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Economic Growth and Tax-Competing Leviathans

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  • Michael Rauscher

Abstract

Is tax competition good for economic growth? The paper addresses this question by means of a simple model of economic growth in which a wasteful Leviathan state sets taxes and provides a productive input. Wasteful behaviour is restricted by the voter, who reduces political support if her income is reduced. The intensity of tax competition is modelled via variation of a parameter measuring the mobility of the tax base. It is shown that the effects of increased mobility of the tax base on economic growth are ambiguous and that the elasticity of intertemporal substitution, which in this model equals the rate of intratemporal substitution between the government’s own consumption and its political support, is a decisive variable in this context. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005

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  • Michael Rauscher, 2005. "Economic Growth and Tax-Competing Leviathans," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(4), pages 457-474, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:itaxpf:v:12:y:2005:i:4:p:457-474
    DOI: 10.1007/s10797-005-1834-4
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    3. Hashimzade, Nigar & Myles, Gareth D., 2010. "Growth And Public Infrastructure," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(S2), pages 258-274, November.
    4. Rauscher, Michael, 2005. "Tax competition, capital mobility, and innovation in the public sector," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 54, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
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    6. Min Zhou & Teng Wang & Liang Yan & Xiong-Biao Xie, 2018. "Has Economic Competition Improved China’s Provincial Energy Ecological Efficiency under Fiscal Decentralization?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-20, July.
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    10. Michael Rauscher, 2007. "Tax Competition, Capital Mobility and Innovation in the Public Sector," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 8, pages 28-40, February.
    11. Bodman, Philip & Campbell, Harry & Le, Thanh, 2012. "Public investment, taxation, and long-run output in economies with multi-level governments," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1603-1611.
    12. Batina, Raymond G., 2009. "Local capital tax competition and coordinated tax reform in an overlapping generations economy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 472-478, July.
    13. Maebayashi, Noritaka & Morimoto, Keiichi, 2022. "Global Corporate Income Tax Competition, Knowledge Spillover, and Growth," MPRA Paper 112790, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Kellermann, Kersten, 2007. "Fiscal competition and a potential growth effect of centralization," KOFL Working Papers 4, Konjunkturforschungsstelle Liechtenstein (KOFL), Vaduz.
    15. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Lars P. Feld & Jan Schnellenbach, 2014. "Fiscal Federalism, Decentralization and Economic Growth: Survey and Meta-Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 4985, CESifo.
    16. Maebayashi, Noritaka & Morimoto, Keiichi, 2022. "Global Corporate Income Tax Competition, Knowledge Spillover, and Growth," MPRA Paper 112781, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Yaling Deng & Daming You & Yang Zhang, 2021. "Can the Behavioural Spillover Effect Affect the Environmental Regulations Strategy Choice of Local Governments?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-24, May.
    18. Daniel Becker & Michael Rauscher, 2013. "Fiscal Competition and Growth When Capital Is Imperfectly Mobile," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 115(1), pages 211-233, January.
    19. Daniel Becker & Michael Rauscher, 2007. "Fiscal Competition in Space and Time: An Endogenous-Growth Approach," CESifo Working Paper Series 2048, CESifo.
    20. Chu, Angus C. & Yang, C.C., 2012. "Fiscal centralization versus decentralization: Growth and welfare effects of spillovers, Leviathan taxation, and capital mobility," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 177-188.
    21. Tamai, Toshiki, 2022. "Tax competition versus tax coordination in a multi-region endogenous growth model with an integrated capital market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    22. Ulrich Hange, 2008. "Tax Competition, Elastic Labor Supply, and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 2338, CESifo.
    23. Jingxia Chai & Yu Hao & Haitao Wu & Yuemiao Yang, 2021. "Do constraints created by economic growth targets benefit sustainable development? Evidence from China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 4188-4205, December.
    24. Geremia Palomba, 2008. "Capital income taxation and economic growth in open economies," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 15(6), pages 668-692, December.
    25. Bartolini, David & Ninka, Eniel & Santolini, Raffaella, 2017. "Tax Decentralisation, Labour productivity and Employment," MPRA Paper 81070, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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