Public Willingness to Adapt to Fiscal Reforms in Small Island Developing States: Lessons for the Maldives

Abstract

This review examines the public willingness to embrace fiscal reforms in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), with a particular focus on lessons applicable to the Maldives. The review synthesizes insights from peer-reviewed articles, institutional reports, and relevant case studies to explore the factors that influence public acceptance of fiscal policy changes in developing island contexts. The review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Literature was sourced from eight databases, including JSTOR, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, IMF eLibrary, World Bank, ADB Knowledge, and OECD iLibrary. Search terms combined variations of “fiscal reform,” “tax reform,” “public acceptance,” “public willingness,” and “SIDS” or “developing countries.” An initial pool of 3,310 results was narrowed down to 64 studies after screening titles, abstracts, and full texts. Inclusion criteria required relevance to public attitudes toward fiscal reform in SIDS or comparable contexts, while papers with only technical or macroeconomic analyses were excluded. A structured matrix was used to extract data thematically. PRISMA’s four-phase flow was followed to ensure transparency in article selection. Findings reveal that successful fiscal reforms in SIDS are driven more by political-economic factors such as institutional trust and equitable burden-sharing, than by technical design. Caribbean SIDS like Jamaica and Barbados offer practical models through their emphasis on stakeholder engagement and social protection mechanisms. The study highlights a critical gap in empirical research on public attitudes toward fiscal reform in SIDS and underscores the need for locally grounded, people-centered approaches in the Maldivian context.