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Fiscal Policy And Optimal Taxation: Evidence From A Tax Smoothing Exercise

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  • Gerhard Reitschuler

Abstract

Testing the tax smoothing hypothesis for the EU‐15, we hypothesise that the introduction of the 3%‐deficit rule of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993 may have inhibited tax smoothing as European Union (EU)‐member states are no longer capable of letting the deficit grow as much as implied by expected decreases in government expenditure. Our results show that for some countries this fiscal rule may have indeed changed the validity of the tax smoothing hypothesis, thus implying that EU accession has caused welfare losses.

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  • Gerhard Reitschuler, 2010. "Fiscal Policy And Optimal Taxation: Evidence From A Tax Smoothing Exercise," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 57(2), pages 238-252, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scotjp:v:57:y:2010:i:2:p:238-252
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9485.2010.00515.x
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    3. Taner Turan & Mesut Karakas & Halit Yanikkaya, 2014. "Tax Smoothing Hypothesis: A Turkish Case," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 61(4), pages 487-501, September.
    4. Constantine Angyridis & Leo Michelis, 2021. "Structural breaks, debt limits and the tax smoothing hypothesis: theory and evidence from the OECD countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1283-1307, March.
    5. Samia OMRANE BELGUITH & Foued Badr GABSI & Ameni MTIBAA, 2018. "Tax smoothing hypothesis: The Tunisian case," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(4(617), W), pages 169-178, Winter.
    6. Emilio Congregado & Vicente Esteve & Juan A. María A. Prats, 2024. "Optimal public deficit and tax-smoothing in the Spanish economy, 1850-2022," Working Papers 2401, Department of Applied Economics II, Universidad de Valencia.
    7. Michael McLure, 2017. "Ricardian Equivalence, the Italian Fiscal Tradition and Western Australia’s Government Net Debt," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 24(1), pages 5-20.

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