scholarly journals How Elastic Are Preferences for Redistribution? Evidence from Randomized Survey Experiments

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 1478-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilyana Kuziemko ◽  
Michael I. Norton ◽  
Emmanuel Saez ◽  
Stefanie Stantcheva
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Estate Tax ◽  
Transfer Policy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Preferences For Redistribution ◽  
Survey Experiments

We analyze randomized online survey experiments providing interactive, customized information on US income inequality, the link between top income tax rates and economic growth, and the estate tax. The treatment has large effects on views about inequality but only slightly moves tax and transfer policy preferences. An exception is the estate tax—informing respondents of the small share of decedents who pay it doubles support for it. The small effects for all other policies can be partially explained by respondents' low trust in government and a disconnect between concerns about social issues and the public policies meant to address them. (JEL D31, D72, H23, H24)

scholarly journals The Mood of the Nation in 2020: The Stuff/Massey pre-election online survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Duncan ◽  
James H Liu ◽  
Sarah Y Choi
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
The Political ◽  
Online Surveys ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
The Public ◽  
Large Samples ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Political Spectrum

Leading up to the 2017 New Zealand general election, Stuff.co.nz and Massey University collaborated in two online surveys of public opinion to test the mood of the nation and seek opinions about a range of relevant political and social issues. Given their success, two more surveys were conducted in 2020. This article summarises results from the 2020 data, and reflects on the methodological advantages, disadvantages and challenges of conducting people-driven online surveys that need to meet the differing needs of academic researchers, journalists and the public. While the surveys produced very large samples, they were not representative. Moreover, the choices of items were influenced by what happened to be newsworthy at the time. Naturally, Covid-19 was a significant theme during the 2020 surveys. The results reveal predictable left–right polarization of opinions, a minority support for conspiracy theories, some areas of wide agreement across the political spectrum, and some unexpected nuances of opinions within and across ethnic groups.

scholarly journals THE IMPACT OF TAX POLICY ON ECONOMIC GROWTH, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, AND ALLOCATION OF TAXES

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Gwartney ◽  
Robert A. Lawson
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Personal Income Tax ◽  
Income Groups ◽  
Marginal Tax Rates ◽  
Tax Changes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Distribution Of Income

Using a sample of seventy-seven countries, this paper focuses on marginal tax rates and the income thresholds at which they apply to examine how the tax changes of the 1980s and 1990s have influenced economic growth, the distribution of income, and the share of taxes paid by various income groups. Many countries substantially reduced their highest marginal rates during the 1985-1995 period. The findings indicate that countries that reduced their highest marginal rates grew more rapidly than those that maintained high marginal rates. At the same time, the income distribution in several of the tax cutting countries became more unequal while there was little change or even a reduction in income inequality in most countries that maintained high marginal rates. Finally, the evidence suggests that there was a shift in the payment of the personal income tax away from those with low and middle incomes and toward those with the highest incomes.

The Politics of Scotland’s Public Finances

2020 ◽  
pp. 511-542
Author(s):  
David Heald
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Fiscal Responsibility ◽  
Relative Population ◽  
Public Finances ◽  
The Public ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Fiscal Centralization

Politics and fiscal mechanics play interwoven roles in the public finances of devolved Scotland. Asymmetric devolution, in the context of divergent economic performance and relative population size and growth rates, has contributed to the longevity of the Barnett formula. Though criticized for either overfunding or underfunding Scotland, its resilience stems from its role as political convention in reducing overt conflict, and from maintaining the expenditure autonomy of the Scottish Parliament. The low level of self-financing from devolved taxes stimulated allegations that the Parliament lacked accountability and fiscal responsibility. Extended taxation powers advanced through the cautious Calman Commission to the rushed Smith Commission, and were driven by imperatives for a ‘counter-offer’ after the 2014 Independence Referendum. The early operation of the 2016 Scottish Fiscal Framework and the divergence of UK and Scottish income tax rates highlights the practical issues of devolved tax policy in the context of UK fiscal centralization. These developments have been driven by changes in Scottish political circumstances rather than by changes in fiscal fundamentals.

scholarly journals Are Local Tax Rates Strategic Complements or Strategic Substitutes?

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raphaël Parchet
Keyword(s):  
Public Good ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Economies Of Scale ◽  
Personal Income ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Strategic Substitutes ◽  
Personal Income Tax ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
The Public

The identification of strategic interactions among local governments is typically plagued by endogeneity problems. I exploit the fact that local jurisdictions located close to a state border have some neighbors in another state and instrument the tax rate of neighbor jurisdictions with the state-level tax rate of the neighboring state. I use this instrument to identify strategic personal income tax setting by local jurisdictions in Switzerland and find that tax rates are strategic substitutes. I then develop a residence-based personal income tax competition model and show that tax rates are strategic substitutes if the elasticity of the marginal utility of the public good with respect to the tax rate is above one. This is notably the case in the presence of economies of scale in the public good provision. (JEL H24, H71, H73, H77)

scholarly journals Marginal income tax rates and economic growth in developing countries

1993 ◽  
Vol 37 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 409-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Easterly ◽  
Sergio Rebelo
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Rates

scholarly journals Growth-Enhancing Corporate Tax Reform in Belgium

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruud De Mooij ◽  
Shafik Hebous ◽  
Milena Hrdinkova
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Corporate Income Tax ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Corporate Tax Reform ◽  
The Government

Abstract Until 2018, Belgium had a unique corporate income tax system due to its notional interest deduction, also known in public finance literature as the allowance for corporate equity. At the same time, it had one of the highest corporate tax rates in Europe at 34 percent. The latter came under severe pressure to reform and, as of 2018, the government has started to reduce the rate, gradually to reach 25 percent in 2020. The reduction is accompanied by other measures, including a limitation of the notional interest deduction. This paper argues that the lower CIT rate is likely to be conducive to economic growth. Yet, the effects on growth would have been more favorable if the notional interest deduction would have been strengthened, rather than diminished.

scholarly journals EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF EFFECTS OF INCOME TAX ON ECONOMIC GROWTH OF WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-135
Author(s):  
Luljeta Sadiku ◽  
Merale Fetahi-Vehapi ◽  
Murat Sadiku
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Income Tax ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Corporate Tax ◽  
Tax Rate ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Sustainable Economic Growth

The existing theoretical literature advocates that tax policy plays a vital role on the economic development, principally policy that include a reduction in the rate of taxation is a dominant incentive of economic growth. In this regard, almost all Western Balkan countries cut the income tax and move to a flat tax rate in order to stimulate the employment and investment which in turn will spur the economic growth. Thus, the purpose of this research paper is to empirically examine how changes of income tax affect the economic growth of Western Balkan countries. For analysing this issue, panel econometric models are employed using yearly data for the time period 2005-2016. The estimation results reveal that the personal income tax has positive and significant impact on growth. While corporate tax has negative impact on growth in almost all models, but the coefficient is statistically insignificant. This implies that the current corporate tax rates couldn’t endow with sustainable economic growth in the sample countries.

scholarly journals Possible priorities directions for the innovation of the public interest relation - decisional process in the context of the modernization of the local public administration

2021 ◽  
pp. 136-147
Author(s):  
Tatiana Bogos ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Priority Direction ◽  
Successful Innovation ◽  
Stimulation Of

In the present article, proposed for publication, the author analyzes the priority direction in the perspective of the innovation of the public interest relations versus the decisional process transparency in the process of modernisation of the local public administration. The efficiency of the public administration depends on the successful innovation process which ensures the development of better solutions for meeting the needs of the society, solving the social issues and using technologies, and resources. Thus, innovation becomes one of the main parts which ensure the modernization, economic growth, improvement of the provided services, identification of solutions for overcoming the problems and challenges the society faces or the innovation constantly establishes new rules in direction and stimulation of decision making.

Positively Resilient? How Framing Local Action Affects Public Opinion

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-103
Author(s):  
Sara Meerow ◽  
Fabian G. Neuner
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Local Action ◽  
The Public ◽  
Perceived Importance ◽  
Survey Experiments

Cities face numerous environmental challenges. Local governments need the public’s support to tackle these problems, and scholars and practitioners have suggested that framing initiatives around resilience, as opposed to sustainability, reducing vulnerability, or adaptation, may increase public support for local action. Resilience, they argue, has a better social connotation, is more positive, and less polarizing than related concepts. Empirical evidence supporting these claims is lacking. In three online survey experiments, we test whether the public is more likely to support policies when they are framed in terms of “resilience.” We also examine public conceptualizations of these different terms and whether resilience has a more positive connotation. We find significant differences in policy support, perceived importance, and interpretations of the concepts. The study confirms that framing affects policy support, but complicates claims that resilience is inherently more appealing. These findings have implications for urban research and policymaking.

How perceptions of immigrants trigger feelings of economic and cultural threats in two welfare states

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Fietkau ◽  
Kasper M Hansen
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Family Background ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Skilled Immigrants ◽  
The Public ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Survey Experiments ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigration

Better understanding of attitudes toward immigration is crucial to avoid misperception of immigration in the public debate. Through two identical online survey experiments applying morphed faces of non-Western immigrants and textual vignettes, the authors manipulate complexion, education, family background, and gender in Denmark and Germany. For women, an additional split in which half of the women wore a headscarf is performed. In both countries, highly skilled immigrants are preferred to low-skilled immigrants. Danes are more skeptical toward non-Western immigration than Germans. Essentially, less educated Danes are very critical of accepting non-Western immigrants in their country. It is suggested that this difference is driven by a large welfare state in Denmark compared to Germany, suggesting a stronger fear in welfare societies that immigrants will exploit welfare benefits.

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