Abstract : We analyze the relationship between the introduction of a sovereign bond market (BM) and
tax revenue mobilization behavior, using a large sample of 119 developing countries. Propensity
Scores Matching estimations reveal that BM participation significantly fosters domestic tax
revenue mobilization. Moreover, we find that this favorable effect is sensitive to BM countries
characteristics, namely the stance of monetary and fiscal policies, the exchange rate regime,
the level of economic development, and the degree of financial openness and financial
development. Finally, our results show that BM participation fosters internal taxes and reduces
their instability, compared to international trade taxes. These findings highlight the strength of
BM in promoting structural reforms in developing countries, through encouraging them to
increase their tax effort and even by contributing to some extent to the fiscal transition process.
