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The effect of local taxes on firm performance: evidence from geo referenced data

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  • Federico Belotti
  • Edoardo di Porto
  • Gianluca Santoni

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of business property taxation on firms' performance using a panel of italian manufacturing firms. To account for endogeneity in local taxation, we exploit a pairwise spatial differenced generalized method of moments estimator. As well as providing robust inference, we also improve on existing work by exploiting the exogenous variation in local taxes generated by the political alignment of each local government with the central one. We find that property taxation exerts a negative impact on firms' employment, capital and sales to such an extent as to significantly affect total factor productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico Belotti & Edoardo di Porto & Gianluca Santoni, 2016. "The effect of local taxes on firm performance: evidence from geo referenced data," Working Papers 2016-03, CEPII research center.
    • Handle: RePEc:cii:cepidt:2016-03
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    Cited by:

    1. Edoardo Di Porto & Enrica Maria Martino & Henry Ohlsson, 2021. "Avoiding taxes by transfers within the family," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 28(1), pages 1-23, February.
    2. Kumar, Anil & Liang, Che-Yuan, 2020. "Estimating taxable income responses with elasticity heterogeneity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    3. Federico Belotti & Edoardo Di Porto & Gianluca Santoni, 2018. "Spatial Differencing: Estimation and Inference," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 64(2), pages 241-254.
    4. Quentin David & Jean‐Benoit Pilet & Gilles Van Hamme, 2018. "Scale Matters in Contextual Analysis of Extreme Right Voting and Political Attitudes," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(4), pages 509-536, November.
    5. Ando, Michihito & Dahlberg, Matz & Engström, Gustav, 2017. "The risks of nuclear disaster and its impact on housing prices," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 13-16.
    6. Tobias Laun & Johanna Wallenius, 2021. "Having It All? Employment, Earnings, and Children," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(1), pages 353-381, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    local taxation; endogeneity; spatial differencing; two-way clustering;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

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