Implementing property tax reforms in Bangalore: an actor-network perspective

Many municipal governments in developing countries are experiencing serious difficulties in dealing with the rapid growth of population in cities. Catalysed through processes of globalisation, the growth of cities, especially the so-called mega-cities , has not been matched by investments in infrastructure like roads and power due to the inability of local government organizations to collect adequate revenues from sources like property tax. Recognizing these difficulties, agencies such as the Asian Development Bank have initiated systems for property tax reforms in a number of Asian cities, including Bangalore. In this paper, we discuss the story of this reform process drawing upon the actor-network perspective on translations. We argue that such a perspective helps to go beyond studying innovation processes through the lens of technology diffusion , and provides a more interesting and insightful perspective of technology translation . 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1471-7727/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.infoandorg.2004.07.002 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 207955 7627; fax: +44 207955 7385. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (S. Madon), [email protected] (S. Sahay), [email protected] (J. Sahay). 1 The authors contributed equally to this paper. 2 Tel.: +47 22 85 24 10; fax: +47 22 85 24 01. 270 S. Madon et al. / Information and Organization 14 (2004) 269–295