nep-pub New Economics Papers
on Public Finance
Issue of 2018‒07‒23
five papers chosen by
Kwang Soo Cheong
Johns Hopkins University

  1. Corporate Effective Tax Rates: Model Description and Results from 36 OECD and Non-OECD Countries By Tibor Hanappi
  2. The Inefficiency of Inequality By -
  3. Financing Corporate Tax Cuts with Shareholder Taxes By Alexis Anagnostopoulos; Orhan Erem Atesagaoglu; Eva Carceles-Poveda
  4. Estimating the Impacts of Payroll Taxes: Evidence from Canadian Employer-Employee Tax Data By Deslauriers, Jonathan; Dostie, Benoit; Gagné, Robert; Paré, Jonathan
  5. The bedroom tax By Gibbons, Stephen; Sánchez-Vidal, Maria; Silva, Olmo

  1. By: Tibor Hanappi
    Abstract: Variations in the definition of the corporate tax base across countries can have significant impacts on tax liabilities associated with a given investment. An accurate assessment of the effects of corporate tax systems on investment thus needs to build on a consistent methodological framework covering not only statutory tax rates (STRs) but also many provisions affecting the base such as, e.g., fiscal depreciation. The new OECD model described in this paper provides such a framework; building on the theoretical model developed by Devereux and Griffith (1999, 2003) it presents forward-looking effective tax rates (ETRs) for 36 OECD and Selected Partner Economies taking into account a wide range of corporate tax provisions. Empirical results confirm that corporate tax bases vary considerably across countries and asset categories; since tax bases are typically narrower in countries with higher STRs, ETRs tend to be less dispersed across countries than STRs.
    Keywords: corporate tax base, corporate taxation, investment decisions, tax competition
    JEL: H25 H32
    Date: 2018–07–19
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ctpaaa:38-en&r=pub
  2. By: -
    Abstract: Consistently with the emphasis that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has placed on equality since 2010, and in keeping with the purpose of leaving no one behind enshrined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, this document examines the mechanisms by which inequality erodes dynamic inefficacy in the Latin American and Caribbean economies. It analyses and measures the productivity and income effects of unequal access to health and education, as well as the consequences of inequality of opportunities arising from gender-, race- or ethnicity-based discrimination. It also examines how these inequalities play out at the level of territory, infrastructure and urban dynamics, where their costs not only weigh on productivity, but also worsen energy inefficiencies and environmental degradation, thereby compromising the development possibilities of present and future generations. Inequality imposes constraints on innovation and creativity that are all the heavier because they are embedded within the culture of agents, which creates a culture of privilege in which many public goods and rights are not universal, but denied to much of the population. This weakens trust in social interactions and in democratic institutions. Here, ECLAC proposes strategic guidelines for increasing the dynamic efficiency of the Latin American and Caribbean economies on the basis of equality. Capacity-building and the construction of welfare States are at the heart of a new development paradigm that puts the technological revolution at the service of low-carbon, technology-intensive growth. In this regard, and in view of the rapid transformations and mounting uncertainties in the global economy, the region urgently needs stronger public and private investment revolving around an environmental big push in order to diversify its production structure and even out its structural disparities.
    Keywords: DESARROLLO ECONOMICO, DESARROLLO SOCIAL, IGUALDAD, GLOBALIZACION, RELACIONES ECONOMICAS INTERNACIONALES, MULTILATERALISMO, EMPRESAS TRANSNACIONALES, INVERSIONES, EMPLEO, POLITICA FISCAL, CRECIMIENTO ECONOMICO, POBREZA, DISTRIBUCION DEL INGRESO, IGUALDAD DE OPORTUNIDADES, DESARROLLO REGIONAL, MEDIO AMBIENTE, CIUDADES, CAMBIO CLIMATICO, FUENTES DE ENERGIA RENOVABLES, CONDICIONES POLITICAS, GOBERNABILIDAD, DEMOCRACIA, MACROECONOMIA, POLITICA DE DESARROLLO, ECONOMIA DEL BIENESTAR, POLITICA SOCIAL, POLITICA INDUSTRIAL, POLITICA ENERGETICA, INNOVACIONES, INDICADORES ECONOMICOS, INDICADORES SOCIALES, INDICADORES AMBIENTALES, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, EQUALITY, GLOBALIZATION, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS, MULTILATERALISM, TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS, INVESTMENTS, EMPLOYMENT, FISCAL POLICY, ECONOMIC GROWTH, POVERTY, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, ENVIRONMENT, CITIES, CLIMATE CHANGE, RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES, POLITICAL CONDITIONS, GOVERNANCE, DEMOCRACY, MACROECONOMICS, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, WELFARE ECONOMICS, SOCIAL POLICY, INDUSTRIAL POLICY, ENERGY POLICY, INNOVATIONS, ECONOMIC INDICATORS, SOCIAL INDICATORS, ENVIRONMENTAL INDICATORS
    Date: 2018–05–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecr:c39025:43443&r=pub
  3. By: Alexis Anagnostopoulos; Orhan Erem Atesagaoglu; Eva Carceles-Poveda
    Abstract: We study the aggregate and distributional consequences of replacing corporate proÖt taxes with shareholder taxes, namely, taxes on dividends and capital gains, in a setting with incomplete markets and heterogeneity at both the household and the firm level. The reform yields distributional gains with a large majority of households benefiting. Moreover, if dividend and capital gains are taxed at the same rate, the reform is also efficiency-enhancing and the implied optimal corporate income tax rate is zero. In contrast, an asymmetric tax treatment of dividend and capital gains induces a trade-off between efficiency and distributional concerns that is optimally resolved at a positive optimal corporate tax rate, implying double taxation.
    Date: 2018
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nys:sunysb:18-07&r=pub
  4. By: Deslauriers, Jonathan (HEC Montreal); Dostie, Benoit (HEC Montreal); Gagné, Robert (HEC Montreal); Paré, Jonathan (HEC Montreal)
    Abstract: In this paper, we use linked employer-employee administrative tax data from Canada to estimate the impact of payroll taxes on a variety of firms and workers outcomes. At the firm level, we use geographic and time variations in tax rates to identify the effect of payroll taxes on wage growth at the worker level. For one province, we exploit a clean overtime change in the payroll tax rate to estimate its impact on the firm's level of employment, average wage and productivity, with difference-in-differences models, taking into account firm-level unobserved heterogeneity. Additionally, taking advantage of the nature of linked data, we estimate wage equations with both fixed worker and firm fixed effects. We find no impact on employment, productivity and profits, but significant impacts on wages, implying that payroll taxes are passed almost entirely to workers in the form of lower wages.
    Keywords: payroll taxes, wages, productivity, employment, linked employer-employee data
    JEL: E62 J21 L25
    Date: 2018–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11598&r=pub
  5. By: Gibbons, Stephen; Sánchez-Vidal, Maria; Silva, Olmo
    Abstract: Housing subsidies for low income households are a central pillar of many welfare systems, but an expensive one. This paper investigates the consequences of an unusual policy aimed at reducing the burden of these subsidies by rationing tenants’ use of space. Specifically, we study a policy introduced by the UK Government in 2013 which substantially cut housing benefits for tenants deemed to have a ‘spare’ bedroom – based on specific criteria related to household composition. Our study is the first to evaluate the impacts of the policy on its target group considering a range of outcomes. To do so, we use a difference-in-difference methodology that compares the observed behaviour of the treated households relative to a control group determined from the details of the policy rules. We find that – as expected – the treated group experienced losses to housing benefit and overall income. Although the policy was not successful in encouraging residential moves, it did incentivise people who moved to downsize – suggesting some success in terms of one of the policy goals, namely reducing ‘underoccupancy’ in the long run. We find no statistically significant effects on households’ food consumption, savings or employment outcomes, despite the associated income reductions. Finally, we find some evidence of a reduction in self-reported satisfaction though this effect is not precisely estimated.
    Keywords: social housing; social rents; bedroom tax; housing benefits
    JEL: H2 H55 R21
    Date: 2018–04–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:88688&r=pub

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