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Fiscal Federalism and Economic Performance: Evidence from Swiss Cantons

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Author Info
Lars P. Feld () (Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Philipps Universitaet Marburg)
Gebhard Kirchgässner
Christoph A. Schaltegger (University of St. Gallen, SIAW-HSG, and CESifo, Swiss Federal Tax Administration, FTA and University of St. Gallen, SIAW-HSG)

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Abstract

The advantages and disadvantages of fiscal federalism are widely discussed in economics and political science. While some authors argue that federalism favors individual initiatives and serves as a market preserving device, others emphasize the dangers arising from an increasing corruption and local capture due to decentralization. In this paper, we empirically study the impact of different instruments of fiscal federalism on economic performance measured by GDP per capita using panel data for the 26 Swiss cantons from 1980 to 1998. In our econometric production function approach, the impact of fiscal federalism, tax competition and grants on economic performance is analyzed by additionally using controls for physical and human capital investment as well as further controls and indicators of fiscal federalism. According to our results, the intensity of tax competition, which is measured by the difference between a cantons tax rate and the average of its neighbors’ tax rates, is at least not harmful for economic performance. Moreover, the fragmentation of cantons in communities does not affect real GDP per capita indicating that economies of scale do not necessarily provide a good argument for a merger of communities.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung) in its series Marburg Working Papers on Economics with number 200420.

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Length: 23 pages
Date of creation: 2004
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Handle: RePEc:mar:volksw:200420

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Related research
Keywords: Fiscal Federalism; Economic Performance; Tax Competition; Grants.;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Models of Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

References listed on IDEAS
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Giorgio Brosio & Ehtisham Ahmad & Vito Tanzi, 2008. "Local Service Provision in Selected OECD Countries: Do Decentralized Operations Work Better?," IMF Working Papers 08/67, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  2. Lars P Feld, 2004. "On Tax Competition: The (Un-)Expected Advantages of Decentralized Fiscal Autonomy," Marburg Working Papers on Economics 200425, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung). [Downloadable!]
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