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Standard Tax Competition and Increasing Returns

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  • SIGNE KROGSTRUP

Abstract

The “race to the bottom” result of the standard tax competition literature implies that capital taxes are competed downward as capital becomes more mobile. The new economic geography literature, in contrast, finds that increasing capital mobility can be associated with a rise in capital tax rates, or a “race to the top.” This paper derives the race to the top result from within the standard tax competition modeling framework augmented with agglomeration forces. When agglomeration forces are sufficiently strong, tax competition pressures are mitigated and capital taxes are instead driven by tax exporting incentives.

Suggested Citation

  • Signe Krogstrup, 2008. "Standard Tax Competition and Increasing Returns," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 10(4), pages 547-561, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:10:y:2008:i:4:p:547-561
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9779.2008.00376.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Mr. Manmohan S. Kumar & Mr. Dennis P. Quinn, 2012. "Globalization and Corporate Taxation," IMF Working Papers 2012/252, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Marius Brülhart & Mario Jametti & Kurt Schmidheiny, 2012. "Do agglomeration economies reduce the sensitivity of firm location to tax differentials?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(563), pages 1069-1093, September.
    3. Brülhart, Marius & Bucovetsky, Sam & Schmidheiny, Kurt, 2015. "Taxes in Cities," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1123-1196, Elsevier.
    4. Pasquale Commendatore & Ingrid Kubin, 2016. "Source versus residence: A comparison from a new economic geography perspective," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 201-222, June.
    5. Marius Brülhart & Helen Simpson, 2018. "Agglomeration economies, taxable rents and government capture: evidence from a place-based policy," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 319-353.
    6. Sandy Fréret & Denis Maguain, 2017. "The effects of agglomeration on tax competition: evidence from a two-regime spatial panel model on French data," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(6), pages 1100-1140, December.
    7. Gerritse, Michiel, 2014. "Competing for firms under agglomeration: Policy timing and welfare," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 48-57.
    8. Kristian Behrens & Frédéric Robert‐Nicoud, 2009. "Krugman's Papers in Regional Science: The 100 dollar bill on the sidewalk is gone and the 2008 Nobel Prize well‐deserved," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(2), pages 467-489, June.
    9. Ossip Hühnerbein & Tobias Seidel, 2010. "Intra‐regional Tax Competition and Economic Geography," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 1042-1051, August.
    10. Mitch Kunce, 2022. "Decentralized Environmental Regulation with Agglomeration Forces," Business & Entrepreneurship Journal, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 11(1), pages 1-2.
    11. Jofre-Monseny, Jordi & Solé-Ollé, Albert, 2012. "Which communities should be afraid of mobility? The effects of agglomeration economies on the sensitivity of employment location to local taxes," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 257-268.
    12. Jordi Jofre-Monseny, 2010. "Is agglomeration taxable?," Working Papers 2010/15, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    13. Matthias Wrede, 2014. "Agglomeration, tax competition, and fiscal equalization," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(6), pages 1012-1027, December.
    14. Matthias Wrede, 2014. "Agglomeration, tax competition, and fiscal equalization," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 21(6), pages 1012-1027, December.
    15. Luisa Dörr & Stefanie Gäbler, 2020. "Does Highway Accessibility Influence Local Tax Factors? Evidence from German Municipalities," ifo Working Paper Series 321, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    16. Mitch Kunce, 2023. "Decentralized Pollution Standard Setting with Agglomeration Forces Present in a Model of Specific Firm Mobility," Business & Entrepreneurship Journal, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 12(1), pages 1-3.
    17. Jordi Jofre-Monseny, 2010. "Is agglomeration taxable?," Working Papers 2010/15, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).

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