IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eej/eeconj/v29y2003i4p527-558.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Securities Transaction Taxes for U.S. Financial Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Pollin

    (Department of Economics and Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), University of Massachusetts, Amherst)

  • Dean Baker

    (Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR))

  • Marc Schaberg

Abstract

This paper examines the viability of security transaction excise taxes (STETs) as one policy tool for promoting a more stable financial environment, specifically with respect to the U.S. economy. Contrary to a large recent critical literature, we show that a STET can be designed without creating large distortions between segments of the financial market. We also show that a modest STET for the U.S.—beginning with a 0.5 percent tax on equity trades and scaled appropriately for other financial instruments—would generate substantial new government revenues, on the order of $100 billion per year.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Pollin & Dean Baker & Marc Schaberg, 2003. "Securities Transaction Taxes for U.S. Financial Markets," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 29(4), pages 527-558, Fall.
    • Handle: RePEc:eej:eeconj:v:29:y:2003:i:4:p:527-558
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://web.holycross.edu/RePEc/eej/Archive/Volume29/V29N4P527_558.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eichengreen, Barry & Tobin, James & Wyplosz, Charles, 1995. "Two Cases for Sand in the Wheels of International Finance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(428), pages 162-172, January.
    2. Davidson, Paul, 1997. "Are Grains of Sand in the Wheels of International Finance Sufficient to Do the Job When Boulders Are Often Required?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(442), pages 671-686, May.
    3. Summers, L.H. & Summers, V.P., 1989. "When Financial Markets Work Too Well : A Cautious Case For A Securities Transactions Tax," Papers t12, Columbia - Center for Futures Markets.
    4. Levine, Ross & Zervos, Sara, 1998. "Stock Markets, Banks, and Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 537-558, June.
    5. Jones, Charles M & Seguin, Paul J, 1997. "Transaction Costs and Price Volatility: Evidence from Commission Deregulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 728-737, September.
    6. Arestis, Philip & Demetriades, Panicos O & Luintel, Kul B, 2001. "Financial Development and Economic Growth: The Role of Stock Markets," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(1), pages 16-41, February.
    7. James Tobin, 1978. "A Proposal for International Monetary Reform," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 4(3-4), pages 153-159, Jul/Oct.
    8. B. Wade Brorsen, 1991. "Futures trading, transaction costs, and stock market volatility," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(2), pages 153-163, April.
    9. Andrew W. Lo, 1996. "The Industrial Organization and Regulation of the Securities Industry," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number lo__96-1, March.
    10. Madhavan, Ananth & Richardson, Matthew & Roomans, Mark, 1997. "Why Do Security Prices Change? A Transaction-Level Analysis of NYSE Stocks," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 1035-1064.
    11. Umlauf, Steven R., 1993. "Transaction taxes and the behavior of the Swedish stock market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 227-240, April.
    12. Hu, Shing-yang, 1998. "The effects of the stock transaction tax on the stock market - Experiences from Asian markets," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 6(3-4), pages 347-364, August.
    13. Steven M. Fazzari & R. Glenn Hubbard & Bruce C. Petersen, 1988. "Financing Constraints and Corporate Investment," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 141-206.
    14. Shleifer, Andrei, 2000. "Inefficient Markets: An Introduction to Behavioral Finance," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198292272, Decembrie.
    15. Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 1998. "Transaction Taxes and Financial Market Equilibrium," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(1), pages 81-118, January.
    16. Peter C. Reiss & Ingrid M. Werner, 1996. "Transaction Costs in Dealer Markets: Evidence from the London Stock Exchange," NBER Chapters, in: The Industrial Organization and Regulation of the Securities Industry, pages 125-176, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. John Y. Campbell & Kenneth A. Froot, 1994. "International Experiences with Securities Transaction Taxes," NBER Chapters, in: The Internationalization of Equity Markets, pages 277-308, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Mathias Binswanger, 1999. "Stock Markets, Speculative Bubbles and Economic Growth," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1749.
    19. Steven M. Fazzari, 1994. "Why Doubt the Effectiveness of Keynesian Fiscal Policy?," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 231-248, December.
    20. Donald B. Keim & Ananth Madhavan, "undated". "The Cost of Institutional Equity Trades," Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research Working Papers 08-98, Wharton School Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research.
    21. Roll, R., 1989. "Price Volatility, International Market Links, And Their Implications For Regulatory Policies," Papers t10, Columbia - Center for Futures Markets.
    22. J. P. Raines & Charles G. Leathers, 2000. "Economists and the Stock Market," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1235.
    23. Peter R. Locke & P. C. Venkatesh, 1997. "Futures market transaction costs," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(2), pages 229-245, April.
    24. repec:fth:pennfi:68 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Stiglitz, J.E., 1989. "Using Tax Policy To Curb Speculative Short-Term Trading," Papers t2, Columbia - Center for Futures Markets.
    26. Lo, Andrew W. (ed.), 1996. "The Industrial Organization and Regulation of the Securities Industry," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226488479, December.
    27. George H. K. Wang & Jot Yau & Tony Baptiste, 1997. "Trading volume and transaction costs in futures markets," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(7), pages 757-780, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Ms. Thornton Matheson, 2011. "Taxing Financial Transactions: Issues and Evidence," IMF Working Papers 2011/054, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Capelle-Blancard, Gunther & Havrylchyk, Olena, 2016. "The impact of the French securities transaction tax on market liquidity and volatility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 166-178.
    3. Thornton Matheson, 2012. "Security transaction taxes: issues and evidence," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 19(6), pages 884-912, December.
    4. Rudolf Alvise Lennkh & Florian Walch, 2015. "Collateral Damage? Micro-Simulation of Transaction Cost Shocks on the Value of Central Bank Collateral," Working Papers 6, European Stability Mechanism.
    5. Eduardo Dávila, 2023. "Optimal Financial Transaction Taxes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 78(1), pages 5-61, February.
    6. Anna Pomeranets & Daniel G. Weaver, 2011. "Security Transaction Taxes and Market Quality," Staff Working Papers 11-26, Bank of Canada.
    7. Mr. Karl F Habermeier & Mr. Andrei A Kirilenko, 2001. "Securities Transaction Taxes and Financial Markets," IMF Working Papers 2001/051, International Monetary Fund.
    8. Deng, Yongheng & Liu, Xin & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2018. "One fundamental and two taxes: When does a Tobin tax reduce financial price volatility?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 663-692.
    9. Walch, Florian & Lennkh, Rudolf Alvise, 2015. "Collateral damage? Micro-simulation of transaction cost shocks on the value of central bank collateral," Working Paper Series 1793, European Central Bank.
    10. Thornton Matheson, 2014. "The Effect of a Low-Rate Transaction Tax on a Highly Liquid Market," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 70(4), pages 487-510, December.
    11. Neil McCulloch & Grazia Pacillo, 2010. "The Tobin Tax A Review of the Evidence," Working Paper Series 1611, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    12. Alonso, Miguel A. & Rallo, Juan Ramón & Romero, Alberto, 2013. "El efecto de los impuestos a las transacciones financieras en la estabilidad de los mercados de capital. Un debate sin resolver," El Trimestre Económico, Fondo de Cultura Económica, vol. 0(317), pages 207-231, enero-mar.
    13. Berentsen, Aleksander & Huber, Samuel & Marchesiani, Alessandro, 2016. "The societal benefit of a financial transaction tax," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 303-323.
    14. Yuming Fu & Wenlan Qian & Bernard Yeung, 2016. "Speculative Investors and Transactions Tax: Evidence from the Housing Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(11), pages 3254-3270, November.
    15. Thomas Hemmelgarn & Gaetan Nicodeme, 2010. "The 2008 Financial Crisis and Taxation Policy," Taxation Papers 20, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    16. Sanjay Sehgal & Tarunika Jain Agrawal, 2019. "Impact of Commodity Transaction Tax on Market Liquidity, Volatility, and Government Revenues: An Empirical Study for India," Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers, , vol. 44(1), pages 12-29, March.
    17. Andrea Morone & Pasquale Marcello Falcone & Simone Nuzzo & Piergiuseppe Morone, 2020. "Does a ‘financial transaction tax’ drive out information mirages? An experimental analysis," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 15(4), pages 793-820, October.
    18. Hanke, Michael & Huber, Jürgen & Kirchler, Michael & Sutter, Matthias, 2010. "The economic consequences of a Tobin tax--An experimental analysis," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(1-2), pages 58-71, May.
    19. Harald Hau, 2006. "The Role of Transaction Costs for Financial Volatility: Evidence from the Paris Bourse," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 4(4), pages 862-890, June.
    20. Copenhagen Economics, 2011. "Elasticities of Financial Instruments, Profits and Remuneration," Taxation Papers 30, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial Market; Securities;

    JEL classification:

    • F3 - International Economics - - International Finance
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

    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:eej:eeconj:v:29:y:2003:i:4:p:527-558. 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: Victor Matheson, College of the Holy Cross (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/eeaa1ea.html .

    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.