ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The substantive content of this paper may be located in India, but the origins of the methodology applied in it can be traced to a spell by one of the authors as a visiting scholar in Vito Tanzi’s Fiscal Affairs Department at the IMF.2 This reference to the Fiscal Affairs Department as ‘Vito’s Department’ is quite deliberate. Vito Tanzi combines a formidable scholarly reputation (rare among heads of department in large international organizations) with managerial, administrative and political skills (most rare among scholars everywhere). This has enabled his Fiscal Affairs Department, short-term visitors as well as longterm employees, to survive and even to flourish on the tight-rope between operational demands and scholarly respectability. We hope that at least some of our offering will be to his liking.
