ABSTRACT
The introductory chapter provides the conceptual framework of the book and elaborates on the political economy approach of tax regimes. After outlining the problem of persistent patterns of low taxation of upper-income and affluent groups, and discussing the state of the art, it unfolds the analytical orientation of the book. The central importance of the natural resource sectors and allocational politics for taxation in Latin America is elaborated. Thus, the relationship between taxes and inequalities is broadened to include the horizontal disparities in addition to vertical, class-based inequality. The chapter ends with an overview of the book's organization and individual contributions.
