New Economics Papers
on Public Finance
Issue of 2013‒10‒05
four papers chosen by



  1. The Poverty Effects of a “Fat-Tax” in Ireland By David Madden
  2. Gasoline Pricing, Taxation and Asymmetry: The Case of Turkey By Özgür Bor; Mustafa Ýsmihan
  3. Government size, composition of public expenditure, and economic development By Susana Martins; Francisco José Veiga
  4. Fiscal Multipliers for India. By Bose, Sukanya; Bhanumurthy, N.R.

  1. By: David Madden (University College Dublin)
    Abstract: To combat growing levels of obesity, health related taxes have been suggested with taxes on foods high in fat or sugar. Such taxes have been criticised on the basis of their regressivity and potentially adverse impact upon poverty. This paper analyses the effect of such taxes on a range of poverty measures and also examines the effect of a revenue-neutral tax subsidy mix with a tax on unhealthy food combined with a subsidy on more healthy food. Using Irish expenditure data, the results indicate that taxes on high fat/sugar goods on their own will be regressive but that a tax-subsidy combination can be broadly neutral with respect to poverty.
    Keywords: Poverty efficiency;consumption dominance
    Date: 2013–03–25
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201303&r=pub
  2. By: Özgür Bor (Atýlým University, Turkey); Mustafa Ýsmihan (Atýlým University, Turkey)
    Abstract: This study analyzes the role of tax policy in gasoline prices in Turkey by utilizing time series techniques. It provides and compares empirical results by using daily gasoline prices between January 2005 and July 2012, with and without the effect of taxation. Our results, based on the standard asymmetric error-correction model, indicate no evidence of asymmetry in retail gasoline prices, which implies that the government does not benefit from the adjustment of gasoline prices through taxation. However, one can miss the big picture in gasoline pricing by concentrating only on the short term price adjustment dynamics via error-correction models. Therefore, we analyzed the long-run relationships between crude oil and gasoline prices with and without taxes. The results indicate that Turkish government succeeded at implicitly imposing an exceptionally high tax burden on gasoline (about 70%) over the longer term by adjusting non-salient excise tax amounts on gasoline and benefited from the resultant tax revenues as means of public finance.
    Date: 2013
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tek:wpaper:2013/7&r=pub
  3. By: Susana Martins (Universidade do Minho, Escola de Economia e Gestão); Francisco José Veiga (Universidade do Minho - NIPE)
    Abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of government size and of the composition of public expenditure on economic development. Using the system-GMM estimator for linear dynamic panel data models, on a sample covering up to 156 countries and 5-year periods from 1980 to 2010, we find that government size as a percentage of GDP has a quadratic (inverted U-shaped) effect on the growth rate of the Human Development Index (HDI). This effect is especially pronounced in developed and high income countries. We also find that the composition of public expenditure affects development, with the share of five subcomponents exhibiting non-linear relationships with HDI growth.
    Keywords: Economic Development, Government Size, Composition of public expenditure; Human Development Index
    JEL: H50 O15 O23 O43
    Date: 2013
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:17/2013&r=pub
  4. By: Bose, Sukanya (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy); Bhanumurthy, N.R. (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy)
    Abstract: This paper attempts to present a framework for the estimation of fiscal multipliers for the Indian economy in the structural macroeconomic modelling tradition. Empirical estimates of short-run multipliers are obtained by giving shocks to a range of fiscal instruments - expenditures and taxes. As per our estimates, the values of capital expenditure multiplier, transfer payments multiplier and other revenue expenditure multiplier are 2.45, 0.98, and 0.99, respectively, while the tax multipliers are in the range of -1. Expenditure multipliers were also obtained in the presence of fiscal consolidation targets. These estimates again point to the strong multiplier effect of capital expenditure on output, and underscore the need to prioritize capital expenditure.
    Date: 2013–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:npf:wpaper:13/125&r=pub

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