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Are your firm's taxes set in Warsaw? Spatial tax competition in Europe

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  • Karen Crabb?
  • Hylke Vandenbussche

Abstract

Corporate tax rates in Europe have been falling rapidly; as a consequence tax competition within the EU is fiercer than in the rest of the OECD. This paper analyzes heterogeneity in corporate tax rate changes between EU-15 countries as a function of the proximity to the EU-10 new member states. The average corporate tax rate in the new member states has always been considerably lower than the average in the EU-15 countries. Their entry into the EU eliminated capital barriers, in principle allowing firms to locate in one of the new EU-10 with full access to the European Market. Our results indicate that EU-15 countries physically closer to Central-Europe experienced more tax competition. Next we use a spatial regression framework to more formally test the hypothesis that distance to a low tax region affects countries' tax reaction functions.

Suggested Citation

  • Karen Crabb? & Hylke Vandenbussche, 2008. "Are your firm's taxes set in Warsaw? Spatial tax competition in Europe," LICOS Discussion Papers 21608, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    • Handle: RePEc:lic:licosd:21608
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    Cited by:

    1. Fatica, Serena, 2009. "Taxation and the quality of institutions: asymmetric effects on FDI," MPRA Paper 24179, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jun 2010.
    2. Ronald B. Davies & Johannes Voget, 2008. "Tax competition in an expanding European Union," Working Papers 200904, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    3. Michael P. Devereux & Simon Loretz, 2013. "What Do We Know About Corporate Tax Competition?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(3), pages 745-774, September.
    4. Jorge Núñez Ferrer & Jacques Le Cacheux & Giacomo Benedetto & Mathieu Saunier & Fabien Candau & Claude Emonnot & Florence Lachet-Touya & Jorgen Mortensen & Aymeric Potteau & Igor Taranic, 2016. "Study on the potential and limitations of reforming the financing of the EU budget [Perspectives et limites pour réformer le financement du budget de l’UE]," Working Papers hal-01848029, HAL.
    5. Markus Leibrecht & Claudia Hochgatterer, 2012. "Tax Competition As A Cause Of Falling Corporate Income Tax Rates: A Survey Of Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 616-648, September.
    6. Elisabeth Bustos Contell & Salvador Climent-Serrano & Gregorio Labatut-Serer, 2018. "The evolution of the tax burden for EU companies," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 12(4), December.
    7. Bräutigam, Rainer & Spengel, Christoph & Stutzenberger, Kathrin, 2017. "The development of corporate tax structures in the European Union from 1998 to 2015 - Qualitative and quantitative analysis," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-034, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    8. Suzuki, Masaaki, 2014. "Corporate effective tax rates in Asian countries," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 1-17.
    9. Heimberger, Philipp, 2021. "Corporate tax competition: A meta-analysis," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    10. Streif, Frank, 2015. "Tax competition in Europe: Europe in competition with other world regions?," ZEW Discussion Papers 15-082, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    11. Peter Egger & Horst Raff, 2015. "Tax rate and tax base competition for foreign direct investment," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 22(5), pages 777-810, October.
    12. Jorge Núñez Ferrer & Jacques Le Cacheux & Giacomo Benedetto & Mathieu Saunier & Fabien Candau & Claude Emonnot & Florence Lachet-Touya & Jorgen Mortensen & Aymeric Potteau & Igor Taranic, 2016. "Study on the potential and limitations of reforming the financing of the EU budget
      [Perspectives et limites pour réformer le financement du budget de l’UE]      ," Working Papers hal-01848029, HAL.
    13. Redoano, Michela, 2012. "Fiscal Interactions Among European Countries: Does the EU Matter?," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 102, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    14. Nelly Exbrayat & Benny Geys, 2011. "Trade Integration and Business Tax Differentials: Theory and Evidence from OECD Countries," Post-Print halshs-00617043, HAL.
    15. Azémar, Céline & Desbordes, Rodolphe & Wooton, Ian, 2020. "Is international tax competition only about taxes? A market-based perspective," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 891-912.
    16. Masaaki Suzuki, 2013. "Corporate Effective Tax Rates in Asian Countries," KIER Working Papers 875, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    17. Åsa Hansson & Susan Porter & Susan Williams, 2015. "The importance of the political process on corporate tax policy," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 281-306, September.
    18. Elisabeth Bustos-Contell & Salvador Climent-Serrano & Gregorio Labatut-Serer, 2017. "Offshoring in the European Union: a Study of the Evolution of the Tax Burden," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 11(2), June.
    19. Redoano, Michela, 2014. "Tax competition among European countries. Does the EU matter?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 353-371.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Spatial tax competition; Corporate taxes; fiscal reaction function;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • H39 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Other

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