has a positive and a significant relationship with Consumer price index (CPI) in Nigeria, and Defense budget expenditure (DEXP) has a negative and insignificant relationship with Defense Sector Index (DSI) in Nigeria. Based on the findings, the study recommends that the government should increase the budgetary allocation in the education sector so to increase and empower human capital index in the country.

Research on the Construction and Practice of the Full-Domain Architecture System for Enterprise Management Informatization under the Digital Economy

Yingjie Feng — 2026-07-10

The global digital economy has entered a stage of full-domain development featuring compliance and ecology. Traditional siloed and function-segregated enterprise management informatization architectures have given rise to prominent issues including data silos, mismatched computing power, inadequate compliance and inefficient value transformation. Supported by the Complex Adaptive System (CAS) theory and organizational de-boundary theory, this paper defines the original concept of the full-domain architecture for enterprise management informatization. Based on panel data of 426 A-share listed enterprises in Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2019 to 2025 and 472 valid survey questionnaires, this study comprehensively adopts the coupling coordination degree model, SEM mediation effect model, panel threshold model and FS-QCA configuration model to quantitatively analyze the transmission mechanism, implementation obstacles and empowerment paths of the digital economy on the full-domain architecture.

The research results indicate that the average coupling coordination degree of the five major subsystems of enterprise informatization in China is 0.417, which is generally on the verge of imbalance. Data compliance presents a double threshold effect with threshold values of 1.862 and 3.795 against the digital economy. Four types of efficient implementation configurations are summarized, namely policy-empowered type, computing power foundation type, organizational reform type and compliance-preemptive type. This paper constructs a five-layer hierarchical full-domain informatization architecture system, which remedies the deficiencies of traditional research that overemphasizes technology while neglecting organization and compliance. It also provides data support and practical paradigms for the digital transformation of manufacturing, science and innovation, and service-oriented enterprises.