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Further empirical evidence on residential property taxation and the occurrence of urban sprawl

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  • Wassmer, Robert W.

Abstract

Economic theory indicates that as the effective rate of taxation on residential property rises, a negative influence on capital intensity could occur through less multi-story structures built (an Improvement Effect). Alternatively, a positive influence on capital intensity could occur through housing consumers switching to smaller houses built on smaller lots (a Dwelling Size Effect). An empirical assessment of this issue is therefore necessary; however, methodological concerns in earlier empirical analyses cast doubt on the reliability of findings. Panel data, fixed effects, regression results indicate that a higher rate of effective residential property taxation increases the amount of land used for a given population (greater sprawl).

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  • Wassmer, Robert W., 2016. "Further empirical evidence on residential property taxation and the occurrence of urban sprawl," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 73-85.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:61:y:2016:i:c:p:73-85
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2016.09.006
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    Cited by:

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    3. Moroni, Stefano & Minola, Luca, 2019. "Unnatural sprawl: Reconsidering public responsibility for suburban development in Italy, and the desirability and possibility of changing the rules of the game," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 104-112.
    4. Chich-Ping Hu & Tai-Shan Hu & Peilei Fan & Hai-Ping Lin, 2020. "The Urban Blight Costs in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-16, December.
    5. Ying, Jiang Qian, 2024. "Optimization of regulation and fiscal policies for urban residential land use and traffic network management," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. McMillan, Melville L., 2018. "“Causes of Sprawl”: A (Further) Public Finance Extension," Working Papers 2018-4, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    7. MIYAZAKI Tomomi & SATO Motohiro, 2018. "Property Tax and Land Use: Evidence from the 1990s reforms in Japan," Discussion papers 18072, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    8. Taranu, Victoria & Verbeeck, Griet, 2022. "Property tax as a policy against urban sprawl," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    9. Joachim Zietz & Heiko Kirchhain, 2023. "Determinants of Urban land development: A panel study for U.S. metropolitan areas," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(6), pages 1486-1501, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • R51 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Finance in Urban and Rural Economies

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