IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/eecrev/v54y2010i1p150-161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

EU regional policy and tax competition

Author

Listed:
  • Becker, Johannes
  • Fuest, Clemens

Abstract

The European Union (EU) provides coordination and financing of trans-European transport infrastructures, i.e. roads and railways, which link the EU member states and reduce the cost of transport and mobility. This raises the question of whether EU involvement in this area is justified by inefficiencies of national infrastructure policies. Moreover, an often expressed concern is that policies enhancing mobility may boost tax competition. We analyze these questions using a model where countries compete for the location of profitable firms. We show that a coordination of investment in transport cost reducing infrastructures within union countries enhances welfare and mitigates tax competition. In contrast, with regard to union-periphery infrastructure, the union has an interest in a coordinated reduction of investment expenditures. Here, the effects on tax competition are ambiguous. Our results provide a rationale for EU-level regional policy that supports the development of intra-union infrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Becker, Johannes & Fuest, Clemens, 2010. "EU regional policy and tax competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 150-161, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:54:y:2010:i:1:p:150-161
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014-2921(09)00071-3
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James R. Markusen, 2004. "Multinational Firms and the Theory of International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262633078, December.
    2. Ronald B. Davies & Carsten Eckel, 2010. "Tax Competition for Heterogeneous Firms with Endogenous Entry," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 77-102, February.
    3. Karolina Ekholm & Rikard Forslid & James R. Markusen, 2021. "Export-Platform Foreign Direct Investment," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: BROADENING TRADE THEORY Incorporating Market Realities into Traditional Models, chapter 6, pages 111-130, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    4. Hannes Winner, 2005. "Has Tax Competition Emerged in OECD Countries? Evidence from Panel Data," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(5), pages 667-687, September.
    5. Anke S. Kessler & Christoph Lülfesmann & Gordon M. Myers, 2002. "Redistribution, Fiscal Competition, and the Politics of Economic Integration," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 69(4), pages 899-923.
    6. Becker, Johannes & Fuest, Clemens, 2010. "EU regional policy and tax competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 150-161, January.
    7. Ronald B. Davies & Carsten Eckel, 2007. "Tax Competition for Heterogeneous Firms with Endogenous Entry:The Case of Heterogeneous Fixed Costs," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp213, IIIS.
    8. Claudia M. Buch & Jörn Kleinert & Alexander Lipponer & Farid Toubal & Richard Baldwin, 2005. "Determinants and effects of foreign direct investment: evidence from German firm-level data [‘Estimating the knowledge-capital model of the multinational enterprise: comment on Carr, David L.’]," Economic Policy, CEPR;CES;MSH, vol. 20(41), pages 52-110.
    9. Basile, Roberto & Castellani, Davide & Zanfei, Antonello, 2008. "Location choices of multinational firms in Europe: The role of EU cohesion policy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 328-340, March.
    10. Haufler, Andreas & Wooton, Ian, 1999. "Country size and tax competition for foreign direct investment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 121-139, January.
    11. Hines, James R. Jr., 1999. "Lessons From Behavioral Responses to International Taxation," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(2), pages 305-322, June.
    12. Cremer, Helmuth & Gahvari, Firouz, 2000. "Tax evasion, fiscal competition and economic integration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(9), pages 1633-1657, October.
    13. Konrad, Kai A. & Schjelderup, Guttorm, 1999. "Fortress Building in Global Tax Competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 156-167, July.
    14. Devereux, Michael P. & Lockwood, Ben & Redoano, Michela, 2008. "Do countries compete over corporate tax rates?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1210-1235, June.
    15. Haaparanta, Pertti, 1996. "Competition for foreign direct investments," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 141-153, December.
    16. Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene, 2007. "Regional policy design: An analysis of relocation, efficiency and equity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 1443-1467, August.
    17. Keen, Michael & Marchand, Maurice, 1997. "Fiscal competition and the pattern of public spending," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 33-53, October.
    18. Baldwin, Richard E. & Krugman, Paul, 2004. "Agglomeration, integration and tax harmonisation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 1-23, February.
    19. Behrens, Kristian & Gaigne, Carl & Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Thisse, Jacques-Francois, 2007. "Countries, regions and trade: On the welfare impacts of economic integration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 1277-1301, July.
    20. Haufler, Andreas & Wooton, Ian, 2006. "The effects of regional tax and subsidy coordination on foreign direct investment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 285-305, February.
    21. Karen Helene Midelfart-Knarvik & Henry G. Overman, 2002. "Delocation and European integration: is structural spending justified? [‘Specialization patterns in Europe’]," Economic Policy, CEPR;CES;MSH, vol. 17(35), pages 321-359.
    22. Ian King & R. Preston McAfee & Linda Welling, 1993. "Industrial Blackmail: Dynamic Tax Competition and Public Investment," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 26(3), pages 590-608, August.
    23. Kanbur, Ravi & Keen, Michael, 1993. "Jeux Sans Frontieres: Tax Competition and Tax Coordination When Countries Differ in Size," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 877-892, September.
    24. King, I. & McAfee, R.P. & Welling, L., 1990. "Industrial Blackmail," Papers 130, Calgary - Department of Economics.
    25. Michael P Devereux, 2007. "The Impact of Taxation on the Location of Capital, Firms and Profit: a Survey of Empirical Evidence," Working Papers 0702, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    26. Black, Dan A & Hoyt, William H, 1989. "Bidding for Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(5), pages 1249-1256, December.
    27. Sorensen, Peter Birch, 2004. "International tax coordination: regionalism versus globalism," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 1187-1214, June.
    28. Hines, James R. Jr., 1999. "Lessons from Behavioral Responses to International Taxation," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 2), pages 305-22, June.
    29. Fuest, Clemens & Huber, Bernd, 2006. "Can regional policy in a federation improve economic efficiency?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 499-511, February.
    30. Fuest, Clemens, 2005. "Economic integration and tax policy with endogenous foreign firm ownership," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(9-10), pages 1823-1840, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kyoko Hirose & Kazuhiro Yamamoto, 2013. "Asymmetric international transport costs and tax competition: the influence of a third country," Discussion Papers 59, Kyushu Sangyo University, Faculty of Economics.
    2. Alexander Haupt & Tim Krieger, 2009. "The role of mobility in tax and subsidy competition," Working Papers CIE 21, Paderborn University, CIE Center for International Economics.
    3. Andra-Madalina, PANTILIE, 2014. "Economic Development From The Perspective Of Regional Policies," Management Strategies Journal, Constantin Brancoveanu University, vol. 26(4), pages 104-110.
    4. Johannes Becker & Andrea Schneider, 2019. "Bidding for Firms with Unknown Characteristics," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(3), pages 1222-1243, July.
    5. Darby, Julia & Ferrett, Ben & Wooton, Ian, 2013. "FDI, Trade Costs and Regional Asymmetries," SIRE Discussion Papers 2013-106, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    6. Till Gross, 2021. "Dynamic Optimal Fiscal Policy in a Transfer Union," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 42, pages 194-238, October.
    7. Haupt, Alexander & Krieger, Tim, 2020. "The role of relocation mobility in tax and subsidy competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    8. Lixia Jin & Changjian Wang & Hongou Zhang & Yuyao Ye & Zhiwei Du & Yuling Zhang, 2019. "Evolution and Mechanism of the “Core–Periphery” Relationship: Micro-Evidence from Cross-Regional Industrial Production Organization in a Fast-Developing Region in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-19, December.
    9. Robert Alexander & Rui-cong Sang & Sajid Anwar, 2016. "Regional Policy and Industrial Relocation in China: A Panel Data Analysis," EcoMod2016 9277, EcoMod.
    10. Hopp, Daniel & Kriebel, Michael, 2019. "The political economy of interregional competition for firms," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Kate Hynes & Jie Ma & Cheng Yuan, 2019. "Transport infrastructure investments and competition for FDI," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 66(4), pages 511-526, September.
    12. Becker, Johannes & Fuest, Clemens, 2010. "EU regional policy and tax competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 150-161, January.
    13. Alexei Alexandrov & Özlem Bedre-Defolie, 2011. "Sales tax competition and a multinational with a decreasing marginal cost," ESMT Research Working Papers ESMT-11-01, ESMT European School of Management and Technology.
    14. Darby, Julia & Ferrett, Ben & Wooton, Ian, 2014. "Regional centrality and tax competition for FDI," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 84-92.
    15. Wataru Johdo, 2013. "Corporate Tax Reductions, Cross-Border Ownership and Welfare," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 64(4), pages 484-503, December.
    16. Patricia Sanz‐Córdoba & Bernd Theilen, 2018. "Partial Tax Harmonization Through Infrastructure Coordination," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1399-1416, April.
    17. Christiana Koliouska & Zacharoula Andreopoulou, 2020. "A Multicriteria Approach for Assessing the Impact of ICT on EU Sustainable Regional Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-13, June.
    18. Apergis, Nicholas & Cooray, Arusha, 2014. "Tax revenues convergence across ASEAN, Pacific and Oceania countries: Evidence from club convergence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 11-21.
    19. Daniel Hopp & Michael Kriebel, 2016. "The political economy of interregional competition for firms," CQE Working Papers 5616, Center for Quantitative Economics (CQE), University of Muenster.
    20. Michael Keen & Kai A. Konrad, 2012. "International Tax Competition and Coordination," Working Papers international_tax_competi, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.
    21. Hopp, Daniel & Kriebel, Michael, 2016. "The political economy of interregional competition for firms," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145693, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johannes Becker & Andrea Schneider, 2019. "Bidding for Firms with Unknown Characteristics," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(3), pages 1222-1243, July.
    2. Ronald B. Davies & Carsten Eckel, 2010. "Tax Competition for Heterogeneous Firms with Endogenous Entry," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 77-102, February.
    3. Haufler, Andreas & Wooton, Ian, 2007. "Competition for Firms in an Oligopolistic Industry: Do Firms or Countries Have to Pay?," Discussion Papers in Economics 1399, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    4. O. Amerighi & S. Peralta, 2007. "Exports Versus Horizontal Foreign Direct Investment with Profit Shifting," Working Papers 604, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    5. Michael Keen & Kai A. Konrad, 2012. "International Tax Competition and Coordination," Working Papers international_tax_competi, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.
    6. Krishanu Karmakar & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2014. "Fiscal Competition versus Fiscal Harmonization: A Review of the Arguments," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1431, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    7. Mauro Ghinamo & Paolo Panteghini & Federico Revelli, 2010. "FDI determination and corporate tax competition in a volatile world," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 17(5), pages 532-555, October.
    8. Oscar Amerighi & Giuseppe De Feo, 2014. "Competition for FDI and Profit Shifting: On the Effects of Subsidies and Tax Breaks," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 70(3), pages 374-404, September.
    9. Haufler, Andreas & Lülfesmann, Christoph, 2015. "Reforming an asymmetric union: On the virtues of dual tier capital taxation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 116-127.
    10. Andreas Haufler & Frank Stähler, 2013. "Tax Competition In A Simple Model With Heterogeneous Firms: How Larger Markets Reduce Profit Taxes," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(2), pages 665-692, May.
    11. Apergis, Nicholas & Cooray, Arusha, 2014. "Tax revenues convergence across ASEAN, Pacific and Oceania countries: Evidence from club convergence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 11-21.
    12. Haufler, Andreas & Wooton, Ian, 2006. "The effects of regional tax and subsidy coordination on foreign direct investment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 285-305, February.
    13. Ben Ferrett & Ian Wooton, 2010. "Competing for a duopoly: international trade and tax competition," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 43(3), pages 776-794, August.
    14. Gaëtan Nicodème, 2006. "Corporate tax competition and coordination in the European Union: What do we know? Where do we stand?," European Economy - Economic Papers 2008 - 2015 250, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    15. C. Dembour, 2008. "Competition for Business Location: A Survey," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 89-111, June.
    16. Devereux, Michael P. & Lockwood, Ben & Redoano, Michela, 2008. "Do countries compete over corporate tax rates?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1210-1235, June.
    17. Egger, Peter & Eggert, Wolfgang & Winner, Hannes, 2010. "Saving taxes through foreign plant ownership," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 99-108, May.
    18. Ronald B. Davies & Hartmut Egger & Peter Egger, 2003. "Tax Competition for International Producers and the Mode of Foreign Market Entry," University of Oregon Economics Department Working Papers 2006-19, University of Oregon Economics Department, revised 10 Jun 2003.
    19. Amerighi, Oscar & Peralta, Susana, 2010. "The proximity-concentration trade-off with profit shifting," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 90-101, July.
    20. Haufler, Andreas, 2006. "Die Besteuerung multinationaler Unternehmen," Discussion Papers in Economics 1153, University of Munich, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    European Union Infrastructure Regional policy Tax competition;

    JEL classification:

    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:54:y:2010:i:1:p:150-161. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eer .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.