IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/regeco/v68y2018icp249-259.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategic interaction and economic development incentives policy: Evidence from U.S. States

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Jia

Abstract

This paper examines Economic Development Incentives (EDI) use by states. In particular, it examines if states engage in strategic interaction when making decisions about the total value of EDI offered in a given year. The goal is to better understand if competition among states for jobs and private investment is a contributing factor to the increase in EDI spending programs. Taking advantage of a national search engine, spatial econometric techniques are applied to state-level panel data and different metrics of neighborliness are considered to better identify patterns of EDI competition. Results from 48 states during the period 2007 to 2012 suggest the presence of strategic interaction: states increase their EDI spending when their neighbors do so. Estimates are robust to numerous specification checks, including an alternative source of EDI spending data. Notably, states compete more intensively over out-of-pocket incentives than those in the form of forgone revenue.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Jia, 2018. "Strategic interaction and economic development incentives policy: Evidence from U.S. States," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 249-259.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:68:y:2018:i:c:p:249-259
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2017.11.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046217304611
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2017.11.007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristien Werck & Bruno Heyndels & Benny Geys, 2008. "The impact of ‘central places’ on spatial spending patterns: evidence from Flemish local government cultural expenditures," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 32(1), pages 35-58, March.
    2. Besley, Timothy & Case, Anne, 1995. "Incumbent Behavior: Vote-Seeking, Tax-Setting, and Yardstick Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 25-45, March.
    3. Peter S. Fisher, 1997. "Tax and spending incentives and enterprise zones," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue Mar, pages 109-138.
    4. Johan Lundberg, 2006. "Spatial interaction model of spillovers from locally provided public services," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(6), pages 631-644.
    5. Felix, R. Alison & Hines, James R., 2013. "Who offers tax-based business development incentives?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 80-91.
    6. Michela Redoano, 2007. "Fiscal Interactions Among European Countries. Does the EU Matter?," CESifo Working Paper Series 1952, CESifo.
    7. Kelejian, Harry H. & Prucha, Ingmar R., 2010. "Specification and estimation of spatial autoregressive models with autoregressive and heteroskedastic disturbances," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 157(1), pages 53-67, July.
    8. Martial Foucault & Thierry Madies & Sonia Paty, 2008. "Public spending interactions and local politics. Empirical evidence from French municipalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 57-80, October.
    9. Barbara ERMINI & Raffaella SANTOLINI, 2007. "Horizontal Interaction on Local Councils' Expenditures. Evidence from Italy," Working Papers 278, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    10. Hélia Silva & Linda Gonçalves Veiga & Miguel Portela, 2011. "Strategic Interaction in Local Fiscal Policy: Evidence from Portuguese Municipalities," NIPE Working Papers 23/2011, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    11. Jason P. Brown & Raymond J.G.M. Florax & Kevin T. McNamara, 2009. "Determinants Of Investme??T Flows In U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 09-10, Purdue University, College of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    12. Wilson, John Douglas, 1999. "Theories of Tax Competition," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 52(2), pages 269-304, June.
    13. Mark A. Jenn & Farrokh Nourzad, 1996. "Determinants Of Economic Development Incentives Offered By States: A Test Of The Arms Race Hypothesis," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 26(1), pages 1-16, Summer.
    14. Joyce Y. Man, 1999. "Fiscal Pressure, Tax Competition and the Adoption of Tax Increment Financing," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 36(7), pages 1151-1167, June.
    15. Baicker, Katherine, 2005. "The spillover effects of state spending," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 529-544, February.
    16. Federico Revelli, 2005. "On Spatial Public Finance Empirics," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(4), pages 475-492, August.
    17. Brueckner, Jan K. & Saavedra, Luz A., 2001. "Do Local Governments Engage in Strategic Property-Tax Competition?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 54(2), pages 203-230, June.
    18. Daniel Gorin, 2008. "Economic development incentives: research approaches and current views," Federal Reserve Bulletin, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.), vol. 94(Oct), pages 61-73, October.
    19. Burge, Gregory & Rogers, Cynthia, 2011. "Local option sales taxes and consumer spending patterns: Fiscal interdependence under multi-tiered local taxation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 46-58, January.
    20. Carlianne Patrick, 2014. "Does Increasing Available Non-Tax Economic Development Incentives Result in More Jobs?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 67(2), pages 351-386, June.
    21. Byrne, Paul F., 2005. "Strategic interaction and the adoption of tax increment financing," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 279-303, May.
    22. Saavedra, Luz Amparo, 2000. "A Model of Welfare Competition with Evidence from AFDC," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 248-279, March.
    23. Rork, Jonathan C., 2003. "Coveting Thy Neighbors' Taxation," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 56(4), pages 775-787, December.
    24. Bordignon, Massimo & Cerniglia, Floriana & Revelli, Federico, 2003. "In search of yardstick competition: a spatial analysis of Italian municipality property tax setting," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 199-217, September.
    25. James C. Murdoch & Morteza Rahmatian & Mark A. Thayer, 1993. "A Spatially Autoregressive Median Voter Model of Recreation Expenditures," Public Finance Review, , vol. 21(3), pages 334-350, July.
    26. Ellis, Stephen & Rogers, Cynthia, 2000. "Local Economic Development as a Prisoners' Dilemma: The Role of Business Climate," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 30(3), pages 315-330, Winter.
    27. Figlio, David N. & Kolpin, Van W. & Reid, William E., 1999. "Do States Play Welfare Games?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 437-454, November.
    28. Case, Anne C. & Rosen, Harvey S. & Hines, James Jr., 1993. "Budget spillovers and fiscal policy interdependence : Evidence from the states," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 285-307, October.
    29. repec:rre:publsh:v:39:y:2009:i:3:p:269-86 is not listed on IDEAS
    30. Revelli, Federico, 2003. "Reaction or interaction? Spatial process identification in multi-tiered government structures," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 29-53, January.
    31. Wilson, John Douglas, 1999. "Theories of Tax Competition," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 52(n. 2), pages 269-304, June.
    32. Jan K. Brueckner, 2003. "Strategic Interaction Among Governments: An Overview of Empirical Studies," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 26(2), pages 175-188, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jia Wang & Weici Yuan & Cynthia Rogers, 2020. "Economic Development Incentives: What Can We Learn From Policy Regime Changes?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 34(2), pages 116-125, May.
    2. Duan, Huiqiong & Rogers, Cynthia & Wang, Jia & Yuan, Weici, 2024. "Do big shifts in economic development incentives attract people?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    3. Mimboe, Bernard, 2021. "Strategic interactions in the provision of public infrastructures: Evidence from Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (EMCCA) countries," MPRA Paper 106563, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Wang, Jian & Wu, Qun & Yan, Siqi & Guo, Guancheng & Peng, Shangui, 2020. "China’s local governments breaking the land use planning quota: A strategic interaction perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    5. Huang, Ying, 2022. "Government subsidies and corporate disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1).
    6. Shaoming Cheng & Hai (David) Guo & Cathy Yang Liu, 2020. "Incentivized for Leveling the Playing Field: Do State Economic Incentives Compensate for High Taxes?," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 34(2), pages 101-115, May.

    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. Federico Revelli, 2005. "On Spatial Public Finance Empirics," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 12(4), pages 475-492, August.
    2. Gebremeskel Gebremariam & Tesfa Gebremedhin & Peter Schaeffer, 2012. "County-level determinants of local public services in Appalachia: a multivariate spatial autoregressive model approach," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 49(1), pages 175-190, August.
    3. Wang, Jian & Wu, Qun & Yan, Siqi & Guo, Guancheng & Peng, Shangui, 2020. "China’s local governments breaking the land use planning quota: A strategic interaction perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Rincke, Johannes, 2010. "A commuting-based refinement of the contiguity matrix for spatial models, and an application to local police expenditures," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 324-330, September.
    5. Matthieu Leprince & Thierry Madiès & Sonia Paty, 2007. "Business Tax Interactions Among Local Governments: An Empirical Analysis Of The French Case," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(3), pages 603-621, August.
    6. Revelli, Federico, 2006. "Performance rating and yardstick competition in social service provision," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(3), pages 459-475, February.
    7. Masayoshi Hayashi & Wataru Yamamoto, 2017. "Information sharing, neighborhood demarcation, and yardstick competition: an empirical analysis of intergovernmental expenditure interaction in Japan," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 24(1), pages 134-163, February.
    8. Hammadou, Hakim & Paty, Sonia & Savona, Maria, 2014. "Strategic interactions in public R&D across European countries: A spatial econometric analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1217-1226.
    9. Raffaella Santolini, 2008. "A spatial cross‐sectional analysis of political trends in Italian municipalities," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(3), pages 431-451, August.
    10. Pantelis Kammas, 2011. "Strategic fiscal interaction among OECD countries," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 459-480, June.
    11. Feld Lars P. & Reulier Emmanuelle, 2009. "Strategic Tax Competition in Switzerland: Evidence from a Panel of the Swiss Cantons," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 91-114, February.
    12. Bordignon, Massimo & Cerniglia, Floriana & Revelli, Federico, 2003. "In search of yardstick competition: a spatial analysis of Italian municipality property tax setting," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 199-217, September.
    13. J. Sebastian Leguizamon & Casto Martin Montero Kuscevic, 2019. "Party Cues, Political Trends, And Fiscal Interactions In The United States," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(4), pages 600-620, October.
    14. Michael P. Devereux & Simon Loretz, 2013. "What Do We Know About Corporate Tax Competition?," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(3), pages 745-774, September.
    15. Lenka Šťastná, 2009. "Spatial Interdependence of Local Public Expenditures: Selected Evidence from the Czech Republic," Czech Economic Review, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, vol. 3(1), pages 007-025, March.
    16. Zareh Asatryan & Annika Havlik & Frank Streif, 2017. "Vetoing and inaugurating policy like others do: evidence on spatial interactions in voter initiatives," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 172(3), pages 525-544, September.
    17. Ruiz, Fernando & Gerard, Marcel, 2008. "Is there evidence of strategic corporate tax interaction among EU countries?," MPRA Paper 10094, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Hélia Silva & Linda Gonçalves Veiga & Miguel Portela, 2011. "Strategic Interaction in Local Fiscal Policy: Evidence from Portuguese Municipalities," NIPE Working Papers 23/2011, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    19. Barbara ERMINI & Raffaella SANTOLINI, 2007. "Horizontal Interaction on Local Councils' Expenditures. Evidence from Italy," Working Papers 278, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    20. John Deskins & Brian Hill, 2010. "Have State Tax Interdependencies Changed Over Time?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 38(2), pages 244-270, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    H2; H71; H77; Economic development incentives; Strategic interaction; State and local governments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H71 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism

    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:eee:regeco:v:68:y:2018:i:c:p:249-259. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/regec .

    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.