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The Economics of Location-Based Tax Incentives

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  • Edward L. Glaeser

Abstract

Many local governments offer rich tax deals to firms to get these firms to come to their cities. In this brief essay, I review the economics of location-based tax incentives. I first address the positive economics of these incentives and present five theories of why these tax incentives occur. I then consider the normative aspects of these incentives and discuss the conditions under which these theories lead to optimal locations of firms and to optimal bundles of public goods. In general, I argue that tax incentives will generally lead to more efficient locational decisions. There may be undesirable redistributional consequences of these incentives, but these are best handled by national redistribution policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward L. Glaeser, 2001. "The Economics of Location-Based Tax Incentives," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1932, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:fth:harver:1932
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    File URL: http://www.economics.harvard.edu/pub/hier/2001/HIER1932.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brennan,Geoffrey & Buchanan,James M., 2006. "The Power to Tax," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521027922.
    2. repec:hoo:wpaper:e-95-4 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    4. Wilson, John D., 1986. "A theory of interregional tax competition," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 296-315, May.
    5. Glaeser, Edward L. & Scheinkman, JoseA. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1995. "Economic growth in a cross-section of cities," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 117-143, August.
    6. Rauch James E., 1993. "Productivity Gains from Geographic Concentration of Human Capital: Evidence from the Cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 380-400, November.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Evert Meijers & Martijn Burger & Mark Thissen & Thomas Graaff & Frank Oort, 2016. "Competitive network positions in trade and structural economic growth: A geographically weighted regression analysis for European regions," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(1), pages 159-180, March.
    4. Michael Greenstone & Richard Hornbeck & Enrico Moretti, 2010. "Identifying Agglomeration Spillovers: Evidence from Winners and Losers of Large Plant Openings," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(3), pages 536-598, June.
    5. Michael Greenstone & Enrico Moretti, 2003. "Bidding for Industrial Plants: Does Winning a 'Million Dollar Plant' Increase Welfare?," NBER Working Papers 9844, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Moretti, Enrico, 2011. "Local Labor Markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 14, pages 1237-1313, Elsevier.
    7. Moretti, Enrico & Wilson, Daniel J., 2014. "State incentives for innovation, star scientists and jobs: Evidence from biotech," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 20-38.
    8. Nathan Jensen & Edmund Malesky & Matthew Walsh, 2015. "Competing for global capital or local voters? The politics of business location incentives," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 331-356, September.
    9. Jordi Jofre-Monseny & Maria Sánchez-Vidal & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2018. "Big plant closures and local employment," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 163-186.
    10. Kaitlyn R. Harger & Amanda Ross & Heather M. Stephens, 2015. "What Matters More for Economic Development, the Amount of Funding or the Number of Projects Funded? Evidence from the Community Development Financial Investment Fund," Working Papers 15-51, Department of Economics, West Virginia University.
    11. repec:rre:publsh:v:36:y:2006:i:1:p:15-43 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Amanda Ross & Kaitlyn Wolf, 2014. "Do Market-Based Tax Incentives Attract New Businesses? Evidence from the New Markets Tax Credit," ERSA conference papers ersa14p653, European Regional Science Association.
    13. Michael Greenstone & Richard Hornbeck & Enrico Moretti, 2008. "Identifying Agglomeration Spillovers: Evidence from Million Dollar Plants," NBER Working Papers 13833, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Tania Babina & Sabrina T. Howell, 2018. "Entrepreneurial Spillovers from Corporate R&D," NBER Working Papers 25360, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Chaurey, Ritam, 2017. "Location-based tax incentives: Evidence from India," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 101-120.
    16. Sungur Onur, 2019. "Spatial Distribution of Investment Incentives and the Impact of New Incentive System for Less Developed Regions in Turkey," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 19(1), pages 25-48, March.
    17. Johannes Van Biesebroeck, 2010. "Bidding for Investment Projects: Smart Public Policy or Corporate Welfare?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 36(s1), pages 31-48, April.
    18. Cailin Slattery & Owen Zidar, 2020. "Evaluating State and Local Business Tax Incentives," Working Papers 261, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    19. Kaitlyn Harger & Amanda Ross, 2016. "Do Capital Tax Incentives Attract New Businesses? Evidence Across Industries From The New Markets Tax Credit," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(5), pages 733-753, November.
    20. Rigas Ioannis & Theodossiou George & Rigas Nikolaos & Karelakis Christos & Pantos Nikolaos & Goulas Αpostolos, 2019. "Analysis and critical investigation of the financial statements of food sector companies in Thessaly Region (Greece) that were included in the investment development programs the period 2013-2016," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 12(2), pages 52-71, December.

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