IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cuf/journl/y2017v18i2valles-gimenez.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tax Effort of Local Governments and its Determinants: The Spanish Case

Author

Listed:
  • Jaime Valles-Gimenez

    (Department of Public Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zaragoza)

  • Anabel Zarate-Marco

    (Department of Public Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zaragoza)

Abstract

We have implemented frontier techniques to analyse the local tax effort and its determinants. The results show that municipalities have been quite responsible on average (tax efforts between 72-85 percent), although most municipalities can increase their tax efforts both making a more intensive use of their tax authority and improving the efficiency of their tax collection. To respond to the financing problems of municipalities near the tax frontier, it would be desirable to reform the legal framework to allow a greater tax capacity while leaving the decision on how to use this potential in hands of each unit of government.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaime Valles-Gimenez & Anabel Zarate-Marco, 2017. "Tax Effort of Local Governments and its Determinants: The Spanish Case," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 18(2), pages 323-348, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:cuf:journl:y:2017:v:18:i:2:valles-gimenez
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://down.aefweb.net/AefArticles/aef180205Valles-Gimenez.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Qian WANG & Chunli SHEN & Heng-fu ZOU, 2009. "Local Government Tax Effort In China: An Analysis Of Provincial Tax Performance," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 29, pages 203-236.
    2. Sandhya Garg & Ashima Goyal & Rupayan Pal, 2017. "Why Tax Effort Falls Short of Tax Capacity in Indian States," Public Finance Review, , vol. 45(2), pages 232-259, March.
    3. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    4. Mehdi Farsi & Massimo Filippini & Michael Kuenzle, 2006. "Cost Efficiency in Regional Bus Companies: An Application of Alternative Stochastic Frontier Models," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 40(1), pages 95-118, January.
    5. Meeusen, Wim & van den Broeck, Julien, 1977. "Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 18(2), pages 435-444, June.
    6. Cinzia Daraio & Léopold Simar, 2007. "Conditional nonparametric frontier models for convex and nonconvex technologies: a unifying approach," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 13-32, October.
    7. Aragon, Y. & Daouia, A. & Thomas-Agnan, C., 2005. "Nonparametric Frontier Estimation: A Conditional Quantile-Based Approach," Econometric Theory, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(2), pages 358-389, April.
    8. Mehdi Farsi & Massimo Filippini & William Greene, 2006. "Application Of Panel Data Models In Benchmarking Analysis Of The Electricity Distribution Sector," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 77(3), pages 271-290, September.
    9. Garg, Sandya & Ashima Goyal & Rupayan Pal, 2014. "Why tax effort falls short of capacity in Indian states: A Stochastic frontier approach," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2014-032, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    10. Francisco J. Delgado & Santiago Lago-Peñas & Matías Mayor, 2015. "On The Determinants Of Local Tax Rates: New Evidence From Spain," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(2), pages 351-368, April.
    11. Richard M. Bird & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), 2014. "Taxation and Development: The Weakest Link?," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15750.
    12. Cazals, Catherine & Florens, Jean-Pierre & Simar, Leopold, 2002. "Nonparametric frontier estimation: a robust approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 1-25, January.
    13. Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo & Kuenzle, Michael, 2007. "Cost efficiency in the Swiss gas distribution sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 64-78, January.
    14. Le, Tuan Minh & Moreno-Dodson, Blanca & Bayraktar, Nihal, 2012. "Tax capacity and tax effort : extended cross-country analysis from 1994 to 2009," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6252, The World Bank.
    15. Oleg Badunenko & Daniel J. Henderson & Subal C. Kumbhakar, 2012. "When, where and how to perform efficiency estimation," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 175(4), pages 863-892, October.
    16. Willam Greene, 2005. "Fixed and Random Effects in Stochastic Frontier Models," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 7-32, January.
    17. Federico Belotti & Silvio Daidone & Giuseppe Ilardi & Vincenzo Atella, 2013. "Stochastic frontier analysis using Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 13(4), pages 718-758, December.
    18. Khwaja, Munawer Sultan & Iyer, Indira, 2014. "Revenue potential, tax space, and tax gap : a comparative analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6868, The World Bank.
    19. Carola Pessino & Ricardo Fenochietto, 2010. "Determining countries’ tax effort," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 195(4), pages 65-87, december.
    20. Colin Thirtle & Bhavani Shankar & Puneet Chitkara & Somnath Chatterjee & Madhu S. Mohanty, 2000. "Size Does Matter: Technical and Scale Efficiency in Indian State Tax Jurisdictions," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(3), pages 340-352, October.
    21. Musharraf Rasool Cyan & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Violeta Vulovic, 2014. "New approaches to measuring tax effort," Chapters, in: Richard M. Bird & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), Taxation and Development: The Weakest Link?, chapter 2, pages 27-68, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    22. Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Maria & Svento, Rauli, 2008. "Estimation of cost-effectiveness of the Finnish electricity distribution utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 212-229, March.
    23. Allers, Maarten & de Haan, Jakob & Sterks, Cees, 2001. "Partisan Influence on the Local Tax Burden in the Netherlands," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 106(3-4), pages 351-363, March.
    24. Mr. Marco Committeri & Ms. Carola Pessino, 2013. "Understanding Countries’ Tax Effort," IMF Working Papers 2013/244, International Monetary Fund.
    25. Mohamed Ben Omar Ndiaye & Robert Dauda Korsu, 2014. "Tax Effort in ECOWAS Countries," Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development, in: Diery Seck (ed.), Regional Economic Integration in West Africa, edition 127, pages 137-158, Springer.
    26. Aigner, Dennis & Lovell, C. A. Knox & Schmidt, Peter, 1977. "Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 21-37, July.
    27. repec:bla:rdevec:v:4:y:2000:i:3:p:340-52 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. repec:cuf:journl:y:2017:v:18:i:1:valles-gimenez is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Zárate Marco, Anabel & Vallés Giménez, Jaime, 2019. "Regional tax effort in Spain," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 13, pages 1-32.
    3. Vallés-Giménez, Jaime & Zárate-Marco, Anabel, 2017. "Fungibility and bandwagon effects of capital transfers in a federal context," Economics Discussion Papers 2017-46, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Li, Hong-Zhou & Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Maria & Xiao, Xing-Zhi & Tian, Zhen-Zhen & Yang, Xiao-Yuan & Wang, Jian-Lin, 2016. "Cost efficiency of electric grid utilities in China: A comparison of estimates from SFA–MLE, SFA–Bayes and StoNED–CNLS," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 272-283.
    5. Farsi, Mehdi & Filippini, Massimo, 2009. "An analysis of cost efficiency in Swiss multi-utilities," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 306-315, March.
    6. Li, Hong-Zhou & Tian, Xian-Liang & Zou, Tao, 2015. "Impact analysis of coal-electricity pricing linkage scheme in China based on stochastic frontier cost function," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 296-305.
    7. Andor, Mark A. & Parmeter, Christopher & Sommer, Stephan, 2019. "Combining uncertainty with uncertainty to get certainty? Efficiency analysis for regulation purposes," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 274(1), pages 240-252.
    8. Léopold Simar & Paul W. Wilson, 2015. "Statistical Approaches for Non-parametric Frontier Models: A Guided Tour," International Statistical Review, International Statistical Institute, vol. 83(1), pages 77-110, April.
    9. Krüger, Jens J., 2012. "A Monte Carlo study of old and new frontier methods for efficiency measurement," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(1), pages 137-148.
    10. Li, Hong-Zhou & Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Maria & Xiao, Xing-Zhi & Lau, Sim-Yee, 2017. "Have regulatory reforms improved the efficiency levels of the Japanese electricity distribution sector? A cost metafrontier-based analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 606-616.
    11. Vallés-Giménez, Jaime & Zárate-Marco, Anabel, 2017. "Catalytic effect of capital transfers in a federal context: The case of Spanish regions," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 11, pages 1-27.
    12. Avipsa Mohanty & Dinabandhu Sethi & Asit Ranjan Mohanty, 2022. "Does petroleum tax revenue drive sales tax effort of Indian states? A stochastic frontier approach," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 1257-1268, January.
    13. Lundgren, Tommy & Marklund, Per-Olov & Zhang, Shanshan, 2016. "Industrial energy demand and energy efficiency – Evidence from Sweden," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 130-152.
    14. Fabio Pammolli & Francesco Porcelli & Francesco Vidoli & Guido Borà, 2014. "La spesa sanitaria delle Regioni in Italia - Saniregio 3," Working Papers CERM 02-2014, Competitività, Regole, Mercati (CERM).
    15. Sabrina Auci & Laura Castellucci & Manuela Coromaldi, 2021. "How does public spending affect technical efficiency? Some evidence from 15 European countries," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(1), pages 108-130, January.
    16. Caitlin O’Loughlin & Léopold Simar & Paul W. Wilson, 2023. "Methodologies for assessing government efficiency," Chapters, in: António Afonso & João Tovar Jalles & Ana Venâncio (ed.), Handbook on Public Sector Efficiency, chapter 4, pages 72-101, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Isabel Narbón-Perpiñá & Maria Teresa Balaguer-Coll & Marko Petrović & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2020. "Which estimator to measure local governments’ cost efficiency? The case of Spanish municipalities," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 51-82, March.
    18. Danuse Nerudova & Marian Dobranschi, 2019. "Alternative method to measure the VAT gap in the EU: Stochastic tax frontier model approach," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-38, January.
    19. Fabio Pammolli & Francesco Porcelli & Francesco Vidoli & Guido Borà, 2015. "La spesa sanitaria delle Regioni in Italia - Saniregio 2015," Working Papers CERM 01-2015, Competitività, Regole, Mercati (CERM), revised 04 Jan 2016.
    20. Ljubica Nedelkoska, 2010. "Occupations at risk: The task content and job stability," Jena Economics Research Papers 2010-024, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    21. Galina Besstremyannaya, 2014. "The efficiency of labor matching and remuneration reforms: a panel data quantile regression approach with endogenous treatment variables," Working Papers w0206, New Economic School (NES).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Local taxes; Tax effort; Frontier techniques; Efficiency; Use of tax authority;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H12 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Crisis Management
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

    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:cuf:journl:y:2017:v:18:i:2:valles-gimenez. 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: Qiang Gao (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/emcufcn.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.