IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ecj/econjl/v121y2011i550pf59-f80.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tax Policy for Economic Recovery and Growth

Author

Listed:
  • Jens Matthias Arnold
  • Bert Brys
  • Christopher Heady
  • Åsa Johansson
  • Cyrille Schwellnus
  • Laura Vartia

Abstract

This article identifies tax policy that both speeds recovery from the current economic crisis and contributes to long-run growth. This is a challenge because short‐term recovery requires increases in demand while long‐term growth requires increases in supply. As short‐term tax concessions can be hard to reverse, this implies that policies to alleviate the crisis could compromise long‐run growth. The analysis makes use of recent evidence on the impact of tax structure on economic growth to identify which growth‐enhancing tax changes can also aid recovery, taking account of the need to protect those on low incomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Jens Matthias Arnold & Bert Brys & Christopher Heady & Åsa Johansson & Cyrille Schwellnus & Laura Vartia, 2011. "Tax Policy for Economic Recovery and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(550), pages 59-80, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:121:y:2011:i:550:p:f59-f80
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2010.02415.x
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rachel Griffith & Stephen Redding & Helen Simpson, 2004. "Foreign Ownership and Productivity: New Evidence from the Service Sector and the R&D Lab," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 20(3), pages 440-456, Autumn.
    2. Thomas F. Crossley & Hamish Low & Matthew Wakefield, 2009. "The Economics of a Temporary VAT Cut," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 3-16, March.
    3. Richard Blundell, 2009. "Assessing the Temporary VAT Cut Policy in the UK," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 31-38, March.
    4. Ray Barrell & Martin Weale, 2009. "The Economics of a Reduction in VAT," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 17-30, March.
    5. Jens Arnold & Cyrille Schwellnus, 2008. "Do Corporate Taxes Reduce Productivity and Investment at the Firm Level? Cross-Country Evidence from the Amadeus Dataset," Working Papers 2008-19, CEPII research center.
    6. Dana Hajkova & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Laura Vartia & Kwang-Yeol Yoo, 2007. "Taxation and business environment as drivers of foreign direct investment in OECD countries," OECD Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2006(2), pages 7-38.
    7. Jens Matthias Arnold & Andrea Bassanini & Stefano Scarpetta, 2007. "Solow or Lucas?: Testing Growth Models Using Panel Data from OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 592, OECD Publishing.
    8. Jens Matthias Arnold, 2008. "Do Tax Structures Affect Aggregate Economic Growth?: Empirical Evidence from a Panel of OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 643, OECD Publishing.
    9. Devereux, Michael P & Griffith, Rachel, 2003. "Evaluating Tax Policy for Location Decisions," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 10(2), pages 107-126, March.
    10. Laura Vartia, 2008. "How do Taxes Affect Investment and Productivity?: An Industry-Level Analysis of OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 656, OECD Publishing.
    11. Ray Barrell & Martin Weale, 2009. "The Economics of a Reduction in VAT," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 30(1), pages 17-30, March.
    12. Kneller, Richard & Bleaney, Michael F. & Gemmell, Norman, 1999. "Fiscal policy and growth: evidence from OECD countries," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 171-190, November.
    13. Stefano Scarpetta & Thierry Tressel, 2002. "Productivity and Convergence in a Panel of OECD Industries: Do Regulations and Institutions Matter?," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 342, OECD Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. åsa Johansson & Christopher Heady & Jens Arnold & Bert Brys & Laura Vartia & Philip Spier, 2010. "Taxes and Firm Performance: Evidence from the OECD," Chapters, in: Iris Claus & Norman Gemmell & Michelle Harding & David White (ed.), Tax Reform in Open Economies, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Dackehag, Margareta & Hansson, Åsa, 2015. "Taxation of Dividend Income and Economic Growth: The Case of Europe," Working Papers 2015:24, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    3. Irfan Ahmed & Claudio Socci & Francesca Severini & Rosita Pretaroli, 2019. "Fiscal policy for households and public budget constraint in Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(1), pages 19-35, April.
    4. Dackehag , Margareta & Hansson, Åsa, 2012. "Taxation of Income and Economic Growth: An Empirical Analysis of 25 Rich OECD Countries," Working Papers 2012:6, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    5. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Ismael Sanz, 2014. "The growth effects of tax rates in the OECD," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(4), pages 1217-1255, November.
    6. Karol Jan Borowiecki & Trilce Navarrete, 2018. "Fiscal and economic aspects of book consumption in the European Union," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(2), pages 309-339, May.
    7. Vesal, Mohammad, 2017. "Stimulus Effect of a Value-added Tax Cut: Evidence from the UK Tax Returns Data," MPRA Paper 101016, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Nadia Belhaj Hassine-Belghith, 2007. "Exporting , Productive Efficiency and Product Quality: An Empirical Analysis Of the Agricultural Sector in the Mediterranean Countries," Working Papers 711, Economic Research Forum, revised 01 Jan 2007.
    9. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Ismael Sanz, 2014. "The growth effects of tax rates in the OECD," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(4), pages 1217-1255, November.
    10. Desislava Stoilova, 2017. "Tax structure and economic growth: Evidence from the European Union," Contaduría y Administración, Accounting and Management, vol. 62(3), pages 1041-1057, Julio-Sep.
    11. Tereza Šinkyříková & Jana Soukopová, 2012. "Impact of standard rate of VAT on tax mix in EU 27," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 60(7), pages 369-378.
    12. Jing Xing, 2011. "Does tax structure affect economic growth? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Working Papers 1120, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    13. Benjasak, Chonlakan & Bhattarai, Keshab, 2017. "General Equilibrium Impacts VAT and Corporate Tax in Thailand," MPRA Paper 88816, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Jul 2018.
    14. Gonzalo Fernandez-de-Cordoba & Jose L Torres, 2011. "The Transitory VAT Cut in the UK: A Dynamic General Equilibrium Analysis," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, March.
    15. Amjad Ali & Marc Audi, 2018. "Macroeconomic Environment and Taxes Revenues in Pakistan: An Application of ARDL Approach," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 7(1), pages 30-39, March.
    16. Björn Falkenhall & Jonas Månsson & Sofia Tano, 2020. "Impact of VAT Reform on Swedish Restaurants: A Synthetic Control Group Approach," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(2), pages 824-850, April.
    17. Kalyvas, Antonios Nikolaos & Mamatzakis, Emmanuel, 2014. "Does business regulation matter for banks in the European Union?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 278-324.
    18. Gerdie Everaert & Freddy Heylen & Ruben Schoonackers, 2015. "Fiscal policy and TFP in the OECD: measuring direct and indirect effects," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 605-640, September.
    19. Alena Andrejovská & Monika Hudáková, 2016. "Classification of EU Countries in the Context of Corporate Income Tax," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 64(5), pages 1699-1708.
    20. Norman Gemmell & Richard Kneller & Danny McGowan & Ismael Sanz & José F. Sanz‐Sanz, 2018. "Corporate Taxation and Productivity Catch‐Up: Evidence from European Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 120(2), pages 372-399, April.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Tax Policy for Economic Recovery and Growth (EJ 2011) in ReplicationWiki

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:121:y:2011:i:550:p:f59-f80. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley-Blackwell Digital Licensing or Christopher F. Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/resssea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.