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Do tax revenues track economic growth? Comparing panel data estimators

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  • Cornevin, Antoine
  • Corrales, Juan Sebastian
  • Mojica, Juan Pablo Angel

Abstract

Determining how economic growth affects tax revenues is crucial for fiscal sustainability, economic stabilization, and policy design. The current literature on tax buoyancy presents contrasting estimates, highlighting the need for a systematic discussion of the trade-offs associated with different estimators. This paper provides new empirical evidence by reviewing a range of panel data estimators in a large sample of 172 countries from 1990 to 2019. We find evidence of lower estimates for tax responses to economic activity in the short term relative to previous literature, suggesting a limited automatic stabilization power of tax systems. The heterogeneity in our results within and across income groups underscores the importance of choosing the appropriate estimator. Our results remain broadly unchanged when we introduce new control variables to disentangle discretionary from automatic tax revenue variations, indicating that economic cycles do not significantly influence the timing of tax policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Cornevin, Antoine & Corrales, Juan Sebastian & Mojica, Juan Pablo Angel, 2024. "Do tax revenues track economic growth? Comparing panel data estimators," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:140:y:2024:i:c:s0264999324002244
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2024.106867
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tax buoyancy; Tax elasticity; Cross-sectional dependence; Economic growth; Fiscal sustainability; Automatic stabilization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E60 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - General
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General

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