IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/bofitp/bdp2018_020.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Fiscal incentives, competition, and investment in China

Author

Listed:
  • Lv, Bingyang
  • Liu, Yongzheng
  • Li, Yan
  • Ding, Siying

Abstract

This paper explores how fiscal incentives offered to local governments in China affect investment rates in their jurisdictions. Theoretically, we build a simple fiscal competition model to establish the linkage between local fiscal incentives and expenditure policy and consequently, capital movement. The key prediction of the model, borne out by data from Chinese provinces spanning 2004–2013, is that an increase in the local corporate income tax-sharing ratio, which proxies fiscal incentives offered to local governments, motivates local governments to compete for capital investment through increased public expenditures. Our results contribute to the fiscal federalism literature by showing that local fiscal incentives significantly shape policy choices and local economic performance. In addition, by exploring fiscal incentives offered to local governments, we offer a novel explanation for the unusually high investment rate in China that has been sustained over a prolonged period of time.

Suggested Citation

  • Lv, Bingyang & Liu, Yongzheng & Li, Yan & Ding, Siying, 2018. "Fiscal incentives, competition, and investment in China," BOFIT Discussion Papers 20/2018, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bofitp:bdp2018_020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/212905/1/bofit-dp2018-020.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hindriks, Jean & Peralta, Susana & Weber, Shlomo, 2008. "Competing in taxes and investment under fiscal equalization," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(12), pages 2392-2402, December.
    2. Kempf, Hubert & Rota-Graziosi, Grégoire, 2010. "Endogenizing leadership in tax competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 768-776, October.
    3. Gong, Gang & Lin, Justin Yifu, 2008. "Deflationary expansion: An overshooting perspective to the recent business cycle in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Roger H. Gordon & Wei Li, 2012. "Provincial and Local Governments in China: Fiscal Institutions and Government Behavior," NBER Chapters, in: Capitalizing China, pages 337-369, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin & Yang, Xi & Zhou, Li-An & Zhu, Tian, 2017. "Market facilitation by local government and firm efficiency: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 460-480.
    6. Wildasin, David E., 1988. "Nash equilibria in models of fiscal competition," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 229-240, March.
    7. Hubert Kempf & Grégoire Rota-Graziosi, 2010. "Endogenizing leadership in the tax competition race," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 10039, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    8. Yongzheng Liu & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Alfred M. Wu, 2017. "Fiscal decentralization, equalization, and intra-provincial inequality in China," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(2), pages 248-281, April.
    9. Chong-En Bai & Chang-Tai Hsieh & Yingyi Qian, 2006. "The Return to Capital in China," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 37(2), pages 61-102.
    10. Zhang, Xiaobo, 2006. "Fiscal decentralization and political centralization in China: Implications for growth and inequality," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 713-726, December.
    11. Justin Yifu Lin & Zhiqiang Liu, 2000. "Fiscal Decentralization and Economic Growth in China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(1), pages 1-21.
    12. Song, Yang, 2013. "Rising Chinese regional income inequality: The role of fiscal decentralization," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 294-309.
    13. Weingast, Barry R., 2009. "Second generation fiscal federalism: The implications of fiscal incentives," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 279-293, May.
    14. Kempf, H. & Rota Graziosi, G., 2010. "Endogenizing leadership in tax competition: a timing game perspective," Working papers 299, Banque de France.
    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. Lv, Bingyang & Liu, Yongzheng & Li, Yan & Ding, Siying, 2018. "Fiscal incentives, competition, and investment in China," BOFIT Discussion Papers 20/2018, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    2. repec:zbw:bofitp:2018_020 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Lv, Bingyang & Liu, Yongzheng & Li, Yan, 2020. "Fiscal incentives, competition, and investment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    4. Yongzheng Liu & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2015. "Public Input Competition under Stackelberg Equilibrium: A Note," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 17(6), pages 1022-1037, December.
    5. Sharma, Ajay & Pal, Rupayan, 2019. "Nash equilibrium in tax and public investment competition," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 106-120.
    6. Carsten Eckel & Yutao Han & Kate Hynes & Jin Zhang, 2021. "Structural fund, endogenous move and commitment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(2), pages 465-482, April.
    7. Yongzheng Liu & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2011. "Public Input Competition, Stackelberg Equilibrium and Optimality," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper1123, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    8. Satoshi Kasamatsu & Daiki Kishishita, 2021. "Tax competition and political agency problems," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(4), pages 1782-1810, November.
    9. Jean Hindriks & Yukihiro Nishimura, 2021. "Taxing multinationals: The scope for enforcement cooperation," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 23(3), pages 487-509, June.
    10. Keisuke Kawachi & Hikaru Ogawa & Taiki Susa, 2019. "Endogenizing government’s objectives in tax competition with capital ownership," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(3), pages 571-594, June.
    11. Rupayan Pal & Ajay Sharma, 2011. "Political competition and leadership in tax competition," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2011-024, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    12. Eichner, Thomas, 2014. "Endogenizing leadership and tax competition: Externalities and public good provision," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 18-26.
    13. Rupayan Pal & Ajay Sharma, 2011. "Competition for foreign capital: Endogenous objective, public investment and tax," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2011-021, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    14. Hikaru Ogawa & Atsushi Yamagishi, 2016. "Ad Valorem Capital Tax Competition," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1030, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    15. Haraguchi Junichi & Ogawa Hikaru, 2018. "Leadership in Tax Competition with Fiscal Equalization Transfers," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, July.
    16. Hindriks, Jean & Nishimura, Yukihiro, 2014. "On the timing of tax and investment in fiscal competition models," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2014065, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    17. Hubert Kempf & Grégoire Rota-Graziosi, 2015. "Further analysis on leadership in tax competition: the role of capital ownership—a comment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(6), pages 1028-1039, December.
    18. Pal, Rupayan & Sharma, Ajay, 2016. "Competition for Foreign Capital under Asymmetric Revenue-Orientation," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 51(1), pages 105-116.
    19. Hao, Yu & Liu, Jiahui & Lu, Zhi-Nan & Shi, Ruijie & Wu, Haitao, 2021. "Impact of income inequality and fiscal decentralization on public health: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 934-944.
    20. Yutao Han & Xi Wan, 2019. "Who benefits from partial tax coordination?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 1620-1640, May.
    21. Thomas Eichner & Rüdiger Pethig, 2020. "Kant–Nash tax competition," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(5), pages 1108-1147, October.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H72 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Budget and Expenditures
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • R53 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Public Facility Location Analysis; Public Investment and Capital Stock

    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:zbw:bofitp:bdp2018_020. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bofitfi.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.