Public finance structure and inclusive growth

Abstract

for their comments and Celia Rutkoski for outstanding editorial assistance. The authors dedicate their work to the memory of Mrs. Debra Bloch, who passed away in August 2018. Her remarkable statistical work has provided the data foundation for this study.

How does corporate taxation affect business investment?

“…57 The final firm-level sample covers firms in 25 countries, mostly in Europe, and contains nearly 13 million firm-year observations. 58 The number of observations is relatively stable over time, although it is lower at the beginning and at the end of the sample (Table A E.1). Basic statistics on the main variables of interest for the final sample are presented in Table A E.2.…”

“…57 The 27 countries covered are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. 58 The 25 countries covered are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.…”

Do governments re-prioritise spending?

“…If the ratio of the second to the first period is less than 1, it suggests that countries have become more similar in terms of their public spending mix. This notion of convergence, relying on a cross-sectional dispersion, is called σ-convergence in the literature (Apergis, Christou and Hassapis, 2013 [10]). Figure 8 shows the mean, the median and the weighted mean standard deviation ratios.…”

Policies for Switzerland’s ageing society

“…While net wealth taxes can help reduce inequality, they are less efficient than a combination of broadbased capital income taxes and inheritance and gift tax (OECD, 2018j). In particular, wealth taxes create disincentives to accumulate wealth and incentives for tax optimising behaviour and may lower output (Cournède, Fournier and Hoeller, 2018). Evidence from Switzerland suggests households are highly sensitive to even a small (0.1%) increase in the tax rate but will employ tax avoidance strategies rather than moving to a different jurisdiction (Brülhart et al, 2016).…”