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Social Democracy Constrained: Indirect Taxation in Industrialized Democracies

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  • BERAMENDI, PABLO
  • RUEDA, DAVID

Abstract

The determinants of the welfare state have received a great deal of attention in the comparative political economy literature. An analysis of the role that indirect taxation plays in the politics of advanced industrial societies is, however, missing. This article demonstrates that a full understanding of the links between redistribution, social democracy and corporatism is impossible without a closer look at indirect taxation. Conventional wisdom is questioned and it is shown that social democratic governments in corporatist environments find themselves in a paradoxical situation. They need to support the welfare state by relying upon a fundamentally regressive policy instrument: indirect taxation. It is also shown that social democratic governments can minimize the use of consumption taxes as part of their redistributive strategy only in non-corporatist settings. In exploring these issues, this article illuminates alternative routes for the pursuit of equality in a context of declining corporatist arrangements.

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  • Beramendi, Pablo & Rueda, David, 2007. "Social Democracy Constrained: Indirect Taxation in Industrialized Democracies," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 37(4), pages 619-641, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:bjposi:v:37:y:2007:i:04:p:619-641_00
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    1. Karol Jan Borowiecki & Trilce Navarrete, 2018. "Fiscal and economic aspects of book consumption in the European Union," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(2), pages 309-339, May.
    2. Torregrosa Hetland, Sara & Sabaté, Oriol, 2021. "Income Taxes and Redistribution in the Early Twentieth Century," Lund Papers in Economic History 224, Lund University, Department of Economic History, revised 05 Sep 2022.
    3. Potrafke, Niklas, 2017. "Partisan politics: The empirical evidence from OECD panel studies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 712-750.
    4. Olivier Jacques, 2021. "Classes and Taxes: Socio-Economic Status, Ideology and (Un)Willingness to Pay," CIRANO Working Papers 2021s-37, CIRANO.
    5. Georgios Magkonis & Vasileios Logothetis & Kalliopi-Maria Zekente, 2019. "Does the Left Spend More?," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2019-03, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.
    6. von Schiller, Armin, 2015. "Party System Institutionalization and Reliance on Personal Income Tax in Developing Countries," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 7351, Inter-American Development Bank.
    7. Lukas Haffert, 2019. "War mobilization or war destruction? The unequal rise of progressive taxation revisited," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 59-82, March.
    8. Elvire Guillaud & Matthew Olckers & Michaël Zemmour, 2020. "Four Levers of Redistribution: The Impact of Tax and Transfer Systems on Inequality Reduction," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(2), pages 444-466, June.
    9. Gurneeta Vasudeva & Akbar Zaheer & Exequiel Hernandez, 2013. "The Embeddedness of Networks: Institutions, Structural Holes, and Innovativeness in the Fuel Cell Industry," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 645-663, June.
    10. Reeves, Aaron, 2021. "The health effects of wage setting institutions: how collective bargaining improves health but not because it reduces inequality," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113422, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    11. Peter John, 2018. "Theories of policy change and variation reconsidered: a prospectus for the political economy of public policy," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(1), pages 1-16, March.
    12. Manuela Krause & Niklas Potrafke, 2020. "The Real Estate Transfer Tax and Government Ideology: Evidence from the German States," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 76(1), pages 100-120.
    13. Niklas Potrafke, 2006. "Parties Matter in Allocating Expenditures: Evidence from Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 652, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Sebastian Dellepiane-Avellaneda & Niamh Hardiman, 2015. "Paying for the Welfare State in the European Periphery," Working Papers 201520, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    15. Marcus André Melo & Armando Barrientos & André Canuto Coelho, 2014. "Taxation, redistribution and the social contract in Brazil," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series iriba_wp11, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    16. Hamilton, Alexander, 2013. "Small is beautiful, at least in high-income democracies: the distribution of policy-making responsibility, electoral accountability, and incentives for rent extraction," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6305, The World Bank.
    17. Vincent A. Mahler & David K. Jesuit, 2018. "Indirect taxes and government inequality reduction: A cross-national analysis of the developed world," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 26(2), pages 1-26, July.
    18. Regina Baker, 2019. "Why is the American South Poorer?," LIS Working papers 778, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    19. Laura Seelkopf & Moritz Bubek & Edgars Eihmanis & Joseph Ganderson & Julian Limberg & Youssef Mnaili & Paula Zuluaga & Philipp Genschel, 2021. "The rise of modern taxation: A new comprehensive dataset of tax introductions worldwide," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 239-263, January.
    20. Zabsonre Zacharia & Boukary Ouedraogo, 2023. "Influence of tax structures on income inequality in WAEMU countries [Influences des structures fiscales sur l'inégalité de revenus dans les pays de l'UEMOA]," Post-Print hal-04188709, HAL.

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