Overview
Roy Kelly is Professor of the Practice of Public Policy, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University and the Director of the Program on Fiscal Decentralization and Local Government Financial Management. Prior to coming to Duke, he spent 19 years with the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), and the Harvard International Tax Program, focusing on local government finance, tax analysis and project evaluation.
Kelly has 40 years of experience in teaching and in designing and implementing reforms on fiscal decentralization, local government finance, revenue mobilization and property taxation in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. He served as a resident advisor to the governments of Indonesia, Kenya, Cambodia and Tanzania and as a short-term advisor in over 30 different countries. Kelly received his MCRP and Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Harvard University.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Personal Income Tax Piggybacking
Report · March 1, 2023 PIT piggybacking could be a major source of revenue for district governments in Indonesia. We estimate that the introduction of PIT piggybacking could increase district own-source revenue by an average of 8.3%. However, successful introduction of the ... Link to item CiteProperty Tax Diagnostic Manual
Book · November 19, 2020 Featured Publication This Property Tax Diagnostic Manual provides guidance on how to analyze and assess immovable property tax systems, diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of such systems, and develop a property tax intervention strategy where needed. Its higher objective is ... CiteFinancing Sustainable Urbanization in Sri Lanka
Chapter · 2017 Urbanization and cities are expected to play an important role in Sri Lanka’s ongoing transition to become an upper middle-income country. Theory and international experience have long recognized urban areas as important engines of economic growth—providin ... Open Access CiteRecent Grants
Public Policy, Service Delivery and Negotiations
Public ServicePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Bangladesh Ministry of Public Administration · 2020 - 2020Leaders for Democracy Fellows Training Program
Public ServicePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by World Learning · 2018 - 2019Leadership in Public Financial Management II (LPFM II) - County-Level Support for Sustainable HIV Financing in Kenya Scoping Mission
Public ServicePrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Robert Nathan Associates, Inc. · 2015 - 2018View All Grants