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An Empirical Examination of Municipal Financial Policy

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  • Roger H. Gordon
  • Joel Slemrod

Abstract

Current U.S. tax law creates a variety of incentives affecting municipal financial policy. Under current law,municipalities can borrow at a tax-exempt interest rate yet can earn the full market rate of return on any assets held. Residents, in contrast, if they borrow or lend as individuals,pay or earn the market rate of return but after personal income taxes. These differences in rates of return create a variety of arbitrage opportunities, allowing communities/residents to borrow at low rates and invest at higher rates.The purpose of this paper is to examine empirically the financial policy of municipalities in four states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island) to see to what degree these municipalities attempt to take advantage of each of the available opportunities to engage in tax arbitrage. Our datacomes from the 1980 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, and the 1977 U.S.Census of Governments. We find clear evidence that communities do actively engage in such tax arbitrage.

Suggested Citation

  • Roger H. Gordon & Joel Slemrod, 1985. "An Empirical Examination of Municipal Financial Policy," NBER Working Papers 1599, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1599
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Irwin Tepper, 1981. "Taxation and Corporate Pension Policy," NBER Working Papers 0661, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Gordon, Roger H & Slemrod, Joel, 1983. "A General Equilibrium Simulation Study of Subsidies to Municipal Expenditures," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 38(2), pages 585-594, May.
    3. Sally A. Asefa & Roy D. Adams & Dennis R. Starleaf, 1981. "Municipal Borrowing: Some Empirical Results," Public Finance Review, , vol. 9(3), pages 271-280, July.
    4. Roger H. Gordon, 1982. "Interest Rates, Inflation, and Corporate Financial Policy," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 13(2), pages 461-491.
    5. Tepper, Irwin, 1981. "Taxation and Corporate Pension Policy," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 36(1), pages 1-13, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. James M. Poterba & Arturo Ramirez Verdugo, 2008. "Portfolio Substitution and the Revenue Cost of Exempting State and Local Government Interest Payments from Federal Income Tax," NBER Working Papers 14439, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Gilbert E. Metcalf, 1991. "The Role of Federal Taxation in the Supply of Municipal Bonds: Evidence From Municipal Governments," NBER Working Papers 3891, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Thomas Luke Spreen & Ed Gerrish, 2022. "Taxes and tax‐exempt bonds: A literature review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 767-808, September.
    4. Randall W. Eberts & William F. Fox, 1992. "The Effect of Federal Policies On Local Public Infrastructure Investment," Public Finance Review, , vol. 20(4), pages 557-571, October.
    5. Metcalf, Gilbert E., 1993. "Federal taxation and the supply of state debt," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 269-285, July.
    6. Edward L. Glaeser, 2012. "The Political Risks of Fighting Market Failures: Subversion, Populism and the Government Sponsored Enterprises," NBER Working Papers 18112, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Poterba, James M., 1989. "Tax reform and the market for tax-exempt debt," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 537-562, August.
    8. Jeffrey Zax, 1988. "The Effects of Jurisdiction Types and Numbers on Local Public Finance," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Federalism: Quantitative Studies, pages 79-106, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Metcalf, Gilbert E, 1990. "Arbitrage and the Savings Behavior of State Governments," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(3), pages 390-396, August.
    10. Charles R. Hulten & Robert M. Schwab, 1987. "Income Originating in the State and Local Sector," NBER Working Papers 2314, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Robert P. Inman, 1985. "Does Deductibility Influence Local Taxation?," NBER Working Papers 1714, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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